Spahn Ranch

1992 Spahn Ranch was formed in Los Angeles by Matt Green who had moved from his native New York the year before. Using money he had saved, and inviting his NY on and off music partner for the past 5 years, Rob Morton, a 4-song ep was recorded in June. Vocals were supplied by Scott Franklin, a friend of Matt's who was involved in another band at the time but agreed to sing on the record. The ep was recorded and mixed by Rod O'Brian (a great engineer whose huge body of work included Bowie, Eno, and the Talking Heads) at the Backroom in Glendale CA. September of that year, Cleopatra records, a newly formed label in LA released the self-titled ep. In October, Matt and Rob then contributed a new track, Machine Politics to "The Whip".

1993 Cleopatra records told Matt and Rob that their ep had been well received and that they should get a vocalist and make an album. Coincidentally, at this time Athan Maroulis, a friend of the two moved to LA. Athan, a vocalist they both admired was asked to join the group and in April/May of that year, "Collateral Damage", their debut album was recorded. Judson Leach engineered the recordings in his JLAB studio in West Hollywood. Rob produced the music with vocals overseen by Matt. October of that year saw the release of "Collateral Damage" on Cleopatra as well as Zoth Ommog in Germany, who renamed the album "Collateral" for Europe. Spahn Ranch then made their live debut on October 26th 1993 at the Hollywood Auditorium. The line-up was Athan on vocals with Rob and Matt both on keyboards. A few weeks later with that one show under their belt, Spahn Ranch headed out on their first tour, a 5-week American trek with fellow novices STG, and the Clay People.

1994 After a break, Spahn Ranch regrouped in April to appear in the movie "Separate Lives", performing in the club scene. Judson's remix of "Forceps" was used in the film. April also saw the release of "The Blackmail Starters Kit", a 6-song ep of remixes and out takes. Zoth Ommog in Europe added 1 extra track and renamed it "Breath and Taxes". That September, Spahn Ranch headed out on a 3-week west coast/ mid west U.S. tour. In November work began on their second full-length cd, "The Coiled One".

1995 Recording for "The Coiled One" continued right through May. The album was recorded at the swank new JLAB studio, now located in the Hollywood Hills. Judson engineered these sessions as well as co-produced 4 songs with Rob and 6 with Matt. Upon completion of his contributions, Rob Morton left the band due to creative differences, as well as the pressures of living in NY and playing in an LA based group. That June, Spahn Ranch performed shows in Mexico City. Matt and Athan were joined by former Christian Death drummer, David Glass now going by his real last name Parkinson. Upon their return, Spahn Ranch went about further assembling the new line-up to accompany their new sound. Joining Matt, Athan, and David were former Screams for Tina guitarist Kent Bancroft, and drummer Harry Lewis, an old band mate of Athan's from both Tubalcain, and Executive Slacks. Harry would become a crowd favorite for his aggressive playing and remain a permanent fixture in Spahn Ranch with Matt and Athan. "The Coiled One" was released in September on Cleopatra. The band quickly followed it's release with the live debut of the new line-up at a showcase for the CMJ convention in NY followed by a show at Sinamatic in LA. That November, Spahn Ranch embarked on a 4 week U.S. tour as special guests of The Electric Hellfire Club. David unfortunately wasn't able to make the tour, and the group went out as 4 piece instead. Upon completion of the tour in December, the group parted ways with Kent, a talented guitarist whose style regrettably didn't fit with the group as well as they had hoped.

1996 In February, the band performed at the Electro-fest in LA at the Roxy. It's new 4 piece line-up consisted of Athan on vocals, Matt on keyboards, with Harry and David both on electronic percussion. Spahn Ranch then played 2 more LA shows, in March at the Troubadour, and April at the House of Blues. May saw their next release, "In Parts Assembled Solely" on Cleopatra. This 10-song ep contained remixes from Uberzone, Birmingham 6, and Judson as well as 5 live tracks recorded at their Sinamatic show. May also saw the group begin recording it's next full length cd, "Architecture". This process would spread out over the next 9 months, and 17 songs would eventually come from these sessions, which were recorded again at JLAB studio. Matt and Judson produced the album which featured guest performances from guitarist Danny B. Harvey, and Killing Joke / Prong bassist Paul Raven. That September, Spahn Ranch flew back to the east coast for another CMJ Convention date to showcase new songs from their work in progress. In November, Spahn Ranch played a one off date in Los Angeles as support to Type O Negative, and appeared as the special performance to a fetish fashion show at the Maritime Hall in San Francisco. These were followed by a quick east coast trek for a few more shows.

1997 April gave Spahn Ranch their 3rd full length release, "Architecture" on Cleopatra, followed by an extensive 8 week U.S. and Canadian tour. David once again was unable to make the tour and sadly had to leave the band due to other commitments. Spahn Ranch was now a 3 piece of Athan, Matt, and Harry and would remain that way. In August, the band played an energetic Whiskey a Go Go date in support of their friends the Electric Hellfire Club. September brought them back to the east coast for a 2-week tour supported by Kervorkian Death Cycle that included a show with a then unsigned Rammstein. November had Germany's Out of Line records releasing Architecture with 5 tracks from The Coiled One as "Architecture: Beta". October saw Spahn Ranch do a 2-week tour of the west coast as special guests of Switchblade Symphony that began with a huge Halloween bash at the Park Plaza Hotel in LA. December brought Spahn Ranch back east for a quick weeklong tour starting in Philadelphia at the Trocadero on a festive New Years Eve.

1998 February began the recording of "Beat Noir". Produced by Matt, this album, recorded in Hollywood at H&H studio was engineered by Steve Tushar of Carbon 12. The sessions featured on 2 tracks, David J of Bauhaus/Love and Rockets playing bass, as well as a track co-written by Matt with 16 Volt's Eric Powell. The sessions lasted until August, but meanwhile the band, in May saw the release of their 10 track ep, "Retrofit", on both Cleopatra in the U.S. and Out of Line in Germany. The ep offered remixes from Astralasia, David Harrow and others as well as some of the unreleased material from the "Architecture" sessions. Spahn Ranch then took off time from the studio to embark on a 5-week tour of Europe as special guests of Apoptygma Berzerk. In September, Spahn Ranch played The Palace in LA and the Ventura Theater in Ventura as support to Front 242 and Projekt Pitchfork. In October they returned to the Palace as well as the Maritime Hall in San Francisco, supporting Frontline Assembly. November brought the release of "Beat Noir", their 4th full-length cd released again on Cleopatra and Out of Line. The band then completed a 2-week east coast/mid west tour with Apoptygma Berzerk supporting. Upon returning home, Spahn Ranch performed as the musical accompaniment for a truly bizarre and raunchy fashion show filmed by HBO for their Real Sex series.

1999 After a break, Spahn Ranch returned to the road in May for a month long U.S. tour as special guests to Frontline Assembly and Switchblade Symphony. However, Harry had to leave mid tour due to a family emergency. The band were lucky enough to get their friend, Death Ride 69's Mark Blasquez to fly in and finish the tour as a second keyboardist. This was the first time Spahn Ranch had performed that way in 5 years. On July 4th, the band performed at the El Rey Theater in LA. The end of July brought them back to Europe for a 2-week tour of England, Scotland and Ireland, supported by Inertia. Spahn Ranch then took a break for the rest of the year. Harry proudly became a husband and dad. Athan finished recording his big band standards album, "The Blue Dahlia", a lifelong passion that was finally fleshed out into a reality. Athan also concentrated on running the jazz reissue imprint Stardust. Matt continued doing numerous remixes and production works as well as new recordings with Killing Joke bassist Raven and 16Volt's Eric Powell. In September Matt toured Saipan and Guam in the south pacific as the keyboard player for funk guitarist Earl Bethel. Matt also went out on the road for 3 short tours. Twice in the U.S. as sound man for Black Tape For A Blue Girl, and once in Canada for Haujobb.

2000 Spahn Ranch reconvened in June to record their 5th full length lp "Closure". Produced and engineered by Matt at his Tensegrity studio in West Hollywood, "Closure" was recorded and mixed in 3 months and featured guitar work once again from Danny B. Harvey. In September, upon completion of "Closure", both Athan and Matt moved back to New York City, their much missed home.