Saturday, July 06, 2024

July 6, 2024 Update

 

Hi. I'm getting ready to head to New York with BLOODYMINDED for the two-day event organized by Justin and Matt and Thousands of Dead Gods. It'll be at TVEye. Advance tickets for Friday night are gone, but the venue said there'll be limited tickets at the door.

I was just in Italy and I was so happy to spend a lot of time with old friends, bandmates, collaborators... including Paolo Bandera, Andrea Chiaravalli, and Andrea Cernotto. We discussed upcoming releases and future plans, and I delivered CDs of current and upcoming releases.

In case you missed my last email with the press release from EarsplitPR, my forthcoming album with my friend JR (Wrekmeister Harmonies) - as The Mercury Impulse - was announced. We're excited for people to hear it and we've got one song streaming now on our Bandcamp page.

Things continue to be busy, especially in the production/pressing realm, and I've dropped more details below.

Thanks for reading!
Mark

 

Anatomy of Habit

Formed in Chicago in 2008, ANATOMY OF HABIT has been described as a hybrid of doom metal, post-punk, death-rock, early-industrial, psychedelic, and shoegaze. Although they’ve experienced significant membership changes since forming, today’s band, which includes Alex Latus (guitar), Isidro Reyes (metal percussion), Skyler Rowe (drums), Mark Solotroff (vocals), and Sam Wagster (bass + lap steel), represents their longest-standing and most prolific lineup. The band credits their treasured chemistry to their intertwining histories as friends and collaborators. Rowe and Latus have made music together since they were teenagers, growing up in Indianapolis’ heavy music scene, while playing in the band Still. Rowe and Wagster create sweeping, pastoral instrumental music together in Mute Duo. Reyes and Solotroff are old friends who’ve played together for many years and they continue to record and perform in both BLOODYMINDED and The Fortieth Day. This deep connective tissue contributes to what the band describes as consistently effortless writing sessions and innately unified live performances.


(Photo by Matt Rahn)

Thanks to everyone who came out to see us and support us at Sleeping Village. We had a great time with Huntsmen and Without Waves!


We received our album master from Collin Jordan (The Boiler Room) and it sounds excellent! As I previously mentioned, we're putting together a special vinyl edition, along with the usual CD and cassette versions, and our friend and designer Jonathan Canady is once again collaborating with us. More news as things progress...


Website
Bandcamp
Instagram
Facebook

Spotify
 

BLOODYMINDED

BLOODYMINDED is a heavy electronic band, formed in New York, in 1995, after the dissolution of the pioneering American post- industrial noise group Intrinsic Action, founded by Mark Solotroff, in Chicago, in 1984. BLOODYMINDED’s live shows are exceptionally energetic and are characterized by physical engagement, layers of abrasive analog synthesizer, aggressive vocals, and abundant feedback.

 

This is happening on Friday and Saturday. We'll see you there...
Tickets
TV Eye
Thousands of Dead Gods

Bandcamp
Instagram
Facebook

Spotify

 

Ensemble Sacrés Garçons

Ensemble Sacrés Garçons is a post-industrial band split between Milan and Chicago and composed of Paolo L. Bandera, Andrea Chiaravalli, and Mark Solotroff. The three members are connected to numerous groups including Sigillum S, Sshe Retina Stimulants, The Sodality, Iugula-Thor, BLOODYMINDED, Intrinsic Action, Anatomy of Habit, The Fortieth Day, etc.

Coming soon...
"Sanctification: Seeing The Singularity"
Digipak CD and limited edition LP


  

The CDs (left image) are on-hand and I dropped off copies with Andrea and Paolo, while I was in Italy. Paolo is handling the vinyl pressing (right image) in Italy. It'll be a limited edition of 100 LPs. We'll be releasing both formats at the same time. That's roughly 1-2 months away...

Bandcamp
 

The Fortieth Day

The Fortieth Day is the duo of Isidro Reyes and Mark Solotroff, both key players in the heavy-electronics outfit BLOODYMINDED, a band known for its aggressive and confrontational live shows. In The Fortieth Day, Reyes and Solotroff utilize guitar, bass, drum machine, and analog synthesizer to create epic, blackened, psychedelic-industrial drone soundscapes.

Things are relatively quiet right now, while Isidro and I focus on Anatomy of Habit and BLOODYMINDED shows and releases. More to come...


https://bloodyminded.threadless.com/designs/the-fortieth-day-sigil/

        

Our last three albums are digital-only and they're available via Bandcamp and all major streaming platforms. All of our previous albums, dating back to 2006, are also available to stream. A limited number of LPs, CDs, and cassettes can be found on our Bandcamp page.
        

Bandcamp
Spotify
Apple
Tidal
YouTube

 

Intrinsic Action

Intrinsic Action was an early American power-electronics band founded by Mark Solotroff in 1984.


https://bloodyminded.threadless.com/designs/intrinsic-action-text-logo-2023-update


Bandcamp
Spotify
Apple Music

 

Mark Solotroff

Mark Solotroff formed the band Intrinsic Action in 1984 and he's a founding member of Anatomy Of Habit and BLOODYMINDED. His other bands include The Fortieth Day, A Vague Disquiet, Ensemble Sacrés Garçons, and Nightmares. He recorded 100 cassettes of analog synth music under the name Super Eight Loop and he releases synth-based and feedback system music under his own name.  

    

"Geological Plots And Subway Rifts"
My 2020 collaboration with Paolo L. Bandera (Sigillum S, Sshe Retuna Stimulants, The Sodality, Ensemble Sacrés Garçons) is now available on CD for the first time. It was previously only available digitally. CDs are available via Bandcamp page and my webstore, as well as my Discogs and Ebay stores.

https://marksolotroff.bandcamp.com/album/geological-plots-and-subway-rifts
https://bloodshop.bigcartel.com/product/paolo-l-bandera-mark-solotroff-geological-plots-and-subway-rifts-cd

UK/European listeners: Please note that Paolo now has copies available via his Bandcamp page:
https://paololbandera.bandcamp.com/


"Today The Infinite, Tomorrow Zero"
https://marksolotroff.bandcamp.com/album/today-the-infinite-tomorrow-zero
My last CD is available from my various shops, and it's streaming on all major platforms

Bandcamp
Webstore
Discogs
Ebay

 

The Mercury Impulse

The Mercury Impulse was created in 2024 by JR Robinson and Mark Solotroff. Robinson is well known for Wrekmeister Harmonies and Solotroff is best known for Anatomy of Habit and BLOODYMINDED.


(Photo by Elena Solotroff)

Our debut album was announced last week and we have one song streaming on Bandcamp. If you missed the announcement you can read it here: EarsplitPR


Our album release date is August 23, and there will be more news in the coming month...
https://themercuryimpulse.bandcamp.com/
 

The Sodality

Originally created in 1984 by Andrea Cernotto and Pierpaolo Zoppo, The Sodality bloomed under Andrea‘s guidance across seminal works in the 80's and 90's. The project was revived by original members Paolo Bandera and Eraldo Bernocchi for a 2014 concert in Rome, with Mark Solotroff on vocals, and again in 2023, for a live show in Dresden, and new recordings with that line-up, along with founding member Andrea Cernotto.


I spent time with Andrea Cernotto while I was in Italy, along with Paolo Bandera, and we discussed potential future plans for The Sodality. Happily, our work doesn't seem to be done just yet...
 
  

“Unburdened Underpass” CD
https://bloodshop.bigcartel.com/product/the-sodality-unburdened-underpass-cd



"Schmooze & Sleaze" 12-Inch

https://thesodality.bandcamp.com/album/schmooze-sleaze

Bandcamp
 

Super Eight Loop

MINIMAL SYNTH MUSIC FOR ANALOG OBSESSIVES.
Overloaded tape saturation - no FX.
1993-1996, 2005-∞


     
"Endless Labels" T-Shirt - Hoody - Tote
https://bloodyminded.threadless.com/designs/super-eight-loop-2005-endless-labels


100 remixed and remastered Super Eight Loop recordings are exclusively available on Bandcamp
 

 
Copyright © 2024 Mark Solotroff, All rights reserved.

Saturday, June 29, 2024

The Mercury Impulse "Records of Human Behavior" Announced

 

Re-post via EarsplitPR
 
THE MERCURY IMPULSE: Experimental Drone/Noise Project Featuring Members Of Wrekmeister Harmonies And Anatomy Of Habit To Release Debut On August 23rd; New Track Streaming + Preorders Available 

Photo by Elena Solotroff

Experimental drone/dark ambient/noise duo, THE MERCURY IMPULSE, will release their debut full-length, Records Of Human Behavior, on August 23rd, today unveiling the record’s first single and preorders.

THE MERCURY IMPULSE was created in 2024 by JR Robinson and Mark Solotroff. Robinson is well known for his group Wrekmeister Harmonies and Solotroff is best known as the frontman of Anatomy Of Habit and BLOODYMINDED.

Robinson and Solotroff were first introduced to each other in late 2011, during the formation of a group of musicians that would perform with Robinson in January 2012, under his Wrekmeister Harmonies name, at the Museum Of Contemporary Art in Chicago. This ensemble, drawn from the city’s metal, experimental, classical, and improvised music scenes, came together to play a live score to Robinson’s film, You’ve Always Meant So Much To Me.

Solotroff and Robinson continued their collaboration over the following years, performing as a duo and in large ensembles, including multiple legendary shows at Bohemian National Cemetery, as part of the Beyond The Gates series, which Robinson spearheaded.

This in-person creative relationship paused in late 2015 when Chicago was no longer the home base for Wrekmeister Harmonies. Over the years, the two had developed a strong friendship while working together, and although music was shared at points in time after Robinson left Chicago, it wasn’t until early 2024 that the idea of a new approach materialized, based on recordings that Solotroff had sent Robinson for a proposed Wrekmeister Harmonies album.

Sparked by Robinson’s initial work with a set of existing unreleased recordings, the two set about recording new material, heavily driven by analog synth and guitar noise, and marked by a conscious decision to work rapidly and not risk damaging the creative freedom that they were enjoying in the process.

Records Of Human Behavior is the result of approximately three months of active collaboration between friends. While the intensity of early Throbbing Gristle and the vast space of Lustmord are touchstones the album has a rawness expected from Solotroff’s contemporary analog synth drone/ambient releases combined with the expansive sonic landscapes that Robinson’s albums are known for.

In advance of the record’s release, today the band unveils “Infinite Repetition” with Solotroff noting of the track, “I hadn’t planned on adding something new to my list of active bands and collaborations at this point in time. JR and I had discussed and had worked on music together that was meant for Wrekmeister Harmonies, but which ultimately wasn’t used. Something stuck with us, though. We worked at a pretty good pace on these tracks, and when we reached this song, ‘Infinite Repetition,’ it was like our already wide-screen view blasted out into some sort of IMAX aspect ratio. I think it’s given us a clear view of where we might take things next…”

Stream THE MERCURY IMPULSE’s “Infinite Repetition” at THIS LOCATION.

Records Of Human Behavior was recorded at Giants Ledge, in Rosendale, New York and The Confluence in Chicago, Illinois, and mastered by Collin Jordan at The Boiler Room in Chicago.

The record will be released on CD and across all digital platforms. Find preorders at THE MERCURY IMPULSE Bandcamp page HERE.

Records Of Human Behavior Track Listing:

Behind Dull Glass
Keeping My Second Self Invisible
I Heard The Earth Falling
Primitive Instincts
Miles Of Smoldering Trash
Remanded To The Back Of A Mirror
Infinite Repetition
Lessons Of Apathy

https://themercuryimpulse.bandcamp.com
https://wrekmeisterharmonies.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/wrekmeisterharmonies
https://www.facebook.com/wrekmeisterharmonies23
https://marksolotroff.com
https://marksolotroff.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/marksolotroff
https://www.facebook.com/solotroff



For The Mercury Index coverage inquiries, contact liz@earsplitcompound.com.
https://files.constantcontact.com/28b23da7301/40e92bd7-e516-4deb-aec7-bc58a7990f1b.jpg?rdr=true
Earsplit PR | Liz Ciavarella-Brenner | www.earsplitcompound.com
 

Copyright © 2024 Mark Solotroff, All rights reserved.

Sunday, June 02, 2024

June 2, 2024 Update

 

Hello! I'm playing around with the format and content of these updates as I try to get back in the swing of things with more consistent communication.

Anatomy of Habit plays in Chicago next Friday (June 7). Mail order will be closed from June 14-26. The new Ensemble Sacrés Garçons 
is almost ready...digipak CDs are already on hand and vinyl is in production in Italy. We're about six-weeks out from BLOODYMINDED in NY. The Mercury Impulse has an announcement later this month. Yep, there's a lot going on...

Thanks for looking!
Mark

 

Anatomy of Habit

Formed in Chicago in 2008, ANATOMY OF HABIT has been described as a hybrid of doom metal, post-punk, death-rock, early-industrial, psychedelic, and shoegaze. Although they’ve experienced significant membership changes since forming, today’s band, which includes Alex Latus (guitar), Isidro Reyes (metal percussion), Skyler Rowe (drums), Mark Solotroff (vocals), and Sam Wagster (bass + lap steel), represents their longest-standing and most prolific lineup. The band credits their treasured chemistry to their intertwining histories as friends and collaborators. Rowe and Latus have made music together since they were teenagers, growing up in Indianapolis’ heavy music scene, while playing in the band Still. Rowe and Wagster create sweeping, pastoral instrumental music together in Mute Duo. Reyes and Solotroff are old friends who’ve played together for many years and they continue to record and perform in both BLOODYMINDED and The Fortieth Day. This deep connective tissue contributes to what the band describes as consistently effortless writing sessions and innately unified live performances.



Event Page: sleeping-village.com/event/huntsmen
Ticket Link: https://link.dice.fm/J5b7b50c5071


We sent our album to Collin Jordan for mastering and we're looking forward to hearing the final results in a couple of weeks! As mentioned, we're preparing a special vinyl edition, and our friend and designer Jonathan Canady has already started working on LP elements.

Website
Bandcamp
Instagram
Facebook

Spotify
 

BLOODYMINDED

BLOODYMINDED is a heavy electronic band, formed in New York, in 1995, after the dissolution of the pioneering American post- industrial noise group Intrinsic Action, founded by Mark Solotroff, in Chicago, in 1984. BLOODYMINDED’s live shows are exceptionally energetic and are characterized by physical engagement, layers of abrasive analog synthesizer, aggressive vocals, and abundant feedback.

 

TV Eye posted a low ticket alert, so if you're planning on attending, it's probably worth getting your tickets ASAP.
Tickets
TV Eye
Thousands of Dead Gods


       
New "Synths Up! T-Shirt - Hoody - Tote
2024 design adapted from our 2021 live anthology.

https://bloodyminded.threadless.com/designs/bloodyminded-synths-up-2024-design

Bandcamp
Instagram
Facebook

Spotify

 

Ensemble Sacrés Garçons

Ensemble Sacrés Garçons is a post-industrial band split between Milan and Chicago and composed of Paolo L. Bandera, Andrea Chiaravalli, and Mark Solotroff. The three members are connected to numerous groups including Sigillum S, Sshe Retina Stimulants, The Sodality, Iugula-Thor, BLOODYMINDED, Intrinsic Action, Anatomy of Habit, The Fortieth Day, etc.

Coming soon...
"Sanctification: Seeing The Singularity"
Digipak CD and limited edition LP


  

Bandcamp
 

The Fortieth Day

The Fortieth Day is the duo of Isidro Reyes and Mark Solotroff, both key players in the heavy-electronics outfit BLOODYMINDED, a band known for its aggressive and confrontational live shows. In The Fortieth Day, Reyes and Solotroff utilize guitar, bass, drum machine, and analog synthesizer to create epic, blackened, psychedelic-industrial drone soundscapes.

        

Our last three albums are digital-only and they're available via Bandcamp and all major streaming platforms.
https://thefortiethday.bandcamp.com/album/the-salvation-of-souls
https://thefortiethday.bandcamp.com/album/under-the-influence-of-delirium
https://thefortiethday.bandcamp.com/album/a-willful-defiance

All of our previous albums, dating back to 2006, are also now available to stream.
            

Spotify
Apple
Tidal
YouTube

 

Intrinsic Action

Intrinsic Action was an early American power-electronics band founded by Mark Solotroff in 1984.


https://bloodyminded.threadless.com/designs/intrinsic-action-text-logo-2023-update


https://bloodyminded.threadless.com/designs/intrinsic-action-groupies-2023-design


Bandcamp
Spotify
Apple Music

 

Mark Solotroff

Mark Solotroff formed the band Intrinsic Action in 1984 and he's a founding member of Anatomy Of Habit and BLOODYMINDED. His other bands include The Fortieth Day, A Vague Disquiet, Ensemble Sacrés Garçons, and Nightmares. He recorded 100 cassettes of analog synth music under the name Super Eight Loop and he releases synth-based and feedback system music under his own name.  

    

"Geological Plots And Subway Rifts"
My 2020 collaboration with Paolo L. Bandera (Sigillum S, Sshe Retuna Stimulants, The Sodality, Ensemble Sacrés Garçons) is now available on CD for the first time. It was previously only available digitally. CDs are initially available via Bandcamp and will later be added to my webstore, as well as my Discogs and Ebay stores.

https://marksolotroff.bandcamp.com/album/geological-plots-and-subway-rifts
UK/European listeners: Please note that Paolo will have copies available via his Bandcamp page (https://paololbandera.bandcamp.com/) in mid-June.

"Today The Infinite, Tomorrow Zero"
https://marksolotroff.bandcamp.com/album/today-the-infinite-tomorrow-zero
CDs are available from my various shops, and it's streaming on all major platforms

Bandcamp
Webstore
Discogs
Ebay

 

The Mercury Impulse

Stay tuned for an announcement on June 26...


 

The Sodality

Originally created in 1984 by Andrea Cernotto and Pierpaolo Zoppo, The Sodality bloomed under Andrea‘s guidance across seminal works in the 80's and 90's. The project was revived by original members Paolo Bandera and Eraldo Bernocchi for a 2014 concert in Rome, with Mark Solotroff on vocals, and again in 2023, for a live show in Dresden, and new recordings with that line-up, along with founding member Andrea Cernotto.

  

“Unburdened Underpass” CD
https://bloodshop.bigcartel.com/product/the-sodality-unburdened-underpass-cd



"Schmooze & Sleaze" 12-Inch

https://thesodality.bandcamp.com/album/schmooze-sleaze

Bandcamp
 

Super Eight Loop

MINIMAL SYNTH MUSIC FOR ANALOG OBSESSIVES.
Overloaded tape saturation - no FX.
1993-1996, 2005-∞


     
New "Endless Labels" T-Shirt - Hoody - Tote
2024 design utilizing the vinyl sticker labels created in 2005 for the last edition of Super Eight Loop cassettes.
https://bloodyminded.threadless.com/designs/super-eight-loop-2005-endless-labels


100 remixed and remastered Super Eight Loop recordings are exclusively available on Bandcamp
 

 
Copyright © 2024 Mark Solotroff, All rights reserved.

Sunday, May 05, 2024

May 2024 Update

Hello- There's more news this month... a lot of things are in the works, some of which I'm announcing and some of which I'm only teasing... until the time is right to share details. BLOODYMINDED is headed back to NY for a very special show at TV Eye in July, which we're excited about. Scroll down to learn more. Thanks for reading! -Mark
 

Anatomy of Habit



Our next show is about one-month away and tickets are on-sale:
Event Page: sleeping-village.com/event/huntsmen
Ticket Link: https://link.dice.fm/J5b7b50c5071


We approved the final mixes of our next album, which will be called "Paired Sentinels." Sanford Parker did an amazing job recording and mixing it and it's headed to Collin Jordan for mastering. It took a long time to reach this point, but we should still see it released in 2024. We're preparing a special vinyl edition, which I'll discuss more, down the road...

Website
Bandcamp
Instagram
Facebook

Spotify
 

BLOODYMINDED

We're excited to join the lineup of this 2-day event organized by Justin and Matt from Thousands of Dead Gods in New York, in July.

Tickets

 

       
New "Synths Up! T-Shirt - Hoody - Tote
2024 design adapted from our 2021 live anthology.

https://bloodyminded.threadless.com/designs/bloodyminded-synths-up-2024-design

Bandcamp
Instagram
Facebook

Spotify

 

Ensemble Sacrés Garçons

Coming soon...
"Sanctification: Seeing The Singularity"
Digipak CD and limited edition LP



 

The Fortieth Day

        

Our last three albums are digital-only and they're available via Bandcamp and all major streaming platforms.
https://thefortiethday.bandcamp.com/album/the-salvation-of-souls
https://thefortiethday.bandcamp.com/album/under-the-influence-of-delirium
https://thefortiethday.bandcamp.com/album/a-willful-defiance

All of our previous albums, dating back to 2006, are also now available to stream.
            

Spotify
Apple
Tidal
YouTube

 

Intrinsic Action


https://bloodyminded.threadless.com/designs/intrinsic-action-text-logo-2023-update


https://bloodyminded.threadless.com/designs/intrinsic-action-groupies-2023-design


Bandcamp
Spotify
Apple Music

 

Mark Solotroff

    

"Geological Plots And Subway Rifts"
My 2020 collaboration with Paolo L. Bandera (Sigillum S, Sshe Retuna Stimulants, The Sodality, Ensemble Sacrés Garçons) is now available on CD for the first time. It was previously only available digitally. CDs are initially available via Bandcamp and will later be added to my webstore, as well as my Discogs and Ebay stores.

https://marksolotroff.bandcamp.com/album/geological-plots-and-subway-rifts
UK/European listeners: Please note that Paolo will have copies available via his Bandcamp page (https://paololbandera.bandcamp.com/) in mid-June.

New Interview
An interview/featured artist profile was recently published by Everything is Noise:

https://everythingisnoise.net/weekly-featured-artist/wfa-mark-solotroff/



"Today The Infinite, Tomorrow Zero"
https://marksolotroff.bandcamp.com/album/today-the-infinite-tomorrow-zero
CDs are available from my various shops, and it's streaming on all major platforms
Bandcamp
Webstore
Discogs
Ebay

 

The Mercury Impulse

Coming soon...


 

The Sodality

    


“Unburdened Underpass” CD
https://bloodshop.bigcartel.com/product/the-sodality-unburdened-underpass-cd

Originally created in 1984 by Andrea Cernotto and Pierpaolo Zoppo, The Sodality bloomed under Andrea‘s guidance across seminal works in the 80's and 90's. The project was revived by original members Paolo Bandera and Eraldo Bernocchi for a 2014 concert with Mark Solotroff on vocals, and again in 2023, for a live show and new recordings with that line-up and including founder Andrea Cernotto.
 

Super Eight Loop

     
New "Endless Labels" T-Shirt - Hoody - Tote
2024 design utilizing the vinyl sticker labels created in 2005 for the last edition of Super Eight Loop cassettes.
https://bloodyminded.threadless.com/designs/super-eight-loop-2005-endless-labels

 

 
Copyright © 2024 Mark Solotroff, All rights reserved.