Amps for Christ

Amps for Christ
Amps for Christ at Club W71, Weikersheim, 2016
Background information
Origin	Claremont, California, United States
Genres	Experimental rock
Years active	1995?–present
Associated acts	Man Is the Bastard, Bastard Noise
Website	https://web.archive.org/web/20060613084615/http://www.ampsforchrist.com/
Members	Henry Barnes

Amps For Christ is the current music project of Man Is the Bastard and Bastard Noise veteran and metal/noise pioneer Henry Barnes. The project is based out of Claremont, California.

Conceptually, Amps for Christ originated in 1996, when Barnes met recording enthusiast and The Dull bandmember Enid Snarb. Barnes decided that he wanted to combine his experience with experimental noise and extreme metal with his love for traditional folk music, classical composition and jazz. Barnes and his friend and fellow Man Is the Bastard veteran Joel Connell started Two Ambiguous Figures, in which Barnes played the sitar and Connell played the tabla. Fiddling with the traditional Indian instruments led to the creation of Amps for Christ, known for its esoteric and geographically diverse instrumentation. Barnes also wanted to add an element of technical sound making to the project. Barnes and his collaborators often modify or create their own musical instruments in order to get specific sounds for their tracks. Some examples of these instrument and sound creations include stringed instruments, pre-amps, amplifiers and other acoustic instruments. Barnes reportedly is fascinated with waveform manipulation, another theme that is prominent throughout Amps for Christ.

Barnes, well known in the experimental music scene, attributes his desire to experiment with sound to his eclectic childhood tastes in music. Barnes' interest in folk music stemmed from his mother, a traditional ballad singer and folk music enthusiast. Barnes' father, an avid John Cage enthusiast, jazz singer/songwriter, and washboardist, also had a large effect on the project that would become Amps for Christ. Barnes also credits his grandmother, a church organist, with great effect on his music. The music's political component derives in part from the left wing ideals of Man is the Bastard.