Babyland was an American

performance A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Performance has evolved glo ...

-based independent

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

junk

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band from

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, ...

featuring Dan Gatto performing vocals and electronics and Michael Smith on percussion. The band released six studio albums before disbanding in 2009: '' You Suck Crap'' (1992), '' A Total Letdown'' (1994), ''

Who's Sorry Now Who's Sorry Now? may refer to: * "Who's Sorry Now?" (song), a 1923 popular song by Ted Snyder, Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby * ''Who's Sorry Now?'' (Connie Francis album), 1958 * ''Who's Sorry Now'' (album), by Marie Osmond, 1975 * ''Who's Sorry ...

'' (1995), '' Outlive Your Enemies'' (1998), ''

The Finger "The finger", or the middle finger (as in giving someone the (middle) finger, flipping the bird or flipping someone off) is an obscene hand gesture. The gesture communicates moderate to extreme contempt, and is roughly equivalent in meaning t ...

'' (2004), and '' Cavecraft'' (2008).

History

Babyland was formed in 1989 by vocalist and programmer Dan Gatto and percussionist Michael Smith from Los Angeles. They were advocates of the

DIY punk ethic "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi- ...

and part of the musical underground culture and were well regarded in Industrial music,

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

, and

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

communities. Gatto and Smith met while in college, their first collaboration being a project for a musical culture class. The duo created an audio-visual work for the class which provided the idea for starting the band. In 1991, the band released their debut EP ''

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

'' and later that year the single ''Reality Under Smrow-Toh'' on the Los Angeles

label Flipside. In 1992 the song " Mindf_" was provided to the If It Moves... compilation ''

The Cyberflesh Conspiracy ''The Cyberflesh Conspiracy'' is a various artists compilation album released in 1992 by Re-Constriction Records, If It Moves.... The theme of the album is anti-ivory, as indicated by the display of an elephant killed for its tusks on the front co ...

'' and in 1993 the band produced a cover of

Madonna's Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

" Burning Up" for the '' Shut Up Kitty: A Cyber-Based Covers Compilation'' by

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 ...

. Recordings prior to 1996 continued to be released by Flipside, including the band's first three albums: '' You Suck Crap'' (1992), '' A Total Letdown'' (1994) and ''

'' (1995). The albums were well received by critics and ''

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political r ...

'' credited the band with embodying "all the confusion, resentment, anger, and frustration felt by an entire generation." The band released their fourth album '' Outlive Your Enemies'' on Mattress Recordings in 1998. The band participated in several events in

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

for Flipside. Later material has been released by the band's own label, Mattress. The fifth full-length ''

'' and a compilation of earlier songs '' Decade One'' was released in Europe by

dependent A dependant (US spelling: dependent) is a person who relies on another as a primary source of income and usually assistance with activities of daily living Activities of daily living (ADLs) is a term used in healthcare to refer to an individ ...

. Most recently, a deal with

Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a record label that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania ...

resulted in the wider commercial release of the band's sixth album '' Cavecraft''. A post to the band's

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

site on October 9, 2009 confirmed the group's breakup 20 years after their formation. In 2013 the

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

'' Live Execution'' was released, which documented a live performance made on January 1, 2009, at The Smell in

Live performances

Known for their live performances, Babyland shared the stage with bands such as

The Offspring The Offspring is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Garden Grove, California, in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band currently consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Dexter Holland, Bryan "Dexter" Holland, ...

Ethyl Meatplow Ethyl Meatplow was an American industrial band best known for their sole album, '' Happy Days, Sweetheart'', released in 1993 by Dali Records. History Ethyl Meatplow gained media coverage for its sexually explicit, burlesque-inspired live perf ...

Grotus Grotus, stylized as G̈r̈oẗus̈, was an industrial rock band from San Francisco, active from 1989 to 1996. Their unique sound incorporated sampled ethnic instruments, two drummers, and two bassists, and featured angry but humorous lyrics. Bi ...

Legendary Pink Dots The Legendary Pink Dots (aka LPD) are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. In 1984, the band moved to Amsterdam, playing with rotating musicians and having, as core members, singer/songwriter/keyboardist Edwa ...

Dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

Foetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Prenatal development is a ...

Add N to (X) Add N to (X) were an English electronic music band formed in London in 1994. The original members were Andrew Aveling, Barry Smith (aka Barry 7) and Ann Shenton. Steven Claydon replaced Aveling in 1997. After several releases on small labels ...

Nitzer Ebb Nitzer Ebb () are an English electronic body music, EBM group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Bon Harris, Vaughan "Bon" Harris (programming, synthesizers, drums, vocals), Douglas McCarthy (vocals), and David Gooday (drums). The band were ...

VNV Nation VNV Nation, also known as Victory Not Vengeance, are a British-Irish electronic music group formed in London and led by Ronan Harris in the roles of singer, songwriter and producer, with live members being keyboardists Mike Wimer and David Ger ...

, and

Psychic TV Psychic TV (aka PTV or Psychick TV or several other aliases) were an English experimental music, experimental video art and music collective, formed by performance artist Genesis P-Orridge and Scottish musician Alex Fergusson (musician), Alex ...

. Most of their live performances occurred in underground locations including LA's

Jabberjaw ''Jabberjaw'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired 16 original episodes on ABC from September 11 to December 18, 1976. Reruns continued on ABC until September 3, ...

, Kontrol Faktory,

The Smell The Smell is an all-ages, alcohol and drug-free, punk rock and experimental music venue in Downtown Los Angeles, California. The Smell, notable for its DIY ethic, is home to many of the area's avant-garde performers and artists. The venue is main ...

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

Bogart's Bogart's is a music venue located in the Corryville, Cincinnati, Ohio, Corryville neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, near the University of Cincinnati, across Vine Street from the former Sudsy Malone's Rock 'n Roll Laundry & Bar. History The venu ...

, and

924 Gilman The Alternative Music Foundation located at 924 Gilman Street, almost exclusively referred to as "Gilman", is a non-profit, all-ages, collectively organized music club. It is located in the West Berkeley area of Berkeley, California. Gilman is ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. Many of their shows integrated an industrial music ethic that involved building sets with items like scaffolding and functional televisions, which the band destroyed with hand and power tools over the course of the show.

Other projects

In between recording for Babyland, Gatto formed Recliner with Daniel Vahnke, a composer on

Vampire Rodents Vampire Rodents was a sound collage and experimental music ensemble based out of Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona, although its core members originally came from Canada. The creative nucleus of the project comprised vocalist and composer Danie ...

and produced "Trilobite" and "Nosedive", songs which appeared on the 1993 compilation '' Rivet Head Culture''. Both compositions appeared on Vampire Rodents' third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'' Lullaby Land'' later that year. Another collaboration by Recliner was recorded and titled "

Zygote A zygote (; , ) is a eukaryote, eukaryotic cell (biology), cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes. The zygote's genome is a combination of the DNA in each gamete, and contains all of the genetic information of a new individ ...

", released on the 1994 compilation '' Scavengers in the Matrix'' and later on Vampire Rodents' fourth album ''

Clockseed ''Clockseed'' is the fourth studio album by Vampire Rodents, released on April 7, 1995, by Re-Constriction Records. Music and lyrics ''Clockseed'' has a larger number of guest vocalists than its predecessor, with Daniel handling vocal duties ...

'' in 1995. In 2012 vocalist Dan Gatto released a

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

project called ''

Continues ''Live Tour: Continues'' () is the fourth live video album by Japanese singer-songwriter and musician Gen Hoshino. It was released on January 10, 2018, via Speedstar Records in DVD and Blu-ray formats. The album is a video release of the final sh ...

''.

Discography

Studio albums * '' You Suck Crap'' ( Flipside, 1992) * '' A Total Letdown'' (Flipside, 1994) * ''

'' (Flipside, 1995) * '' Outlive Your Enemies'' (Mattress, 1998) * ''

'' (

Dependent A dependant (US spelling: dependent) is a person who relies on another as a primary source of income and usually assistance with activities of daily living Activities of daily living (ADLs) is a term used in healthcare to refer to an individ ...

/Mattress, 2004) * '' Cavecraft'' (Mattress, 2008) Extended plays * ''

'' ( Flipside, 1991) * '' The Dogsnatcher EP'' (Flipside, 1992) * ''

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

'' (Mattress, 2002) * ''

Past Lives Past lives is a reference to reincarnation. Past Lives may also refer to: Music * Past Lives (band), an American post-punk band Albums * ''Past Lives – The Best of the RCA Years'', a compilation by the British musical group Level 42, 2007 ...

'' (Mattress, 2004) * '' Not Modern'' (Mattress, 2008) Live albums * '' LIVE EXECUTION'' (Mattress, 2013) Compilation albums * '' Decade One'' (Dependent, 2001) Singles * ''Reality Under Smrow-Toh'' (Flipside, 1992) * ''Stomach'' (Flipside, 1993)

References

External links

* * * * * {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1989 Musical groups disestablished in 2009 1989 establishments in California 2009 disestablishments in California Musical groups from Los Angeles American electro-industrial music groups American industrial rock musical groups American electronic body music groups Dependent Records artists Metropolis Records artists