Revenge of Calculon are a UK based Sci-funk three piece laying down a mix of dirty 1980s analogue synths, sleazy bass grooves and lo-fi beats. 

Revenge of Calculon started life 2015 as an experimental solo synth project by Rob Maddison (aka Sonic Abuser) which combined half-working analogue synths and 2nd drum machines. The plan was to mix elements of his love of 1970’s funk with experimental electronic pioneers such as Wendy Carlos, Deliah Derbyshire and Louis and Bebe Baron’s sci-fi score to the film Forbidden Planet.
Sonic was soon joined by bassist JC9000 and the duo grabbed a pair of their favourite Luchador masks and raided the backrooms of bankrupted leisure stores for some old tracksuits. They gave their first live performance at Dot to Dot festival in Nottingham before heading to Reykjavik to play at the legendary Lucky Records during Iceland Airwaves festival.

They released their debut EP “Noise Candy” in 2016 which included five tracks of slightly weird electro with some chunky bass riffs, several of the tracks were eagerly played on BBC 6Music and the duo began to play regular live dates and release more studio material. A chance meeting in 2017 with cult film composer Simon Boswell developed into a collaboration project to re-work elements of his original score to the Angelina Jolie film Hackers. The resulting track became the soundscape to a VR app which was released to celebrate the anniversary of the film. Simon and the band went on to perform special live shows at ComicCon and Sci-Fi London festival.

A series of 7” singles followed as the band’s signature blend of electro space-funk took shape. Four of the singles were accompanied by music videos that ranged from the band playing at a Kung-Fu fight in a disco, to driving around in a 1970s open top Cadillac with rapper/beatboxer Motormouf. More random studio projects were undertaken including remixing, sync music and Sonic becoming an occasional member of the in-house band on Channel 4’s The Last Leg.

In 2020 Sonic and JC were joined by Mr 2nd Bass who came equipped with an array of keytars and Casio abnormalities. The result was another musical evolution into a dirtier squelching electro funk sound with the clinical drum machines now being doubled up with lo-fi Hip hop beats and collaborations with Motormouf on the singles “Electric soup” and “Atari-Safari”. Now a three-piece, their live shows got even the most passive gig-goers dancing like beasts. After a long string of live performances in the UK and annual appearances in Reykjavik for Iceland Airwaves, the band then spent another intensive stint in the studio which resulted in the forthcoming release of their debut LP “MANIPULATOR”.

K: a conspiracy of gravediggers, spies, swim instructors and international pop stars. There are hangmen and there are saints. K as a label has released cassettes, phonograph records and compact discs documenting the audio works of over 150 artists. The main focus K of has been artists working in and around Olympia, Washington, where K is based, but has included comrades from across the U.S.A. and as far away as Japan, Scotland, Australia, Canada, Germany and England. Yes, k explodes the teenage underground into passionate revolt against the corporate ogre world-wide.

Colleagues in the International Pop Underground collide at the K vanishing point. The sounds cross back and forth through a number of genres, some known and some less so: punk, hip hop, atom-powered folk-pop, haunted garage, restless singer-songwriter, epic soul shock, noise expirements, blurred-eye visionary psychedelia, roadhouse mod and the silent film soundtracks composed by Timothy Brock, as performed by the Olympia Chamber Orchestra.

In describing K to a friend, you might say: Hit the streets to the motorbike beat of the cranked and crush crashpop. Raise the standard and hail: a revolution come and gone behind your eyes. Blood and sand and sidewalk. Radio blast the punk pop implosion that is the new breed: a bee in your bonnet, love in a goldfish bowl, zombie rockin behind the iron curtain. Hey, love rocker, pull on your slacks and Mexican army boots, get ready for some sonic pogo action. Jazz the glass, here they come, screaming and clawing, scooters and dune buggies roaring. Bless. Can you dig it? K Collaborators. King loser and teenage underground. Screech and saw. Buzz. Cut. Spin. Slice. Crush. Squirt. Sweaty basement rock and rule. A crown of barbed wire for your hooded throne. Lose it on the ball and chain.

Hey, gravedigger: ignite. 

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