Miserylab

History

Miserylab was originally conceived as a moniker for remix and production purposes, such as work done for My Vitriol and the Mercury Music Award winning Elbow. The name was originally spelt "misery:lab" – but King chose to remove the colon in order to make it easier to find in Internet search engines. The name can be seen as both a serious comment on animal experimentation, and a self-deprecating comment on himself and his musical output. A number of tracks were written in 2000, but were not released whilst production work remained the priority.

Early years and first releases (2005–2009)

In 2005 King created a profile on MySpace, reworking and uploading some of his early miserylab material. In 2007 four of these tracks were made available as a free download, complete with downloadable artwork, known as the "Vaporware EP".

Enthused by a positive response, and the successful relocation of his home studio to Leeds, King began writing the full-length Function Creep in November 2007. Released in April 2008 as both a download and limited edition CD, it had a more guitar-driven, post-punk feel than the previous EP. King had a preference for download-only releases, only making Function Creep available as a CD following requests for physical version. Function Creep was immediately followed by a downloadable single, an extended version of the track "Be There Tomorrow".

A second album, A Death That We Can Cure, was released on 5 November 2008. (It was consciously released on the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot). The unusual title is a Bushism. A graph on the back cover shows, somewhat bluntly, that many more people die of starvation than as a result of terrorism.

A third album, Freedom is Work, was released in May 2009. Around the same time King was approached by a Russian record label, which resulted in a compilation becoming available in Russia in August that year. Lab Samples compiled a selection of tracks from the first two albums, plus ‘No Cure For Life’ from the "Vaporware EP".

From Which No Light Escapes and Void of Life (2010–2011)

From Which No Light Escapes, the fourth album, was released in February 2011. During its creation many of the lyrics were scrapped and replaced to better reflect the events of 2010. The album title also changed. The track Downplay was made available for preview via the miserylab Facebook page. An additional three tracks from the album's recording session – "Futile", "Machines" and "Heart" – were posted two months later on the audio distribution site SoundCloud, under the name From Which No Light Out-Takes. The Terrorizer Magazine supplement Dominion gave the album a positive review, comparing the sound to Joy Division and early Killing Joke. Glass Magazine described it as eloquent and dark, with a "defined maturity in the songs". They also suggested a stronger new wave influence than early miserylab albums, and discussed the social commentary of the album.

On 18 May 2011 miserylab's single "Appeal To Fears" was made available for preview via Soundcloud. The track includes Kathryn Woolley as back-up vocalist. It was officially released to the public via miserylab's official website on 19 May 2011.

7 June 2011 saw the release "Gods Amongst Your Friends", a track that Porl has decided to not include in the fifth album. The track also includes back-up vocals by Kathryn Woolley.

The first track Children Of The Poor from miserylab's fifth album was released on 21 July 2011 as a free digital download. An accompanying video was also released on YouTube. Describing a disenfrachised youth ignored by a political elite, the song preceded the 2011 England riots by a matter of weeks. The track was also used by footwear retailer Schuh in their 30th anniversary advertising campaign, which began on 22 August the same year.

The limited edition Void of Life album became available for order between 9 and 15 October, and was manufactured and shipped by the end of the month. An extended remix of "Children of the Poor" was made available for download with all orders, and the album was preceded by a promotional video for a new track, "People".

The release exhibited higher production values than the original, pared back sound of early albums. Brutal Resonance e-zine gave the album a rating of 9/10, complimenting regimented guitar arrangements and the "unpleasant observations" within the lyrics. They also give high praise to the final track, ‘Last Day,’ commenting, "Not since The Cure did the song ‘The Top’ has a musical outing ever left me feeling so drained." Dominion Magazine ranked it as the second best album of 2011, awarding the number one spot instead to Esben and the Witch.

2011 ended with the release of two further tracks, "five:one one" and "Fear For the Future".

Somewhere Between and Documentary (2012–present)

The New Year saw Children Of The Poor and People rereleased as a seven-inch vinyl single. Limited to just 120 copies, it could be ordered in combination with a new download known as the Somewhere Between EP.

A second miserylab compilation became available in September 2012. Documentary was a combined CD and seven-inch vinyl release, held within a single gatefold sleeve. Available via the Paris-based D-monic label, it included tracks from Freedom is Work onwards. 17 tracks were included on the CD, four of which were also present in vinyl form.

Personal life

King Suffers from a form of social anxiety, glossophobia; and has stated on numerous occasions that Miserylab will never perform live; quoted as saying "I have no urge… to posture to crowds of people. I avoid the music scene politics and social networks with respect to other bands and their inevitable gossip."