Soul Coughing

Soul Coughing
Soul Coughing publicity photo, 1998.
Background information
Origin	New York City
Genres	Alternative rock, alternative hip hop, electronica
Years active	1992–2000
Labels	Slash/Warner Bros./Tommy Boy
Website	www.scug.net
Members	Mike Doughty Mark Degli Antoni Sebastian Steinberg Yuval Gabay

Soul Coughing was an American alternative rock group, comprising vocalist/guitarist Mike Doughty, keyboardist Mark de Gli Antoni, bassist Sebastian Steinberg and drummer Yuval Gabay, Soul Coughing developed a devout fanbase and have garnered largely positive response from critics. Steve Huey in AllMusic describes the band as "one of the most unusual cult bands of the 1990s...driven by frontman Mike Doughty's stream-of-consciousness poetry, Soul Coughing's sound was a willfully idiosyncratic mix of improvisational jazz grooves, oddball samples, hip-hop, electronics, and noisy experimentalism (described by Doughty as 'deep slacker jazz')." The inventive sampling and keyboard artistry of Mark Degli Antoni undergirded the band's distinct sound.

Soul Coughing's members were all regulars at The Knitting Factory, a New York City nightclub and performance venue that was part of the experimental downtown scene of the 1980s and '90s. Doughty was a doorman known for his improvised comedic quasi-raps, while the others appeared at the Knitting Factory in various bands. Doughty, De Gli Antoni and Steinberg all performed in versions of John Zorn's composition Cobra, appearing on John Zorn's Cobra: Live at the Knitting Factory (recorded 1992, released 1995).

Within a year of their formation, the band was signed to Slash Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Records. They released three albums: Ruby Vroom (1994), Irresistible Bliss (1996), and El Oso (1998), the latter showing a marked influence from electronic dance music. They enjoyed minor hit singles with songs like "Down to This", "Circles", "Super Bon Bon", and "Screenwriter's Blues." In 1996, the band contributed to the AIDS benefit album Offbeat: A Red Hot Soundtrip produced by the Red Hot Organization. They also had songs featured in the movies The X-Files ("Unmarked Helicopters"), Batman and Robin ("The Bug"), Tommy Boy (Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago) and Spawn ("A Plane Scraped Its Belly on a Sooty Yellow Moon" featuring drum and bass artist Roni Size). Their song "Super Bon Bon" was included on the soundtrack for the 2K Sports video game The Bigs 2 released in 2009 and on the soundtrack for the PlayStation game Gran Turismo 2 released in 1999. The Boomerang network made a mock music video for the song "Circles" which poked fun at the revolving cartoon backgrounds.