Spymob is an American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band from

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. Best known for their appearance on the 2003

Star Trak Entertainment Star Trak was an American record label, founded by The Neptunes and Rob Walker in 2001. It operated as a division of Interscope Geffen A&M, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Its name is a reference to the 1960s TV program ''Star Trek''. H ...

compilation ''

The Neptunes present Clones ''The Neptunes Present... Clones'' is a compilation album produced and released by American production duo The Neptunes (producer-singer Pharrell Williams and producer Chad Hugo). It was released on August 19, 2003 and has been certified Gold by th ...

'', with the song "Half Steering...", they also provided backing instruments for

N.E.R.D. N.E.R.D. (stylized as N⋆E⋆R⋆D and N.E.R.D, a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) is an American hip hop and rock band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1999. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin Reco ...

's 2002 debut '' In Search Of...''. Their major label debut, ''Sitting Around Keeping Score'', was the first rock album to be released on

The Neptunes The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos, ...

Star Trak Star Trak was an American record label, founded by The Neptunes and Rob Walker in 2001. It operated as a division of Interscope Geffen A&M, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Its name is a reference to the 1960s TV program ''Star Trek''. H ...

label. In 2014, the band released their second album, ''Memphis'' independently. Additionally, all four members have provided session work and touring support for other artists including

N.E.R.D N.E.R.D. (stylized as N⋆E⋆R⋆D and N.E.R.D, a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) is an American hip hop and rock band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1999. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were signed by Teddy Riley (producer), Ted ...

Paramore Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

Kelis Kelis Rogers-Mora (; born August 21, 1979), known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer, songwriter and a professionally trained chef. At age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perform ...

, and

Mike Doughty Michael Ross Doughty ( ; born June 10, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and author. He founded the band Soul Coughing in 1992, and as of '' The Heart Watches While the Brain Burns'' (2016), has released 18 studio albums, live albums, and ...

History

Singer/keyboardist John Ostby, bassist Christian Twigg, guitarist Brent Paschke, and drummer Eric Fawcett formed in Minneapolis in the early 90s as "Reno." Playing staples such as 2040 and Kissing the Neighborhood Houses Goodbye in local venues such as the 400 Bar, the band recorded several demo songs (later released as ''Basement Tapes''). In 2001, the band was hired to provide studio work for N.E.R.D's ''In Search Of...'' album after a copy of their demo was discovered by

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

and

Chad Hugo Charles Edward Hugo (born February 24, 1974) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. With close friend Pharrell Williams, he formed the production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he has prod ...

Albums

As Spymob

* ''Townhouse Stereo'' (Spymob, Inc, 1996) * ''Basement Tapes'' (Spymob, Inc, 2001) * ''Sitting Around Keeping Score'' ( Arista/Star Trak Entertainment, 2003) * ''Spymob EP'' (Spymob, Inc, 2005) * ''Memphis'' (Spymob, 2014)

As backing band

* ''

Wanderland ''Wanderland'' is the second studio album by American singer Kelis. It was released on October 17, 2001, by Virgin Records. The album's only single, "Young, Fresh n' New", peaked at number 32 on the UK Singles Chart. As of October 2004, ''Wanderl ...

'' Kelis (

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

), 2001 * ''In Search Of...'' N.E.R.D (Virgin), 2002 * ''

Haughty Melodic ''Haughty Melodic'' is an album by Mike Doughty released on May 3, 2005. The album title is an anagram of the artist's fuller name; Michael Doughty. Doughty described the album as "a bunch of songs about yearning and redemption and happiness ...

'' Mike Doughty ( ATO Records), 2005 (Eric Fawcett) * ''

Seeing Sounds ''Seeing Sounds'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band N.E.R.D released June 10, 2008 on Star Trak Entertainment and Interscope Records in the United States. After ending their contract with Virgin Records in 2005, the band ...

'' N.E.R.D (

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

), 2008 (Eric Fawcett, Brett Paschke)

References

External links

SoundCloud

Facebook
Funk rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1993 American funk metal musical groups Musical quartets Rock music groups from Minnesota Musical groups from the Twin Cities {{US-alternative-rock-band-stub