Sister Machine Gun is an American
industrial rock
Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubaute ...
band originally based in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...
.
History
The early years
Sister Machine Gun was formed by
Chris Randall and
Guilherme Machado
Guilherme is a Portuguese given name, equivalent to William in English. The feminine form of this name is Guilhermina. Diminutive forms include Guilhermino. Vilma (Portuguese form of Wilma) is another female variant of the name.
Brazilian foo ...
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 ...
. They performed at
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
's Pipeline, and New York's Limelight. The band went on a short hiatus after Chris Randall joined
KMFDM
KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project.
...
's tour as a stage technician.
After the tour, Randall left New York City and relocated to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
. He then found work in the mailroom of
Wax Trax! Records
Wax Trax! Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago. It began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado, opened by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold the store in 1978 and moved to Chicago. In November of that y ...
,
and began recording a demo with Jim Marcus and Van Christie of
Die Warzau
Die Warzau (originally Die Warzau Synfony) was an American industrial music band formed in 1987 by Jim Marcus and Van Christie.
History
In the late 80s, Jim Marcus and Van Christie were working individually as performance artists. Christie h ...
. The rough demo was given to
Sascha Konietzko
Sascha Kegel Konietzko (born 21 June 1961), also known as Sascha K and Käpt'n K, is a German musician and record producer. He is the founder, frontman and "anchor" of the industrial band KMFDM. Konietzko jokingly purports himself to be the fa ...
of
KMFDM
KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project.
...
for mixing.
Konietzko passed the demo along to Jim Nash, head of Wax Trax! Records, where Randall worked. The label then signed the band to a record deal.
The Wax Trax! years
Sister Machine Gun's debut album ''
Sins of the Flesh'' was released on Wax Trax! in 1992.
During this time, Chris Randall assembled a group of musicians to tour in support of the album. Tom Gaul and
Steve Stoll joined the band, alongside Chris Kelly and Randall. Stoll left the band after this tour, and work on the next album began.
''
The Torture Technique
''The Torture Technique'' is the second studio album by Sister Machine Gun, released on March 15, 1994 by TVT and Wax Trax! Records. The album spent eight weeks on the CMJ Radio Top 150 peaking at #46, and nine weeks on the CMJ RPM Charts peakin ...
'' was released in 1994.
Tom Gaul left midway through the recording process, after contributing to the album. New members were recruited for the upcoming tour. Guitarist Greg Lucas (later a member of
Final Cut) joined, as well as drummer Scott Churilla (later a member of
The Reverend Horton Heat
The Reverend Horton Heat is the stage name of American musician James C. Heath (born 1959) as well as the name of his Dallas, Texas-based psychobilly trio. Heath is a singer, songwriter and guitarist. A ''Prick'' magazine reviewer called Heat ...
's band). Sister Machine Gun went on to join the Angstfest tour with KMFDM and
Chemlab
Chemlab is an American industrial rock band formed in Washington D.C. in 1989 by Dylan Thomas More, Joe Frank, and Jared Louche (then known as Hendrickson). Influenced by the pioneers of the industrial genre, such as Throbbing Gristle, Cheml ...
.
After this tour, Kelly left the band. Prior to the recording of ''
Burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...
'', Sister Machine Gun went on another tour. The lineup during this time consisted of Randall, bassist Bob Jones, drummer Tom DeSalvo (former member of Chemlab), and Chris Smits on guitar.
The band then began work on the album ''Burn''. Guitarist Geno Lenardo (of
Filter) joined in the studio. ''Burn'' was released in 1995.
The album peaked at #9 on the CMJ Radio Top 200.
The title track became one of the band's most recognizable songs, as it later appeared on the ''
Mortal Kombat''
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
.
The tour line-up at this time consisted of Randall, bassist Richard Deacon, and drummer Kevin Temple (formerly of
Die Warzau
Die Warzau (originally Die Warzau Synfony) was an American industrial music band formed in 1987 by Jim Marcus and Van Christie.
History
In the late 80s, Jim Marcus and Van Christie were working individually as performance artists. Christie h ...
and later
Apartment 26). This line up remained mostly consistent throughout the touring for ''Burn'' and ''
Metropolis
A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications.
A big c ...
'', with guitarists Pat Sprawl and Brian Sarche joining at various times.
The final Sister Machine Gun album on Wax Trax!, ''Metropolis'', was released in 1997.
The album spent more than 14 weeks on the CMJ Radio Top 200 chart, peaking at #7.
Reeves Gabrels
Reeves Gabrels (born June 4, 1956) is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. A member and guitarist of British band the Cure since 2012, Gabrels worked with David Bowie from 1987 to 1999, and was a member of the band Tin Machine. ...
did guitar work on the album.
The Positron! years
After
1997's ''Metropolis'' album, Sister Machine Gun left Wax Trax. The rest of the band's material was released on Randall's
Positron! Records,
the record label he founded and operates with his wife, Lisa. The band's sound changed considerably after their move to the new label.
In 2007, Sister Machine Gun officially disbanded and Randall began a solo career.
New material (2015)
On November 5, 2014, a Facebook page for Sister Machine Gun was launched, along with a teaser image announcing the project's return in early 2015 on
WTII Records.
[
] This image was also shared on Randall's personal Facebook account with the caption, "Remember that thing I said I'd never do again? Yeah. I'm doing it. Spring '15 on WTII Records."
On March 13, 2015, the band released ''
The Future Unformed
This is the discography page for the industrial band Sister Machine Gun.
Albums
Singles etc.
Compilations
* ''Afterburn: Wax Trax-94 & Beyond'' (1994; TVT Records) — "Nothing (Mulatto Mix)"
* '' Black Box - Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 ...
''.
Primary member history
Guilherme Machado joined Randall in Chicago for the recording of the band's debut album, ''Sins of the Flesh''. After recording some guitar parts, Machado left the band. After the completion of the album, Chris Kelly joined the band. After Kelly's departure in 1995, Randall continued the band primarily as a solo project. Miguel Turanzas joined the band in 1999, and continued as a member until it was disbanded in 2007.
Partial discography
Studio albums
* ''
Sins of the Flesh'' (1992; WaxTrax! Records)
* ''
The Torture Technique
''The Torture Technique'' is the second studio album by Sister Machine Gun, released on March 15, 1994 by TVT and Wax Trax! Records. The album spent eight weeks on the CMJ Radio Top 150 peaking at #46, and nine weeks on the CMJ RPM Charts peakin ...
'' (1994; WaxTrax!/TVT Records)
* ''
Burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...
'' (1995; WaxTrax!/TVT Records)
* ''
Metropolis
A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications.
A big c ...
'' (1997; WaxTrax!/TVT Records)
* ''
volution">volution'' (1999; Positron! Records)
* ''
6.0 6.0 may refer to:
* 6.0, a numerical designation commonly used for computer software versioning
* ''6.0'' (album), an album by Sister Machine Gun
* 6.0 system, a judgement system used in competitive figure skating until 2005
See also
* 6 (disambi ...
'' (2000; Positron! Records)
* ''
Influence
Influence or influencer may refer to:
*Social influence, in social psychology, influence in interpersonal relationships
** Minority influence, when the minority affect the behavior or beliefs of the majority
*Influencer marketing, through individ ...
'' (2003; Positron! Records)
* ''
The Future Unformed
This is the discography page for the industrial band Sister Machine Gun.
Albums
Singles etc.
Compilations
* ''Afterburn: Wax Trax-94 & Beyond'' (1994; TVT Records) — "Nothing (Mulatto Mix)"
* '' Black Box - Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 ...
'' (2015; WTII Records)
References
External links
Official siteChris Randall's new SMG site*
*
{{Authority control
TVT Records artists
Musical groups from Chicago
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups disestablished in 2007
American industrial rock musical groups
Musical quartets
Wax Trax! Records artists