Purr Machine are an American

electro-industrial Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound ...

group based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, and comprising guitarist Kirk Hellie, bassist Kevin Kipnis and vocalist Betsy Martin. They band were known for their atmospheric blend of

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 came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

gothic music Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

and

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten and Chrom ...

. With Kevin Kipnis serving as their main songwriter and programmer, Purr Machine released '' Speak Clearly'' and '' Ging Ging'' respectively in 1999 and 2000 for

Re-Constriction Records Re-Constriction Records was a division of Cargo Music based in California. The record label, label was founded in 1992 and headed by Chase, who was previously the Music Director at KCR (AM), KCR, a student radio station on the campus of San Dieg ...

. Purr Machine's second studio album '' Starry'' was released in 2007 by No Bliss Lost Records.

History

Purr Machine was formed in 1996

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

by bassist Kevin Kipnis and vocalist Betsy Martin, both of whom were recording as a duo under the name Kore. The idea for the band name Purr Machine was conceived by Betsy Martin in relation to her obsession with cats. Previously Betsy Martin had been in the Phoenix-based band Caterwaul and later Drumatic, while Kevin Kipnis was recognized for his work with the seminal

death rock Deathrock (or death rock) is a rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, prima ...

group Kommunity FK. Guitarist Kirk Hellie of Pink Noise Test later joined the duo to record the EP '' Speak Clearly'' for

, which contained "

Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" is a song written by American musician Neil Diamond, whose recording of it on Bang Records reached number 10 on the US pop singles chart in 1967. The song enjoyed a second life when it appeared on the 1994 ''Pu ...

" from the '' Cyberpunk Fiction: A Synthcore "Soundtrack"'' with three original tracks. The band's debut studio album '' Ging Ging'' was released in 2000 and was praised for its "combination of heavy metal aggression fused with electronica soundscapes" and "moments of beauty." After a seven-year hiatus, Purr Machine released their second full-length album '' Starry'' on No Bliss Lost Records in 2007. The band collaborated with several artists on the release, including

Chris Vrenna Chris Vrenna (born February 23, 1967) is an American musician, producer, engineer, remixer, programmer, and founder of the electronic band Tweaker. Vrenna played drums for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from 1988 until 1996, and was ...

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

William Faith William Faith (born August 28, 1967) is an American goth/punk musician. He is best known for his work as part of Faith and the Muse. He is a former member of the gothic bands Rozz Williams' Christian Death, Shadow Project, Mephisto Walz and ...

Faith and the Muse Faith and the Muse is an American rock band composed of Monica Richards and William Faith. Their music encompasses many genres, from folk music to dark wave, drawing on many sources and influences, notably Dead Can Dance. Richards is the prima ...

and Statik from Collide. In 2015 Kevin Kipnis was asked to perform bass and guitar for the band Silver Ghost Shimmer fronted by John Fryer, who later collaborated with Betsy Martin on the track "Dead Star" from Black Needle Noise's 2017 album ''Before the Tears Came''. A third Purr Machine album is in production and planned for release in 2020.

Discography

;Studio albums *'' Ging Ging'' (2000, Re-Constriction) *'' Starry'' (2007, No Bliss Lost) ;EPs *'' Speak Clearly'' (1999, Re-Constriction)

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1996 1996 establishments in California Musical groups from Los Angeles American gothic rock groups Electro-industrial music groups American industrial rock musical groups Re-Constriction Records artists