Spacebait: the Nightcrawlers' Cosmic Allure
by Bob Morris
When people fall asleep at a Nightcrawlers concert, the band takes
it as a compliment. Y'see, they play "cosmic floating space music" and
if someone should feel so transported that they curl up into a ball
beside the stage and float away . . . well, that's what it's all about.
Like a lot of electronic music bands, the Nightcrawlers are heavily
influenced by Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. Influenced, yes.
Imitative, no. Their music is lush, almost symphonic, sometimes dreamy,
sometimes full of grandeur. Yet, at the core, there remains depth and
emotion -- and this is what sets the band apart from other "colder"
electronic music groups. Their music may be entirely electronic, but it
still has feeling to it. The Nightcrawlers, while owning a self-built
studio and large arsenal of electronic equipment, have the ability to
make their computers reflect the feelings and moods that they want to
portray.
Founder Peter Gulch is perfectly aware of what sets his unit apart
from others of their ilk, both musically and in terms of their
self-sufficient operation. The band was started in 1979 by Pete and his
brother Tom Gulch. (A third member left in '81 and was replaced by Dave
Lunt, and the lineup has stayed that way ever since.) They started out
by releasing cassettes, got plugged into the indie cassette underground,
soon building quite a reputation. Over the years, they've released about
15 tapes, garnered nearly universal praise, collaborated on several other
tapes, built their own studio, and recently released their second album.
Yet, for reasons that remain obscure, the usual independent distribution
channels remain closed to them.
The 'Crawlers recorded both of their albums in their own studio,
which they built when they decided that the cost of building a studio
would probably be less than the cost of renting a studio at $50-200 an
hour to record. Not to mention the other benefits like complete artistic
control, being able to record any time they want, renting it out to other
bands, etc., etc. They are fanatics about sound quality, and having the
studio means they don't have to accept lesser quality sound as a
trade-off for costly studio time. As Peter sagely notes, "Why spend
$5000 to record an album in a studio when you can build a studio for the
same amount?
The group rejected seven test pressings of their first LP before
they got one they were happy with. They recommend that any band ensure
that they also have the same right when they go to get their record
pressed. They also urge that bands buy and memorize How to Make And Sell
Your Own Record by Diane Rappaport, and to get a lawyer because as Pete
has found, "without one you can end up worse than if you'd done nothing
at all."
Their first (self-titled) album was released on their own label.
Their second LP, Spacewalk, is on Atmosphere, a Philadelphia label. Pete
feels that the big advantage to having a contract is that "someone pays
you to do the album rather than having to shell out a lot of money
yourself to do it." On the first record, the songs are shorter, more
structured, and contain more sequencer work than the second album, which
is more diversified, more "laid-back and floating," and which the band
considers their best yet. "Space Walk" takes up an entire 25 minute side
of the second album, and is perhaps the epitome of Nightcrawlers music.
It also marks their almost complete discontinuation of analog
instruments. With the exception of one synth that sometimes uses analog
sound, everything they do now is digital. Peaceful, introspective and
expressive, their music avoids the pitfalls of New Age mindlessness and
of over-reliance on electronic gadgetry at the cost of creativity.
After the Nightcrawlers got their first album back from the pressing
plant, they were faced with the question that has plagued many an indie
band: "I've got 1000 albums in the living room, what do I do next?" Sell
'em, that's what. All of the band hold day jobs, but they found time to
work 2-3 nights a week on the business end of things; mailing out promos
"by the truckload," contacting magazines and radio stations, selling the
album to local stores and by mail order, and so on. Since they've built
up a sizable local following, they've found that their own concerts are
one of the best places to sell their album.
Tom and Dave have been taking classical piano and music theory
lessons for years, and that influence is showing up in the Nightcrawlers'
music. That, and their increasingly heavy reliance on MIDI
instrumentation, are the main indicators of their future sound. When
they record, they use their full array of instruments, and "everything is
MIDI-fied with an 8-track sequencer running 8 modules," with a battalion
or two of synths and outboard effects bringing up the rear. However,
when they play concerts, they only bring two synths and a drum machine
and do a lot of improvising over basic sequences, with the result that no
two concerts are the same or even similar.
Although they've continued to record tapes even after releasing
their records, they decided to do albums when they realized that "in
radio, you're just not considered a legitimate act until you do an album.
An LP legitimizes your act and then people consider you professionals."
(Do I hear the gnashing of teeth coming from the cassette underground?)
That may not be fair, but it is true.
The Nightcrawlers have gotten airplay, maybe not as much as a band
of their caliber deserves, but then electronic music never seems to fit
the "formats." The band seems oblivious to the trends and cross-currents
swirling around most indie music, prefering to follow their own muse and
make the kind of music that they enjoy making -- an extraordinarily fine
"cosmic floating space music."
Peter Gulch, 1493 Greenwood Ave., Camden, NJ 08103
This page first constructed by Steven Feldman
<scfeldman@juno.com>
4/18/00. Last update: 10/17/01.
