Insectoid

A clap of sinister thunder rumbles overhead as a steady rainfall taps against the windows, and a white and yellow cat winds down the staircase of Loren Lang's home. The cat strolls into the basement practice room of Iowa City band Insectoid, sniffs uninterestedly at a set of pedals, and drifts toward another part of the house.

A blaze of lightning lights up the window, and practice continues quietly - only the sounds of drumsticks battering on the green electronic drum kit, feet tapping the keyboard pedals, and an eerie lone voice speaking and singing into a microphone. Yet the three members of Insectoid jam on - eyes shut and headphones on - apparently lost in their own world. As evidenced by the peculiar lack of noise, this isn't just any old band practice - oh no.

Insectoid will bring its unique sound to the Mill, 120 E. Burlington St., at 9 p.m. today, opening for Cedar Rapids-based Dr. Z's Experiment. Known locally for its multimedia-loaded live show, Insectoid employs the use of large screens with video, lightshows, and a surprise cast of spinners, belly dancers, and lightsaber-wielding, iridescently painted extras.

"If you saw the live show and didn't know our audio sound, automatically, the video and dancing would capture you," says 32-year-old member Joe Laskowski, sipping a imported beer between songs.

"It's like going to a circus in space - you'll stay regardless just to see what happens," interjects Colin Crowley, 32, laughing as he pushes his hair out of his face and throws on a set of headphones. Grab a set yourself, and you're instantly transported to the same electronic euphonious planet as the band. If there were amplifiers in the small room, the music pouring out could likely complement the rolling credits of the Ghostbusters III movie that was never made. It's music that leaves the listener nonplussed and unsure how to respond to its psychedelic electronic tones, synth-driven rhythms, and highly distorted vocals.

"I like to think of our music as the intersection of Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Kraftwerk, and Parliament," Lang says, and the band members laugh. "That's one hell of a four-way stop."

Insectoid formed two years ago, and the three members have played mostly local shows since, averaging one a month. Everything they do is electronic, and they know exactly how it's going to sound live - a huge benefit in the live-music business. According to 39-year-old engineer Lang, all the visual aspects really get people to the same place as the band, giving them "something to bug out on."

And speaking of bugs, the band's fictional, science-fiction-laced premise (fabricated as a "semi-plausible scenario" to explain the group's impetus) is that the three random nobodies playing their electronic instruments don't actually know how to play them. Instead, they were drafted into a mind-controlled reproductive experiment of the insectoids - which also happen to be aliens - who now control them like puppets. The experiment, cunningly masquerading the streets of Iowa City as a rock band, furthers its intentions each time it plays for an audience, who unsuspectingly absorb the spores of rock music blasting out of the amplifiers.

"We're basically just puppets for the insectoids. It was a bad 'X-Files' episode that didn't ever happen. I mean, are we even the band?" Laskowski says, looking at his fellow bandmates. He shrugs his shoulders, tuning his guitar. "I just came for the food."

The members launch into another song, lost again in a world of space-ranger rhythms. Without taking themselves too seriously, the threesome can really pull off the whole space-pimp operation, spreading the inner galactic groove music to the entire Iowa City galaxy.

May the spores be with you.

E-mail DI reporter Ann Colwell at:

ann-colwell@uiowa.edu

- Ann Colwell, The Daily Iowan, 8-1-08

Sound familiar? Maybe you should try something different this year, champ. Say, for example, the two-stage, six-band show at the Industry, 211 Iowa Ave., Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. Performing downstairs will be the Uniphonics, Euforquestra, and Public Property. Upstairs will be Johnny on Point, Insectoid, and Dead Larry. The show will also feature the black-light-infused dance movements of performance artists Pyrotechniq.

Five projectors. 10 to 15 TVs. Approximately 2,000 watts of power dedicated to black lights. This is, according to Insectoid vocalist/keyboardist Loren Lang, only some of the atmosphere contributing to the sensory assault planned for the upstairs show.

"We want to create an atmosphere that establishes and reinforces what we're trying to get across musically," Lang said. "It's a lot to take in."

Among the performances to be "taken in" will be four members of Midwest performance art troupe Pyrotechniq, led by manager Ashley Bertling. Because the members of Insectoid all sit down to play, the band "wanted more motion," Lang said, and the wild visuals provided by Pyrotechniq were the perfect solution. And for the members of Pyrotechniq, the performances with Insectoid offered a chance to do something more unstructured and improvisational than normal.

"We really get the chance to be as creative as we want to be," Bertling said. "I do so many shows under tight regulations, it becomes taxing as a dancer. With Insectoid, I haven't found [those restrictions]."

Of particular note for Pyrotechniq's performance will be the introduction of new costumes, designed by artist Andrew Bennett. The unitards, which Bennett estimates will take about 40 hours of work to complete, had to be worn by the dancers as they were being painted in order to keep the proper perspectives.

"When I'm painting on somebody, I use her or his own anatomy and play off of that," Bennett said. "I'm making it so the joints look as though they really work. With this project, even one leg is so much more intricate than the three costumes I did for a previous show combined."

The multimedia combination of sights and sounds has band members and performers alike amped up to get on stage.

"I haven't seen a night like this ever in three years," said Joe Laskowski, a multi-instrumentalist for Insectoid. "It's almost like its own little festival."

For Public Property's Dave Bess (vocals, guitar, ukulele), the most exciting part of the night will follow his band's performance, when Euforquestra will join Public Property on stage to form the appropriately titled "Public Porquestra" for a final set of tunes.

"For the last two years [Euforquestra and Public Property] have been competing at separate venues on New Year's," he said. "Now that the stage and capacity is big enough, we want to have more collaboration."

When the two bands were just starting out, a few of their members served double duty and played shows for both. As both acts became more successful, they eventually had to choose one or the other for a full-time gig. The New Year's Eve show presents them with an opportunity to reunite with their old bandmates and combine their sounds.

"We want to try to max out our channels and fill the mix," Bess said. "Our sound guy's gonna hate us." - The Daily Iowan, 12-18-2008

A self-described rocksynthefunktronica band, Insectoid is gaining fans with their cyberdelic, hallucinatronic sound.

The Iowa City band has spent more than two years redefining music and performance with galactic grooves, mesmerizing multi-media and eye-defying dance—all blended with infectious and experimental electronic tones, synth-driven rhythms, and distorted vocals. Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/insectoidcontrol.
- Des Moines Music Coalition (organizers of 80/35 Festival)