Fischerspooner

Career

Originally a duo formed by classically trained musician Warren Fischer and video-artist and experimental theater performer Casey Spooner for an impromptu rendition of their makeshift track "Indian Cab Driver" at the Astor Place Starbucks, the group grew to over 20 performers, most of whom are dancers and guest vocalists. "We started as a performance art piece about entertainment that ultimately became legitimate entertainment", said Casey Spooner, when talking about the group's origins in an April 2009 interview.

#1 (2001)

Their debut album, #1, has been released on several record labels, including International DJ Gigolo, Ministry of Sound and Capitol Records, and includes their hit singles "Sweetness", "Emerge", and a cover of Wire's "the 15th". In the final months of 2004, Fischerspooner opened up their FS Studios in New York City to the public for a few hours once a week, allowing people to meet the band and production team, as well as preview new video, music and dance projects that they were working on.

Odyssey (2005)

In 2005, Odyssey, the band's second album, was released. The album featured songs that were more structured and more accurately described as electropop than electroclash. "Odyssey was really about being on Capitol, which was this icon of classic American music, trying to embrace that cliché and find a way to embody it and infiltrate it and take it apart at the same time", says Spooner.

The lead single, "Just Let Go", featuring live drums and guitars, possessed a markedly different sound than those heard on their debut album. "Just Let Go" was featured on season 2, episode 15 of Nip/Tuck; "All We Are" was also featured on the same TV series, in season 3, episode 1. The second single, "Never Win", went on to become the album's biggest hit, and was well received in both clubs and radio. Furthermore, it was also featured in the 2006 Happy Madison movie Grandma's Boy. "A Kick in the Teeth" was rumored to be the album's third, and possibly final, single but was only pressed on 12" that included a remix by Tiefschwarz. This was followed after a duration of silence by a 12" remix of "We Need a War" with a mix by DJ Hell. Other remixes believed to have been done are of "All We Are" and "Get Confused".

After the album's release, Fischerspooner toured a new, more elaborate show in Europe, but the band found themselves without the funds to tour the show fully in North America. "I was incredibly frustrated because I had worked two years on this huge record and I was only able to perform for three months", recalls Spooner, who subsequently retreated to his theatrical roots, joining experimental New York performance ensemble The Wooster Group. During this period, it was unclear whether the band would record together again; and, in May 2007, they were released from their Capitol Records recording contract.

Entertainment (2009)

Early European gig recordings of "The Best Revenge" surfaced on the internet during summer 2007. "The Best Revenge" was released on January 14, 2008 with French label Kitsune Music. The track includes a remix package from the likes of Autokratz, Tocadisco, Alex Gopher, The Passions and Tony Senghore. Fischerspooner also released "Danse en France" as a single on the Kitsuné label.

Warren and Casey subsequently began to work on more material for a new album while Casey was performing the role of Ophelia's brother Laertes in The Wooster Group's production of Hamlet (Fischerspooner also contributed two original songs to the production). Released in North America via the band's own label FS Studios on May 4, 2009, Entertainment is their third full-length album and was produced by Jeff Saltzman (The Killers, The Black Keys, The Sounds).

The album's cover was listed on Pitchfork's worst album covers of 2009.

Band members

Albums

Music videos