Beat Happening

Beat Happening
Calvin Johnson performing at The Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon
Background information
Origin	Olympia, Washington, US
Genres	Indie pop, twee pop, lo-fi, noise pop
Years active	1982–present
Labels	K Records, Sub Pop
Associated acts	The Go Team, D+, The Halo Benders, Dub Narcotic Sound System
Members	Calvin Johnson Heather Lewis Bret Lunsford

Beat Happening is an American indie pop band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1982. Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis, and Bret Lunsford have been the band's continual members. Beat Happening were early leaders in the American indie pop and lo-fi movements, noted for their use of primitive recording techniques, disregard for the technical aspects of musicianship, and songs with subject matters of a childish or coy nature.

Beat Happening met while attending The Evergreen State College and began recording in 1983. The band took its name from a student art film, Beatnik Happening, made by Bret's girlfriend. The band's basic line-up was drums, guitar and vocals, though when they formed their only instruments were a pair of maracas and a Sears Silvertone guitar purchased at a thrift shop. Heather once joked in an interview that the history of the band could be told through a list of the various people whose drums they'd borrowed. Heather and Calvin had been members of a previous band and approached Bret, who had no musical experience at the time, saying they ought to start a band and go to Japan.

Early recordings made use of an Echoplex machine to add heavy reverb to Bret's guitar, in an attempt to mask his poor performance.

The band traveled to Tokyo in 1984 with intentions of touring. Their first show in Japan was at the high school of a former exchange student Calvin knew. The band members recorded Three Tea Breakfast, a 5-song EP that marked the band's first release.

Beat Happening (1985), their full-length debut, was critically acclaimed, as was Jamboree (1988). By the release of Dreamy in 1991, Beat Happening was one of the most popular bands in the indie rock community, leading to their pivotal role in the International Pop Underground Festival, which brought anti-corporate rock its earliest mainstream acceptance. Their last full-length album was 1992's You Turn Me On, which represented the band breaking many of their established conventions from earlier albums, most notably on "Godsend", which runs 9 minutes and features blatant use of multitrack recording. The album was described by allmusic.com as a "masterpiece." Though never announcing a break-up and claiming at one point to still practice once a month, the members of Beat Happening have moved on to various other projects. In 2000 they released the "Angel Gone" single, their first new release in eight years.