United State of Electronica | |
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Origin | Seattle, Washington, United States |
Genres | Electronic rock |
Years active | 2002–present |
Labels | Sonic Boom Recordings in United States; Side-Out Records in Japan |
Website | Official Website |
Members |
Jason Holstrom Jon e. Rock Peter Sali Noah Star Weaver Derek Chan Carly Nicklaus Amanda Khanjian |
United State of Electronica, or U.S.E., is a Seattle, Washington-based dance/rock band formed in 2002. It includes the four members of the band Wonderful: Jason Holstrom (guitar), Jon e. Rock (drums, vocals), Peter Sali (guitar, vocals), and Noah Star Weaver (keyboards, vocoder), as well as Derek Chan (bass guitar), Carly Nicklaus (vocals), and Amanda Khanjian (vocals).
U.S.E. was formed when the members of Wonderful and Shane Tutmarc posed as an imaginary electronica band from Mannheim, Germany at a Seattle-area nightclub. When the group noticed the audience's enthusiasm about their improvised dance songs, they decided to form a side project that would take dance music more seriously. Carly Nicklaus, Amanda Okonek and Derek Chan joined the members of Wonderful to develop that project, which would become the United State of Electronica.
U.S.E. released its debut self-titled, self-recorded album with handpainted covers in 2004. With no distribution, U.S.E turned to the Internet and gave the album to the world for free via http://www.mannheimworldwide.com. The album was released nationally through Sonic Boom Recordings in early 2005 and released in Japan in 2005 on Side-Out Records. U.S.E continued to tour the U.S. extensively with The Presidents of the United States of America, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, The Hold Steady, Aqueduct, Schoolyard Heroes, The Divorce and many more. After "IT IS ON!" reached No. 4 on the Japanese music charts, U.S.E made three trips to Japan in 2005, including the 2005 Fuji Rock Festival and played the Sasquatch! Music Festival in Central Washington.