Captain of Industry at Subterranean - Chicago, IL
Captain of Industry are an experimental rock/pop band from Dayton, Ohio, made up of Nathan Peters on keyboards, guitar and vocals; John Lakes on percussion and vocals; Kevin Oldfield on guitar, percussion and electronics; Ian Sperry on bass and vocals; and Tommy Cooper on guitar. Captain of Industry began within a decrepit house in a rough part of East Dayton - though the space was limited, rent was cheap and the neighbors were too stoned to mind the noise. To escape the endless grind working a coffeeshop, a kitchen, a shop floor... one bedroom became a rehearsal space/recording studio, and a year of experimentation and writing between friends culminated with the self-released debut, "!", in Summer 2003. Local response to the album was excellent: In a small town with an uncharacteristically high pedigree (Guided By Voices, Brainiac, the Breeders, and Lab Partners all hail from the Gem City), music critic Don Thrasher put it this way - "Captain of Industry has crafted the best debut rock album to come out of Dayton in years, and it's one of my favorite 2003 releases in any genre." After "!" was re-released in 2004 by start-up label Bettawreckonize media, 2005 saw the bands first national release, "The Great Divide". Released by Do Tell Records and supported with two national tours spanning California to Canada to the recently Katrina-soaked Gulf-coast, the band garnered much attention from bloggers and the music underground. Firesideometer.com noted in Fall 2006 that "…[The Great Divide] shines with positively Tarantinian homage, taking hundreds snippets and bits and stitching them together into a unique whole that pays tribute to the band's influences while forging a new sound." Many have speculated on the inspiration for the band's name - is it a reference to Jets to Brazil's Sweet Avenue ('I'm a captain of industry smoking famously'); or is it taken from the Upton Sinclair classic of the same name? Certainly the band draws inspiration from both, as it continues to navigate the waters of experimental pop-rock with the release of a new EP in May 2008 and the completion of their third full-length album in September 2008.
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