Abney Park (band)
| Abney Park | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Seattle, United States |
| Genres |
Steampunk World music Industrial dance |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels | None (self-produced) |
| Associated acts | Ranch Hand Robbie and the Wasteland Wranglers, Good Co |
| Website | http://www.abneypark.com/ |
| Members |
Robert Brown (Vocals, Darbuka, Diatonic button accordion, harmonica, bouzouki, bağlama, ukulele) Kristina Erickson (keyboards, Piano) Josh Goering (Guitar, Banjolele) Mitchel Drury (violin) Derek Brown (Bass) |
| Past members | Titus Munteanu Daniel Cederman Jody Ellen Nathaniel Johnstone Traci Nemeth Krysztof Nemeth Robert Hazelton Magdalene Veen Jean-Paul Mayden Finn von Claret Madame Archel (Rachel Gilley) Robert Gardunia Thomas Thompson Henry Cheng Lee Tillman Jennifer Savage |
Abney Park is a steampunk band based in Seattle that mixes elements of industrial dance, world music, and steampunk-influenced lyrics in their work. Their name comes from Abney Park Cemetery in London (UK). Formerly a goth band, Abney Park has transformed their look and sound and has been called the "quintessential" spokespeople of steampunk culture.
Abney Park was formed by Robert Brown in 1997. They released their first full-length album Abney Park in 1998, and in 1999 they released Return to the Fire. Their third album "Cemetery Number 1" drew from their first two albums as well as introducing several new songs. In the early years of Abney Park, the band featured a gothic musical and visual style, which culminated with their 2002 release From Dreams Or Angels. Their songs "The Change Cage", "Black Day" and "No Life" reached number one on the Industrial, Darkwave and Black Metal music charts, respectively.
In 2005, the band released Taxidermy, which is a collection of new versions of songs from past albums, three live tracks and two covers. In 2006, the release of the album The Death of Tragedy marked the beginning of a major change for the band, as their music departed from a goth/pagan sound to a more world music/fusion one. After this release, their line-up changed as well, with the departure of Traci Nemeth, Krysztof Nemeth and Robert Hazelton, replaced by Magdalene Veen (Eliza Gauger using a pseudonym), Jean-Paul Mayden and Nathaniel Johnstone. Shortly thereafter, Jean-Paul departed the band to be replaced by Daniel Cederman.
In early 2005, Abney Park transformed themselves from a largely goth industrial band into a steampunk band. As part of that transformation, Abney Park invented fictional identities of themselves. Since steampunk is largely derived from science fiction and fantasy literature, the band also created a fictional backstory to explain the shake-up in membership and who they were now, and to set a stage for their new music. According to that story, the band's plane collided with a time-travelling dirigible called the Ophelia—said to have been created by a Dr. Leguminous Calgori (presumably a reference to the 1920 silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)—in a freak storm. The band commandeered the vessel, deciding to become airship pirates, and formed a new band from the surviving members of the crash. Much of their music since that time has been based around this fictional backstory.
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