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Biography
Distinguish|Band of HorsesInfobox musical artist | name = Horse the Band| image = HTB Photo 1.jpg| caption = Horse the Band in 2009. Pictured from left to right : Nathan Winneke, David Isen, Erik Engstrom, Daniel Pouliot.| image_size =| background = group_or_band| origin = Lake Forest, California|Lake Forest , California , United States | genre = Nintendocore , metalcore , electronicore | years_active = 1999& ndash;present| label = Combat Records|Combat , Koch Entertainment|Koch , Pluto Records|Pluto , LIF, Vagrant Records|Vagrant , Roadrunner Records|Roadrunner | associated_acts = Silver Snakes, K-Slax, Cathedrals, Polygraph, Bleeding Kansas, Demonora, End on End The Sawtooth Grin , Nihil, Skrillex | website = http://www.horsetheband.com www.horsetheband.com| current_members =Nathan Winneke Erik Engstrom David Isen Daniel Pouliot Jeremiah Bignell | past_members = Jason Karuza Andy Stokes Adam Crook Dashiel Arkenstone Eli Green Chris Prophet Horse the Band is a band from Lake Forest, California who are best known for their 8-bit Nintendo -influenced sound combined with metalcore . Frontman Nathan Winneke once described their sound as " Nintendocore ," although the band have gone to lengths reiterating that this merely describes the sound, not the substance.
Biography
HORSE the Band was started in Lake Forest, California|Lake Forest, CA in 1999 while founding members Erik Engstrom and David Isen were attending El Toro High School . The band were originally to be called The Mexican Economy, however in an effort to avoid being viewed as racist, the moniker HORSE The Band was eventually adopted. The name had to be altered further to prevent copyright issues from becoming another problem (a woman with the name of "Horse"); and so it was that HORSE The Band was born. The band booked its own parental financed tours starting the summer of 2002, including a 3-month tour spanning seven countries. With a carefully maintained web presence including their MP3.com and Myspace accounts, they successfully accrued a minor cult following.
In the summer of 2004, they embarked upon the HORSE the World Tour 2004, giving way to 85 shows in 90 days, spanning seven countries throughout North America and Europe. Early 2008 saw the band planning Horse the Band Earth Tour that would travel to 40 countries starting in early March. The band stated "we've become disillusioned, bad-attitude nerds and pariahs of the established music industry." http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php? t=290848 "Horse the Band Need Your Help Booking Tour." AbsolutePunk . January 21, 2008. They asked for their fans' help booking shows in most places, with no intention of bringing other bands with them. The band booked the tour themselves, and played mostly unpromoted shows in 45 countries, starting with Australia and culminating with Ireland. Of the Asian shows, many were performed without financial compensation (short of merchandise sales), leaving the band heavily reliant upon their European shows for financial recompense. Furthermore, roughly 10% of the shows "fell through," in one such instance due to Greek Neo-Nazis torching the venue. The band also expressed anxiety regarding some shows, most notably those in Belarus wherein they were the first band in 5 years (since Cannibal Corpse) to play there, but ultimately no problems arose and the shows were a great success, the band even returning there soon after.
The band's line-up has fluctuated continuously throughout its existence. In February 2008, it was announced that Chris Prophet had been fired and that Jon Karel from The Number 12 Looks Like You would be temporarily replacing him on drums for the duration of the Earth Tour. In July 2008 the band stated that long-time band friend Daniel Pouliot of Bleeding Kansas had joined as the band's full time drummer. On December 3, 2008, the band announced that Dash Arkenstone would be leaving the band, though he remains on good terms with the other members and has since attended local shows. In Dash Arkenstone's absence, Brian Grover (of Thriller) filled in on bass during live shows and contributed to Desperate Living, with Jeremiah Bignell now acting as their permanent bassist.
On February 2, 2009 Horse the Band signed to Vagrant Records . In an interview they stated that they had been trying to get onto that label for nine years. http://www.vagrant.com/artist/index/51
Horse the Band's latest album Desperate Living (album)|Desperate Living was released on October 6, 2009 to wide critical acclaim, many band members claiming it to be their crowning achievement thus far. http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm? fuseaction=blog.view& friendID=4085991& blogID=501438806 http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php? t=968222 Horse The Band Begin Recording Due to financial pressure and other lif-oriented obstacles, the group are currently taking a break from touring and recording, their first break in over six years. According to rumours, the band-members have stated that HORSE is very healthy, but not especially high on their respective lists of priorities.
Current projects
Horse the Band have recently signed a deal with Vagrant Records for the year 2009 and beyond. The deal doesn't cover recording costs, promotion, nor touring costs. http://www.vagrant.com/artist/index/51 "Horse The Band Artist Information" "Vagrant Records".
In 2010 they embarked on "The Reigns in Africa Tour" which began in late March and extended into April. The tour will consist of 12 shows in 17 days. They are headlining shows in South Africa and Mozambique. http://www.horsetour.wordpress.com
In late summer 2010 the band issued a limited 6 DVD, personalized Hardcover book covering their Earth Tour 2008. It was available through pre-order only. Ten left over copies were sold on Ebay, some reaching at over $600.00. The tour book is currently sold out with no plans for future reproduction. http://www.horsethebandearthtour.com/
Horse the Band headlined a U.S. tour entitled "I'm Miserable" starting May 6 in Arizona, in support of the Earth Tour 2008 DVD release. Supporting bands included Endless Hallway and Oceana. The last seven shows were canceled, due to Isen needing immediate eye surgery. http://www.facebook.com/horsetheband? ref=ts
Horse the Band was scheduled to play at the 2011 South by Southwest music festival. They were part of the second round of invites, and played to a sold out crowd. http://sxsw.com/music/shows/bands
Horse the Band played at four festivals in the 2011 year, the 2011 Ieperfest in Ypres , Belgium , Germany Berlin Magnet, Brutal Assault in Fortress Josefov|Josefov , Czech Republic , and Germany Oberhausen Olgas Rock Fest.
On January 8th 2012, Horse the Band played a one-off show in Los Angeles, California (their first show in America in two years). Many fans waited outside the at capacity club during the set, hoping to be let in. http://www.facebook.com/horsetheband? ref=ts According to a February interview, the show "felt great," and was a "triumphant return." http://www.underthegunreview.net/2012/02/13/utg-interview-horse-the-band/. The band recently alluded via their Facebook page that an October tour could be underway, with long-awaited South American dates in tow. https://www.facebook.com/horsetheband/posts/10150763362500685
Lyrical concepts
Horse the Band's lyrics are usually metaphors for vocalist Nathan Winneke's life, often with abstract pop culture reference titles. Winneke has referred to his style on multiple occasions as "Lynchian," in reference to his favorite film director, David Lynch and his obtuse narrative style.
The band jokingly labeled themselves "Nintendocore" very early on in their career in reference to the synth sound they had adopted. Some video game characters that are metaphorically referred to include Cut Man from Mega Man , although the song is spelled "Cutsman" because the song was about a childhood friend Winneke grew up with and that was how they had said the character's name in youth; " Birdo ", one of the bosses from the NES game Super Mario Bros. 2 , in the song "Birdo" which was actually about Winneke's distaste for eggs and traumatic experiences with his stepfather early in his life ; and the rabbit-like nemesis from The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The Legend of Zelda in the song "Pol's Voice" which is about Winneke's early loathing of the sound of his own voice. Similarly, the song "A Million Exploding Suns" refers to the Marvel Comics character Sentry (Robert Reynolds)|Sentry , a schizophrenia|schizophrenic and agoraphobia|agoraphobic hero with this abundance of power, pertaining to Winneke's double life as a musician and as a video rental clerk.
2007's A Natural Death featured significant lyrical and musical evolution into the concepts of nature and mortality while moving slightly away from the Nintendo metaphors. The song "Murder" is inspired by the miniseries Lonesome Dove , in which a Native American named Blue Duck (Lonesome Dove series)|Blue Duck stalks and kills white settlers on the plains. "Hyperborea" as a reference to Robert E. Howard's original "Conan" pulp fantasy stories from the 30s, and "The Red Tornado," a DC comics character from the company of which Winneke is such an open enthusiast.
In HORSE's Earth Tour saga, Winneke is quoted as saying that nothing the band does is for "funny," and he would never leave his family for three months for "funny" or "nintendocore."
2009's Desperate Living is likely the band's most accomplished record musically. Its themes are also somewhat more difficult to pinpoint, but seem to reflect a breadth of social and cultural experience gained from living in Lake Forest. Songs like "Horse The Song" reflect a disillusionment with the mechanics of the music industry and the desire to break free for the sake of integrity and human connection, while songs such as "Big Business" are completely different, since "Big Business" is merely a song about a close friend to HORSE the Band. As well, dark and deeply personal themes are also explored, with some material delving deeper into Winneke's troubled psyche than arguably ever before. "The Failure of All Things" involves deep feelings of regret and beating a woman physically and "Between The Trees" contains grotesque imagery of violent self destruction. Desperate Living is an altogether complex and enigmatic record with a unifying theme of enculturation as a vehicle for the creative process, no matter how primitive, difficult or bizarre. While there are numerous references on every album, Winneke states "No song is ever what it seems....the more silly it may come off the more troubled it probably is under the surface."
Band members
col-begincol-2;Current
Erik Engstrom – keyboards, LSDJ, backing vocals (since 1999)
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