Cock E.S.P. is a band based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group draws on the most extreme, subversive and absurdist elements of both popular and experimental

twentieth century music The following Wikipedia articles deal with 20th-century music. Western art music Main articles *20th-century classical music *Contemporary classical music, covering the period Sub-topics * Aleatoric music * Electronic music *Experimental music * ...

and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

, creating abstract high-energy entertainment. Influences include noise music, punk rock, improvised

free-jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians durin ...

Japanoise , a portmanteau of "Japanese" and "noise", is the noise music scene of Japan. Nick Cain of ''The Wire'' identifies the "primacy of Japanese Noise artists like Merzbow, Hijokaidan and Incapacitants as one of the major developments in noise music ...

industrial hardcore Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam ...

and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to ...

History

Although the group has dabbled in various musical styles and techniques over the years, the most recent has involved the showcasing and amplifying of mistakes and equipment failures. E.S.P. began to feel that such unintended sounds actually had a greater capacity for chaos and intensity than those sounds they actually wished to create. Thus, recent studio recordings were edited to isolate and emphasize these sounds, creating an intricate web of pure noise. The group's live performance has evolved drastically over the years, starting out as a standard recital of the recorded music, and eventually ending up as a drunken absurdist theatrical production utilizing homemade costumes, props and elaborate stage lighting set-ups; combining the elements of

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

’s "

Jackass A jackass is a male donkey, or a person who is rude or foolish. Jackass may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Jackass'' (franchise), an American reality series ** '' Jackass: The Movie'', the first film in the ''Jackass'' film series ** '' J ...

" with a literally crippling level of ineptitude. On a recent 2011 tour the group introduced an all wireless setup which allow not only greater freedom-of-movement but created another level of uncertainty with all manor of radio stations, shortwave, CB and other unintended electronic interference to play a role, including bizarre interactions between E.S.P. performers' signals. Cock E.S.P. is often noted for injecting comedic and absurdist elements into their; the result of an ever-increasing level of hard work and professionalism. Despite releasing dozens of lo-fidelity demo cassettes in their early days that tend to consist of long, utterly lazy-sounding static tracks of heavily distorted low- to mid-range noise that sound like no one was paying any attention to any aspect of them, the group now embraces production values. The roots of ESP date back to 1984, when founding member

P.C. Hammeroids PC or pc may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Player character or playable character, a fictional character controlled by a human player, usually in role-playing games or computer games * '' Port Charles'', an American daytime TV soap opera * ...

organized a metal-percussion noise ensemble called

Grandpa Eats Goat Cheese Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetics, ge ...

. Over the next nine years, Hammeroids recorded and performed under several names, adding more and more electronic noise to the mix. In 1993 Hammeroids joined forces with Emil Hagstrom (of

Wrong A wrong (from Old English – 'crooked') is an act that is illegal or immoral. Legal wrongs are usually quite clearly defined in the law of a state and/or jurisdiction. They can be divided into civil wrongs and crimes (or ''criminal offenses'' ...

),Raggett, Ned "

Excessive Size Punisher'' Review Excess may refer to: * Angle excess, in spherical trigonometry * Insurance excess, similar to a deductible * Excess, in chemistry, a reagent that is not the limiting reagent * "Excess", a song by Tricky from the album ''Blowback (album), Blowback' ...

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Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

'', Macrovision Corporation beginning the project which would soon become known as Cock E.S.P. The name of the group appears to have been derived from one of the track titles of an album by the Japanese noise band

Hanatarash Hanatarashi (), meaning "sniveler" or "snot-nosed" in Japanese, was a noise band created by later Boredoms frontman Yamantaka Eye and featured Zeni Geva guitarist Mitsuru Tabata. The outfit was formed in Osaka, Japan in 1984 after Eye and Taba ...

. Hammeroids retired in 1996 and was replaced later that year by

Matt Bacon Matthew Boyce Bacon (born 13 April 1993) is a New Zealand cricketer who plays for Otago. He was born at Auckland in 1993. Bacon made his first-class debut in February 2016 in the 2015–16 Plunket Shield for Wellington against Otago. After mak ...

Elyse Perez Elise or Elyse may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Elise, the unidentified person to whom Beethoven dedicated ''Für Elise'' * ''Elise'', a 1979 speculative fiction novel by Ken Grimwood * ''Élise ou la vraie vie'' (''Elise, or the Real Life' ...

(

Laundry Room Squelchers Laundry refers to the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with ...

) became the permanent third member in 2001. Guest members over the years have included

Weasel Walter Weasel Walter (born Christopher Todd Walter, May 18, 1972) is an American composer, improviser, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of ugEXPLODE Records. Walter's work has been informed by techniques and traditions of music including Av ...

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Flying Luttenbachers The Flying Luttenbachers is an American instrumental unit led by multi-instrumentalist/ composer/improviser/ producer Weasel Walter. The Flying Luttenbachers have created a body of work focused on musical extremity and dissonance. Over the cour ...

XBXRX XBXRX is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Mobile, Alabama, United States. Their early sound was no wave-influenced, but became more improvised and deconstructed, moving away from using the synthesizers that typify new wave. They are a ...

Rat Bastard Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' ( bandico ...

( Laundryroom Squelchers,

Scraping Teeth Scrape, scraper or scraping may refer to: Biology and medicine * Abrasion (medical), a type of injury * Scraper (biology), grazer-scraper, a water animal that feeds on stones and other substrates by grazing algae, microorganism and other matter ...

Misty Martinez Misty may refer to: Music * ''Misty'' (Ray Stevens album), an album by Ray Stevens featuring the above song * ''Misty'' (Richard "Groove" Holmes album), an album by Richard "Groove" Holmes featuring the above song * ''Misty'' (Eddie "Lockjaw" ...

, La Persona ( BunnyBrains,

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), Paige Flash, John Vance (

, Rexor), and Kazko Peasmith (

Insect Deli Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jo ...

, Winter Carousel). Cock E.S.P. has given more than 150 performances throughout the US and Europe in various rock and jazz clubs, punk houses, theatres, festival stages, art galleries, record stores and warehouse performance spaces. The group has collaborated with such artists as

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. M ...

Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...

, The Eugenics Council, and

Aube Aube () is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of th ...

Wolf Eyes __NOTOC__ Wolf Eyes is an American experimental music group from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1996 by Nate Young. Currently a duo, Wolf Eyes are a prominent act within contemporary noise music. They have collaborated with a variety of artists fro ...

Hair Police Hair Police is an American band based out of Lexington, Kentucky, that formed in 2001. They have released records through labels such as Troubleman Unlimited, Hanson Records, Gods of Tundra, Freedom From, and Hospital Productions. They have ...

Borbetomagus Borbetomagus are a free jazz/noise rock group. They are cited by critics as pioneers of aggressive improvised noise music. Biography Borbetomagus formed in 1979 when saxophone players Jim Sauter and Don Dietrich joined with electric guitari ...

Stereolab Stereolab are an Anglo-French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's music combines influences from krautrock, lounge and 1960s pop music, often incorporating a re ...

, Impaler,

Melt-Banana Melt-Banana is a Japanese noise rock band that is known for playing extremely fast noise rock mixed with experimental, electronica and pop-based song structures. Since forming in 1992 the band has released ten albums and toured worldwide extensi ...

Caroliner Rainbow Caroliner, a group formed in 1983 in San Francisco, is an industrial bluegrass–experimental–Noise conceptual art band that uses instruments from bluegrass and rock traditions, as well as homemade electronics and other modified instruments. In ...

, BunnyBrains,

Illusion of Safety An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may o ...

Sudden Infant James Green aka "Sudden" is a fictional character created by an English author Oliver Strange in the early 1930s as the hero of a series, originally published by George Newnes Books Ltd, set in the American Wild West era. Oliver Strange died i ...

V/Vm V/Vm is the experimental music and sound collage project of Leyland James Kirby, from Stockport, England. Although starting out mainly in the style of noise music, Kirby is also a composer of original electronic music and remixes. His vast ou ...

and the

Nihilist Spasm Band The Nihilist Spasm Band (NSB) is a Canadian noise band formed in 1965 in London, Ontario. The band was founded by Hugh McIntyre, John Clement, John Boyle, Bill Exley, Murray Favro, Archie Leitch, Art Pratten, and Greg Curnoe. Leitch has since ...

; and has appeared on compilation releases with such artists as

Andrew W.K. Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier (born May 9, 1979), known professionally as Andrew W.K., is an American conceptual Performance Artist, performance artist, Rock music, rock singer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor. Raised in Michi ...

, Derek Bailey,

the Haters The Haters are a noise music and conceptual art troupe from the United States. Founded in 1979, they are one of the earliest acts in the modern noise scene. The group is primarily the work of the Hollywood, California-based musician, artist, ...

Bruce Gilbert Bruce Clifford Gilbert (born 18 May 1946) is an English musician. One of the founding members of the influential and experimental art punk band Wire,Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 180-182 he branched ...

, Today is the Day, Reynols,

Harvey Sid Fisher Harvey Sid Fisher is a singer, songwriter, musician, actor, model, and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and performing mostly humorous songs about astrology, golf, the battle of the sexes, quitting smoking, the F-word, and wanting ...

Bomb20 A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mecha ...

Jansky Noise The jansky (symbol Jy, plural ''janskys'') is a non- SI unit of spectral flux density, or spectral irradiance, used especially in radio astronomy. It is equivalent to 10−26 watts per square metre per hertz. The ''flux density'' or ''mo ...

Quintron Quintron (real name Robert Rolston; born c. 1967 in Germany) is an American musician and leader of the eponymous one-man-band, "Quintron". He is a nightclub organist and inventor, who has patented a number of his own inventions and often perfor ...

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His Name Is Alive His Name Is Alive is an American experimental rock band/project from Livonia, Michigan. After several self-released cassettes, they debuted on 4AD Records in 1990, starting a long run at the label. Throughout the band's long history, leader Warre ...

Jad Fair Jad Fair (born June 9, 1954) is an American singer, guitarist, graphic artist, and founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese. Biography Fair was born in Coldwater, Michigan. In 1974, he and his brother David formed the lo-fi ...

, John Oswald,

Masonna , better known by his stage name Masonna, is a Japanese noise musician. He was born on November 16, 1966, in Miyazu, Kyoto, Japan. was started in 1987 in Osaka as Maso Yamazaki's noise project. The name is a combination of the Japanese word ...

Hijo Kaidan is a Japanese noise and free improvisation group with a revolving lineup that has ranged from two members to as many as fourteen in its early days. The group is the project of guitarist , its one constant member, who is head and owner of the ...

Lasse Marhaug Lasse Marhaug (born 10 September 1974) is a Norwegian musician who primarily works in the field of noise music but frequently drifts into other areas such as improvisation, jazz, rock and extreme metal. Marhaug has also been involved in creatin ...

and

Free Kitten Free Kitten is an American alternative rock band formed by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Pussy Galore's Julia Cafritz. Originally performing as Kitten, they changed their name after receiving threats of legal action by a heavy metal singer perfo ...

. The group celebrated their 10th anniversary in autumn 2003 by releasing their second greatest hits collection, a remix CD, their first DVD, and by doing a three-week US tour. In early 2004 they released their third collection of greatest hits, and did a short tour featuring the "classic" Bacon/Hagstrom duo line-up. In addition to Cock E.S.P., members have played in a variety of intriguing side-projects.

has been a drummer, bassist and vocalist with a number of punk, metal and industrial bands including

Zenith Flytrap The zenith (, ) is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction ( plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location ( nadir). The zenith is the "highe ...

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and

Broke Box Broke may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Film and television * ''Broke'' (1991 film), a 1991 British television film by Stephen Bill in the anthology series ''ScreenPlay'' *Broke (2009 film), a Canadian documentary film * ''Broke*'', a ...

(which was once described by

Peter Sotos Peter Sotos (born April 17, 1960) is an American writer and musician. In his books, Sotos examines sadistic sexual criminals and sexually violent pornography, particularly involving children. His writings are interpreted by some as commenting ...

Whitehouse Whitehouse may refer to: People * Charles S. Whitehouse (1921-2001), American diplomat * Cornelius Whitehouse (1796–1883), English engineer and inventor * E. Sheldon Whitehouse (1883-1965), American diplomat * Elliott Whitehouse (born 1993) ...

as being "Great!")

Emil Hagstrom Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau *Émile (novel), ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil an ...

is also a member of the free-improv ensemble

WRONG A wrong (from Old English – 'crooked') is an act that is illegal or immoral. Legal wrongs are usually quite clearly defined in the law of a state and/or jurisdiction. They can be divided into civil wrongs and crimes (or ''criminal offenses'' ...

, and the dark electro-acoustic project

Origami Genitalia ) is the Japanese art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a f ...

performs no wave and punk with such bands as the Real Band and Fancy & Stink. In 2004, Cock E.S.P. released an album jointly with

Panicsville Panicsville is a Chicago noise music group founded in 1992 by Andy Ortmann (founder of Nihilist Records) with David Forquer and Ryan Kohler. It has become an ongoing project for Ortmann to work with other musicians. Early shows consisted of pel ...

, ''Last Train to Cocksville'', a 'tribute' to

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

.Strohm, Adam (2004)
Dusted Reviews - Cock E.S.P. / Panicsville: ''Last Train To Cocksville''
, ''Dusted''

Members

*Emil Hagstrom *Elyse Perez *Matt Bacon *Paige Flash *John Vance *Jason Wade *NoNo Vetsch *Jaime Carrera (deceased) *Nicole Rode *Greg Anderson *Mike Etoll *Tim Carrol *Caroline from Ohio *Caitlin Karolczak *Tong Rue Lette

Discography

Cock E.S.P.'s extensiv

can be found on their official website.

Albums

*''We mean It This Time'' (1999) Blackbean & Placenta *''Excessive Size Punisher'' (2000) Fever Pitch *''Hurts So Good: The Painful Remixes'' (2003) Offal *''Cockworld'' Little Mafia *''Last Train to Cocksville'' Little Mafia (with

)

Singles

*''

Music for Man With No Name This is a comprehensive discography of the Japanese noise musician Masami Akita, best known for his project Merzbow. Since 1980 he has released hundreds of recordings, collaborated with dozens of musicians, contributed over two hundred exclusive ...

'' (1994)

Compilation appearances

*"I Lied About Your Band So I Could Drink Beer For Free" on ''

Brainwaves Neural oscillations, or brainwaves, are rhythmic or repetitive patterns of neural activity in the central nervous system. Neural tissue can generate oscillatory activity in many ways, driven either by mechanisms within individual neurons or by ...

'' (2006) *

OvO ''OVO'' (also released as ''OVO: The Millennium Show'') is a soundtrack album by English singer-songwriter and musician Peter Gabriel and his eleventh album overall. It was released on 12 June 2000 by Real World Records as the soundtrack to ...

Cock ESP Cock E.S.P. is a band based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group draws on the most extreme, subversive and absurdist elements of both popular and experimental twentieth century music and performance art, creating abstract high-energy entertainmen ...

split 7” on Little Mafia (2006)

Audio

Samples of Cock E.S.P.'s musical output can be foun
here

References

Cock E.S.P press clippings

Related web sites

Cock ESP Official siteEmil's siteVideo documentary of a 2019 show in Fargo NDCock E.S.P. Live August 23, 2019. Columbus, Ohio.
{{Authority control American experimental musical groups American noise rock music groups Little Mafia Records artists