Magnet City Kids

Put simply, our music rocks the shit! It's a lot of fun to play, and to dance and party to too.. no bullshit pretensions. Totally democratic music, in the spirit of those early philosophers who invented democracy, laying naked passed out in the morning sun on the steps of the Pantheon.
Totally noisy, very "Kraut"-y, very danceable...

Bio:
Started in 2001 by Scott Currie and Chris Dario "Haydog", they were joined by Sean Korman (Atomic Missiles) doing sound effects, Karin Heide on flute, Jen Chen on violin and Emeline Smith on guitar.

At the time, MCK's sound was very celestial, sloppy but visceral drums with simple bass riffs, accompanied by sheets of flute and violin harmonies, and melodic guitar patterns. One might think of a youthful mix of Yo La Tengo, the Ex, and early Tortoise; a seemingly effortless balancing act of the tensions between masculine and feminine elements.

They rocked the basement circuit around New
Brunswick, NJ, playing at house parties for boisterous college crowds. At one such show, they met their future guitarist and synth player, Ashiq Khondker.

Internal drama between Sean, Scott and Emeline regarding a failed ménage à trois caused Sean to leave the group in early 2002.

Haydog's brother, Michael Hayden, and Ashiq both played their first show as Magnet City Kids, on the Roland SH101 and guitar respectively, in December 2002. This was also the last show with the band for Emeline.

2003 marked a new era for the band. Sick of playing in dark dank basements throughout the winter, they made a drum-kit out of buckets and lightweight drum parts, and obtained battery-powered amps. With this set-up started playing on the streets with Trevor Pennsylvania (Mohawk Barbie, Ex-Models, Human Adult Band).

This, along with the influence of texts by John Cage, Cornelius Cardew, and about Brian Eno, led to their street-performing tour as Buckets & Batteries, where the sounds of the particular environment would be the lead instrument at any time. Playing for change on the streets, initially to play pinball and buy sandwiches, the earnings eventually enabled them to pay for gas money, and start "touring" around cities in the North-East. From recordings of the street-performances came a 7", which received much critical attention from zines and magazines (Wire, August 2004; Blastitude #16)
--> http://www.blastitude.com/RETTMAN.htm

After playing at a couple of art galleries and bohemian parties between New Brunswick and NYC, the Magnet City Kids started looking at other cities to relocate to. Mike and Karin eloped to Mendocino, California in the beginning of 2004.
A few months later, Jay Roselius, Jen Rice, Scott and Ashiq went to visit them, playing music and taking psychedelics in the desert along the way.

Their journey resulted in the band minus Mike & Karin relocating to the South Philly Athenaeum, a warehouse space in South Philadelphia, within which they started building their recording studio. At this time, Jacob Anodide took over the reigns on guitar, while Ashiq began to play the Roland SH101 synthesizer.

The South Philly Athenaeum was a warehouse affiliate of Providence's ex-Fort Thunder & Dirt Palace, and of Baltimore's Tarantula Hill, Bank and Wham City - and was home to musicians involved in bands such as Need New Body, Drums Like Machineguns, Mincemeat or Tenspeed, Angeldust, M Ax Noi Mach, Summer Jam Band, Rubbed Raw, Knifestorm, Unchained, Attitude Problem, Necronomitron, the Extraordinaires, the Celebs, Club Lyfestile, Corndawg, Buzzard, Les Aus/the Cheese (Barcelona, ex-Lydia Lunch band), Icy Demons, Ground Monkeys, Twoprong, Corndawg, Jimmy Cousins, Little Ocean/Big Ocean, Unisex Bicycle, Man Man, and the Bumpin' Uglies.
--> http://www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/features/philly0510/philly2.html

The day an article was published in National Geographic about the SPA, (and within the first month of completion of the recording studio) the inhabitants of the warehouse were kicked out by Philadelphia's Licensing and Inspections, due to fire code violations. This led to the band relocating their studio, piece by piece, wall section by wall section, to Adventure Island, a warehouse in North Philly.

The MCK sound at this point started developing toward a rawer, noisier edge - the darkness of a weathered soul, though without the despair and negativity. The band's positive attitude still shined through the heavier, grittier sound.

In Adventure Island, MCK recorded their as-yet-unreleased sessions with Little Howlin' Wolf, affectionately called "Magnet Wolf". Mike & Karin moved to a farm outside of Philadelphia, and along with Jen and Jay, they joined in during recordings and live performances.

At sometime in 2007, Eliot Klein somehow ended up showing up at practices and eventually was fused into the band, though it's still a mystery as to how or when exactly that happened.

The band's hitherto policy of only being invited to play shows resulte