Man with the Spinning Face is a surreal and exhilarating combination of gothic, new wave, industrial, electronic music: a journey into the deepest layers of the mind.
It was given life in 1997 when James Akers and Jason Innes joined forces with Marc Leib and Jakob Sylvan. Akers and Innes had already been working together, recording music of their own*. On a diet of strictly electronica, they were just beginning to develop a taste for more organic/less predictable material when they were introduced to Leib and Sylvan. They were instantly and mutually intrigued to learn that their visions paralleled one another's, and Man with the Spinning Face was born.
It was an ideal situation in that each brought his own musical background to the table in terms of instrumentation and experience, so Man with the Spinning Face became very diverse and spanned beyond genre templates and guidelines. Instruments became anything that generated unique sound, and although the project remained ultimately "electronica", the loose feel of the music and uncompromising style of four very independent minds turned Man with the Spinning Face into something else entirely - something that could not be labeled.
Just over two years after the first take, Man with the Spinning face were on the eve of recording their first full length studio album with a handful of record labels interested in the product. Unfortunately, Leib and Sylvan backed out at the last minute, citing artistic differences. Obviously, the album was scrapped and the songs filed away. All that now remains of Man with the Spinning Face is a collection of demo tapes.
Akers and Innes decided that this would be a good time to step away from what had become a years-long marathon of recording and producing to focus on other things as well. Eventually, they would come together once again in 2005, this time as The Divine Sham and owners of High Noon Records .
As for the legacy of Man with the Spinning Face: fortunately, Akers and Innes hold the rights to the music on the demo tapes. They are currently in the process of remastering the songs that are salvageable with intent on releasing a Man with the Spinning Face collection under the High Noon label in the near future.
*All projects of Innes and Akers, collectively, prior to 1997 now fall under the Man with the Spinning Face name.
