Autolux 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 mainstream or commercial ...

band consisting of Eugene Goreshter (vocals, bass), Greg Edwards (vocals, guitar, piano) and

Carla Azar Carla Azar is an American drummer from Huntsville, Alabama and member of the band Autolux. She also plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, and sings. Azar played drums on Jack White's albums '' Blunderbuss'', ''Lazaretto'', and '' Boarding Hous ...

(drums, vocals). The trio formed in 2001 and have released three full-length albums, ''

Future Perfect The future perfect is a verb form or construction used to describe an event that is expected or planned to happen before a time of reference in the future, such as ''will have finished'' in the English sentence "I will have finished by tomorrow." ...

'' (2004), ''

Transit Transit ''Transit Transit'' is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Autolux, released on August 3, 2010, on TBD Records (USA) and ATP Recordings (outside of North America/Japan). Background Autolux produced ''Transit Transit'' them ...

'' (2010) and ''

Pussy's Dead ''Pussy's Dead'' is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Autolux, released April 1, 2016, as the first release of Danger Mouse's Columbia Records imprint, 30th Century Records. The album was produced by Boots. The album's art ...

'' (2016). Their sound draws from

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electro ...

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in West Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electronic music, ...

and

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming vol ...

History

Autolux was formed in 2001 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Goreshter and Azar met while writing the score for

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

-winner

Dario Fo Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. ...

's play ''

Accidental Death of an Anarchist ''Accidental Death of an Anarchist'' ( it, Morte accidentale di un anarchico) is a play by Italian playwright Dario Fo that premiered in 1970. Considered a classic of 20th-century theater, it has been performed across the world in more than for ...

''. Azar met Edwards when she was on tour with his band,

Failure Failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One ...

. In August 2001, Autolux made their live debut, playing two shows at The Fold in Silverlake Lounge. In March 2001, the band released a self-released EP, ''Demonstration''. It contained five songs recorded on an 8-track in their rehearsal space.

T-Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist and songwriter. He rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work in fil ...

signed Autolux to DMZ, a small label created by Burnett and the

Coen Brothers Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957),State of Minnesota. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002''. Minnesota Department of Health. collectively known as the Coen brothers (), are American film ...

, and "nurtured" the band. In November 2002, Autolux entered the studio to record their first full-length album, ''Future Perfect'', and finished primary recording in January 2003. In contrast to the 8-track recording method employed during the making of ''Demonstration'', Burnett wished to capture the band's live sound on the album. Following the initial recording, the band continued recording and overdubbing additional music at Space 23 (the band's studio in their rehearsal room) to flesh out the songs. The song "Asleep at the Trigger" was completely recorded at Space 23. At the beginning of 2003, the album was mixed by

Dave Sardy David Stuart Sardy (born 1967), more commonly known as D. Sardy, is an American composer, musician, songwriter, and multiple Grammy winning record producer. He came to prominence as the leader of 1990s noise rock band Barkmarket before turning ...

. The album was released September 21, 2004, and was generally met with critical praise. Autolux began touring in 2005 to promote ''Future Perfect'', playing with a number of bands, including

Clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

Broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...

The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums wit ...

Shellac Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and ...

Deerhoof Deerhoof are an American musical group formed in San Francisco in 1994. They currently consist of founding drummer Greg Saunier, bassist and singer Satomi Matsuzaki, and guitarists John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez. Beginning as an improvised no ...

and

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style, and became known for creating musical colla ...

. In April 2005, Autolux played the

Vincent Gallo Vincent Gallo (born 1961) is an American actor and director. He has had supporting roles in films such as ''Arizona Dream'' (1993), ''The House of the Spirits'' (1993), ''Palookaville'' (1995), and '' The Funeral'' (1996). His lead roles include ...

-curated edition of the

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the song came from Reed's observation of Andy Warh ...

music festival in London, England. In May, they played the

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...

. Autolux was then invited by

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...

to open for

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

on their ''

With Teeth ''With Teeth'' (stylized as ''ITH_TEETH') is the fourth studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released by Nothing Records and Interscope Records on May 3, 2005. The album was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Tren ...

'' tour, from September to October 2005. After touring with Nine Inch Nails, the band ended the year by opening for

Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple lin ...

at the

Wiltern Theatre The Pellissier Building and adjoining Wiltern Theatre is a 12-story, Art Deco landmark at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The entire complex is commonly referred to as the Wiltern Center. Clad in a ...

in Los Angeles. In January 2006, Autolux performed on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's ...

'' In February 2006, the band wrote a piece, "Tears for an Inhaler", for an exhibit called "Sonic Scenery" at the

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States. Its collections include nearly 35 million specimens and artifacts and cover 4.5 billion years of history. This large col ...

. The exhibit also included artists such as

Matmos Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore. M. C. (Martin) Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their per ...

and

Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been the guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has w ...

. In June 2006, Autolux was approached by

James Lavelle James Lavelle (born 22 February 1974) is an English electronic musician, record label owner and curator. He founded the Mo'Wax record label in 1992, and has been the only constant member of UNKLE. He directed the 2014 edition of the Meltdow ...

of Unkle to collaborate on his next record. The band was given an acoustic guitar track with a simple drum machine beat. They developed the song, overdubbed various other tracks and vocals in their rehearsal space, and gave the finished piece, "Persons & Machinery", back to Unkle to arrange and mix. It was included on Unkle's album '' War Stories'', released in July 2007. Goreshter also played bass guitar on a few of the other tracks on the record. On April 30, 2007, Unkle released a limited edition remix 12" called ''Surrender Sounds Session Session #3 & #4'', with the

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

containing a remix of the Autolux track "Turnstile Blues" from ''Future Perfect''. "Turnstile Blues" appeared as the opening song in the April 2007 movie '' The Air I Breathe''. That August, the band played the

Sunset Junction Street Fair The Sunset Junction Street Fair was an event held annually in the Sunset Junction neighborhood of the Silver Lake community in Los Angeles, California. Occurring annually in late August, the two-day neighborhood festival was first held in 1980, as ...

in Silver Lake, California, and in December, they were invited by Portishead to play at that month's edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival. Autolux performed at the

Primavera Sound Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held in Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain that takes place between the end of May and beginning of June. The first edition took place in 2001 in Poble Espanyo ...

festival in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain in May 2008,; in June, they joined

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined loca ...

for a tour of Russia; and in September, they performed at the ATP festival in

Monticello, New York Monticello ( ) is a village located in Thompson, Sullivan County, within the Catskills region of New York, United States. The population was 7,173 at the 2020 census. It is the seat for the Town of Thompson and the county seat of Sullivan Coun ...

, curated by My Bloody Valentine. In September 2009, the band completed their first headlining US tour, including another appearance at the New York ATP festival, this edition curated by

Flaming Lips Flaming may refer to: * Anything set aflame or on fire * Flaming (Internet), the act of posting deliberately hostile messages on the Internet * Flame maple, the striped figures in maple woodwork prized for their beauty * Fläming, a region in ...

. As ''Future Perfect'' had gone out of print, Autolux reissued the album themselves on vinyl in 2009, with the label listed as Autolux Music Entertainment (and later again in 2015, listed as The Autolux Empire). In March 2010,

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...

asked Autolux to open for his

Atoms for Peace "Atoms for Peace" was the title of a speech delivered by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the UN General Assembly in New York City on December 8, 1953. The United States then launched an "Atoms for Peace" program that supplied equipment ...

project at the

Santa Barbara Bowl The Santa Barbara Bowl is a 4,562-seat amphitheater, located in Santa Barbara, California. The amphitheater is open for concerts from approximately April through approximately October with an average of about 27 concerts per season. Booked exclu ...

in Santa Barbara, California. In May 2010, the band appeared on another Unkle song, "Joy Factory", on that artist's album ''

Where Did the Night Fall ''Where Did the Night Fall'' is the fourth studio album from British electronic music act Unkle, released on . Background As a documentation of the work on the album, on 13 April 2009, James Lavelle, Unkle's mastermind, started an official "U ...

''. The second Autolux album, ''

'', was released on August 3, 2010 on

ATP Recordings ATP Recordings is a British independent record label that was started in 2001 by London-based concert promoter Barry Hogan of Foundation/All Tomorrow's Parties. It was originally created to bring out a compilation cd (ATPRCD01) after the Tortoi ...

worldwide and

TBD Records TBD Records (previously Side One Recordings) was an American record label co-founded by Coran Capshaw and Phil Costello, and is a sublabel of ATO Records, distributed by RED Distribution. The label was founded in August 2007 and quickly announce ...

in North America. The band produced ''Transit Transit'' themselves with Edwards serving as engineer. Most of the record was recorded at Space 23, while a few drum tracks ("Highchair", "Spots" and "The Science of Imaginary Solutions") came from an earlier session with engineer John Goodmanson. "Supertoys" was released as the first single from the album, premiering on the band's website on June 23, 2010. The band toured the US, Canada and Mexico that August and September. In December 2010, they embarked on their first European tour. On December 6, 2010, ATP released a two-song 7" single, "The Bouncing Wall"/"Census" (both from ''Transit Transit''); in early 2011, it was reissued digitally by TBD as an EP, with the addition of three previously unreleased tracks. On February 27, 2011, the band played another ATP festival, this time in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, Japan, titled "I'll Be Your Mirror". On November 19, 2015, Autolux shared the "Soft Scene" single and announced that their then-untitled third full-length album would be released in spring 2016 on Danger Mouse's new imprint, 30th Century Records. On January 19, 2016, Autolux announced the April 1 release of their third album, ''Pussy's Dead'', produced by artist and producer

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer St ...

, who had previously produced Run the Jewels, FKA Twigs and

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

. The band was included in the Coachella Festival's 2016 line-up.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2004, DMZ) * ''

'' (2010, ATP/

TBD To be announced (TBA), to be confirmed (TBC), to be determined or decided or declared (TBD), and other variations, are placeholder terms used very broadly in event planning to indicate that although something is scheduled or expected to happen, a ...

) * ''

'' (2016, 30th Century Records/

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

)

EPs

* ''Demonstration'' (2001, self-released) * ''Six Songs'', also known as the ''Silver Demo'' (2001, self-released) * ''The Bouncing Wall/Census'' digital EP (2011, TBD)

Singles

*"Turnstile Blues" promo CD single (2004, Full Time Hobby, Red Ink/DMZ) *"Here Comes Everybody" 7" single (2004, Full Time Hobby, Red Ink/DMZ) *''Live at KEXP'' 7" single (2004, Red InkZ) *"Audience No. 2" digital single (2008, self-released) *"Supertoys" 7" and CD single (2010, ATP/TBD) *"The Bouncing Wall"/"Census" 7" single (2010, ATP) *"Soft Scene" digital single (2015, 30th Century Records/Columbia Records) *"Brainwasher" digital single (2016, 30th Century Records/Columbia Records)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Autolux Indie rock musical groups from California Musical groups from Los Angeles Noise pop musical groups American experimental rock groups Musical groups established in 2001 American musical trios Electronic music groups from California Third Man Records artists Columbia Records artists ATP Recordings artists