Red Abbott was a band whose members were based in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
,
Boston, Massachusetts, and
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metro ...
. They created electronic rock by emailing elements of songs to each other. Their debut album, ''Having Fun Without You'', was released in 2007.
History
Bert Brown, Chip Means and Joe Madera formed Red Abbott in 2006. Although they operated Red Abbott from three remote cities, the band's members all grew up in the Boston area and initially met in high school.
Using home recording equipment, Brown, Means and Madera set to work emailing pieces of songs back and forth until they had completed their debut, ''Having Fun Without You.'' The process of editing the album's 12 tracks took eighteen months to complete.
[Never mind the amp. This e-mail rocks]
''The Boston Globe'', February 17, 2008 The band has noted in interviews that electronic rock band
The Postal Service used a similar technique involving standard mail for their 2003 album ''Give Up''.
[
Shortly after the album's release, the band played its first and only live concert, joined by former Radka drummer Shawn Hildonen.
The band has received considerable media attention for its email-only approach to songwriting and recording. ]Popular Mechanics
''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...
featured the band in a series of stories on artists who use consumer electronics to create professional work.[
]
Discography
*''Having Fun Without You'' (2007), self-released through Broken Treehouse Music
Members
*Bert Brown - vocals, drums, synths, programming, bass
*Chip Means - vocals, guitars, bass, flute, keyboard, percussion
*Joe Madera - vocals, keyboards, bass, guitars, percussion
References
{{reflist
External links
Official Web site
Myspace page for Red Abbott
Performer Magazine album review June 2008
Musical groups from Boston
Musical groups from Maine
Musical groups from Portland, Maine