The Future Sound of London

The Future Sound of London
FSOL band member Garry Cobain at the 2009 Gogolfest in Kiev, Ukraine
Background information
Also known as	see below
Origin	Manchester, England, UK
Genres	Electronic, experimental, ambient, IDM, acid techno, acid house, neo-psychedelia, trip hop, drum and bass
Years active	1988–present
Labels	Jumpin' & Pumpin', Astralwerks, Rephlex, Virgin, Quigley, Hypnotic, Future Sound of London Recordings, FSOLDigital, Electronic Brain Violence
Associated acts	See aliases
Website	www.futuresoundoflondon.com
Members	Garry ("Gaz") Cobain Brian Dougans

The Future Sound of London (often abbreviated to FSOL) is a British electronic music band composed of Garry Cobain (sometimes stylised as Gaz Cobain) and Brian Dougans. The duo are often credited with pushing the boundaries of electronic music experimentation and of pioneering a new era of dance music. Although often labelled as ambient, Cobain and Dougans usually resist being typecast into any one particular genre. Their work covers many areas of electronic music, such as ambient techno, house music, trip hop, ambient dub, acid techno. In addition to music composition, their interests have covered a number of areas including film and video, 2D and 3D computer graphics, animation in making almost all their own videos for their singles, radio broadcasting and creating their own electronic devices for sound making. They have released works under numerous aliases.

The artists have been fairly enigmatic in the past but have become more candid with their fanbase in recent years with social websites like Myspace, YouTube, their forum and many interviews in which Cobain almost always speaks for the group.

Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans met in the mid-1980s while studying electronics at university in Manchester, England. Dougans had already been making electronic music for some time, working between Glasgow and Manchester, when the pair first began working together in various local clubs. In 1988, Dougans embarked on a project for the Stakker graphics company. The result was Stakker Humanoid, a single that went on to reach number 17 in the UK charts, becoming the first credible UK acid house tune to cross over into the mainstream. Cobain contributed to the accompanying album. A video was also produced.