ApSci is an Australian video-centric avant pop duo with origins in indie hip hop. As individuals, their roots go back to punk rock and opera. The duo consists of
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
born,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
-bred Ra Lamotta and his
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
- Australian wife Dana Diaz-Tutaan. The duo, which has been performing together since meeting in 1998, have received added attention after being signed to underground hip hop
label
A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed d ...
Quannum Projects
Quannum Projects (also known as Quannum MCs) is an American hip hop collective based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been active since 1992, when it was formed at UC Davis under the moniker Solesides Records. It is also the name of the i ...
in 2004. The band name is a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words
History
Raphael LaMotta, previously known as Raphael Heatley, began his musical career as bassist for the
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
indie punk
Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they pr ...
group Vitapup before expanding to production work in New York City music studios. Then Sydney-based Dana Diaz-Tutaan, a classically trained singer with theater background, was heavily involved in the
Australian hip hop
Australian hip hop traces its origins to the early 1980s and is largely inspired by hip hop and other urban musical genres from the United States. As the form matured, Australian hip hop has become a commercially viable style of music which i ...
underground scene at this point, and met LaMotta through mutual friends when she travelled to NYC to complete some studio sessions with hip hop outfit Meta Bass'n'Breath. After Diaz-Tutaan relocated to NYC, the pair began playing as Applied Science in many downtown clubs such as Baby Jupiter, The
Knitting Factory
The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United States.
The Knitting Factory gave its audience poetry readings, perform ...
, CBGB's and the
Nuyorican
Nuyorican is a portmanteau of the terms "New York" and "Puerto Rican" and refers to the members or culture of the Puerto Ricans located in or around New York City, or of their descendants (especially those raised or currently living in the N ...
. In this period they met now resident
Def Jux
Definitive Jux was a record label based in New York City. It was co-founded in 1999 by El-P and Amaechi Uzoigwe.
History
Definitive Jux was initially known as Def Jux. However, popular hip hop label Def Jam Recordings sued Def Jux over the nam ...
DJ, DJ Big Wiz. Soon after they also started working with drummer Guy Licata, known for his work with
Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...
, The Collective, Dr Israel,
Hercules and Love Affair
Hercules and Love Affair is a dance music project created by American DJ, singer, composer, musician and producer Andy Butler in 2004. Consisting of a rotating cast of performers and musicians, the band work within the genres of house music, dis ...
and
Santigold
Santi White (born September 25, 1976), known professionally as Santigold (formerly Santogold), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. ''Billboard'' presented her in 2022, saying: "Spanning punk rock, hip-hop, and dance music, Sa ...
.
e
The group released their first album, ''Get It Twisted'', on Australian indie hip hop label
Elefant Traks
Elefant Traks is a record label based in Sydney, Australia, that predominantly releases Australian hip hop music. The label is distributed in Australia by Inertia Distribution.
History
1998–2008: Formation, The Herd, Urthboy, Horrorshow
El ...
on November 17, 2003, and their European EP Release of Tirade Highway in early 2004. Around this time Diaz-Tutaan signed on to work with American underground hip hop group
Blackalicious
Blackalicious was an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's soulful p ...
during the latter group's Australian tour. During the tour, the duo garnered the attention of
Blackalicious
Blackalicious was an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's soulful p ...
DJ
Chief Xcel
Blackalicious was an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's soulful pr ...
, who was impressed with their recently released CD. Chief Xcel soon signed the group to
Quannum Projects
Quannum Projects (also known as Quannum MCs) is an American hip hop collective based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been active since 1992, when it was formed at UC Davis under the moniker Solesides Records. It is also the name of the i ...
, and with his blessing ''Get It Twisted'' was re-released as '' Thanks for Asking'' on July 26, 2005. The new version of the album was primarily produced by LaMotta and features guest spots by Big Wiz's Def Jux labelmate Mr. Lif, Tunde of
TV On The Radio
TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), David Andrew Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and ...
, Martin Perna of ntibalasand Pigeon John (Quannum Projects). During their European tours they've played outdoor festivals such as the well-known
Eurockéennes
The Eurockéennes de Belfort (; en, Eurockeans of Belfort) are one of France's largest rock music festivals. The Eurockéennes, a play on words involving ''rock'' (rock music) and ''européennes'' (Europeans), is a festival based in a nature res ...
Festival, where they picked up French-based DJ Gero, DMC France Champion.
In 2006, Diaz-Tutaan was asked to play the lead role of
Imelda Marcos
Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitacion Trinidad Romualdez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who served as the First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power during the Dictators ...
in
Here Lies Love
''Here Lies Love'' is a concept album and rock musical made in collaboration between David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, about the life of the former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos along with the woman who raised her—Estrella Cumpas—a ...
, a musical collaboration with
David Byrne
David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...
&
Fat Boy Slim
Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...
. Diaz-Tutaan performed alongside Byrne at the premier of the musical in the Adelaide Festival.
Over 2007 ApSci continued to do shows throughout Europe, U.S., Asia and Australia including recent headlining the 2007
Pyramid Rock Festival
The Pyramid Rock Festival was an Australian New Year's Eve camp-out rock music festival at Ventnor on Phillip Island. The original festival in 2004 was organised by local resident, Angus Cameron, and his two cousins.
History
Beginning as a sing ...
for NYE. They have reportedly been working on their sophomore record due Winter 08 on Quannum Projects.
LaMotta featured on the
Plump DJs
Plump DJs are an English dance music duo consisting of Lee Rous and Andy Gardner, considered to be early pioneers of the breakbeat genre in late 1990s. Throughout the 2000s, they have been very prolific creatively, releasing many celebrated und ...
single 'Shifting Gears'.
In 2009 ApSci released 'Best Crisis Ever' on Quannum Projects. The first single & video 'Under Control' was shot entirely with an iPhone and garnered attention from Wired.com. The second single 'Crazy Crazy Insane' was featured in a Time Warner Cable commercial and the song's video was featured on YouTube's homepage.
Discography
Studio albums
*''Get It Twisted'' (2003, Elefant Traks)
*'' Thanks for Asking'' (2005, Quannum Projects)
*'' Best Crisis Ever'' (2009, Quannum Projects)