Mankind Is Obsolete
| Mankind Is Obsolete | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | MKIO |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Genres | Alternative rock, industrial rock |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Associated acts | Lotus Reign, Hate Dept., Pseudocipher, Christopher Anton, Collide, Dismantled, Kidneythieves, Psyclon Nine, Alice |
| Website | http://www.mkio.com/ |
| Members |
Natasha Cox (2002–) Jon Siren (2002–) Gordon Bash (2005–2007)(2008–) Scott Landes (2006–) |
| Past members |
Mark Nurre (2003–2007) Jamie Roy (2003–2004) Nathan Trowbridge (2003–2005) Brian DiDomenico (2005–2008) Joe D'Ambra (2007–2008) |
Mankind Is Obsolete, also known as MKIO, is a female-fronted industrial rock band, based in Los Angeles, California.
By 2001, Jon Siren had joined Christopher Anton's synthpop band, Pseudocipher, while Natasha Cox and Gordon Bash were members of the group "Lotus Reign". Later, Siren and Cox met at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles and recognized that they had similar tastes in music after seeing each other wearing the same Sisters of Mercy t-shirts. The two played in a jazz band together and in 2002 Cox also joined Pseudocipher.
By the fall of 2002, Cox and Siren had formed Mankind is Obsolete. With Cox on keyboards and Siren on drums, they began recording what would become their first EP, Metamorph, without a singer before Natasha stepped up to the role of lead vocalist. Some of the recording was done at the school's facilities, some in Siren's apartment using ProTools, and some in Cox's apartment bedroom. By February 2003, a live band had been assembled adding Jamie Roy on bass, Mark Nurre on guitars and Nathan Trowbridge on keyboards and running the light show. Additional recording and mixing was done by Steven Seibold of Hate Dept. and Pigface, and Metamorph was released in August 2003.
The songs of Metamorph range from "haunting" and "brooding" for much of the album to the faster paced, more heavily electronic and more danceable 'Icarus'. The band toured throughout the west coast and southwest following this album and by late 2004, Roy had left the band.
Cox and Siren began working on songs for their first full-length album in 2004 and in early 2005 brought in Bash as the new bassist. Bash also contributed to writing for that album and served as the producer for Rise, with the band recording it in his home studio. For that album, the band tried to capture more of their live feel by combining live acoustic instruments with electronic and programmed ones. The album has been reviewed as realizing a "mature and lucid vision", which Siren describes as being about "rising above a lot of the battles we were having in our daily lives. It is about seeing the negativity as it is and finding the power within to move past it."
Following the 2005 tours which included an East Coast foray to Goth Stock, Trowbridge left the band. Brian DiDomenico was brought on as the new keyboardist in late 2005, just in time to appear in the video for 'Still Right Here', released in February 2006. That year saw a full, nine week, US/Canada tour supporting Rise. The tour was characterized by performances of such physical intensity that on one occasion Natasha threw out her back on stage and needed emergency room attention following the show. This incarnation of the band saw the creative load spread across the band with all band members contributing to writing new songs 'Awake' (composed for photographer J. Corsentino) and 'Picking at the Scab', both of which would eventually appear on Trapped Inside.
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