>> Moving Units
bio: Formed in December 2001 as a response to what the band refers to as "an uninspired music scene," Moving Units are quickly becoming a band to be reckoned with. After playing a handful of shows in and around Los Angeles Moving Units landed a residency at Silver Lake's hotbed of musical discovery, Spaceland. A west coast tour with kindred spirits Hot Hot Heat and the Pattern and a self-titled vinyl debut EP on San Diego based indie label Three.One.G soon followed. Within only a few months Moving Units had signed to the newly formed Rx records and begun work on their forthcoming debut LP. However, despite these accomplishments the group remains content with its current organic status and is eager to remain true to their original vision.
The origins of Moving Units began several years ago when L.A. native Chris Hathwell and Detroit transplant Blake Miller met while hanging out in the same local silverlake scene. Sharing similar musical taste and record collections Miller and Hathwell soon forged a creative alliance and began DJing together at local parties and nightclubs such as The Beauty Bar and The 3 Clubs. In the meantime Miller and recent D.C. emigre Johan Boegli had begun fusing raw ideas into a primitive musical collaboration, the fate of which would later be sealed by Hathwell's demented influence in Moving Units.
The most amazing thing about M > U though is not their history, how they look or what they believe. Their strongest asset is the way in which they perform together. Each member has his own identity firmly in place and nowhere is this more apparent than when Moving Units hit the stage, for it is in this arena that they truly shine. Singer/ guitarist Miller and singer/drummer Hathwell share absolute musical synchronicity, something that is rare at best if not almost impossible to find in today's modern jungle of manufactured music. They slip and slide around one another with Miller frantically trying to excorcise his demons through lyrics that are irrational and cold while Hathwell furiously beats away with rhythmic perfection. By contrast, bassist Johan Boegli keeps things seamlessly grounded with his seedy disco bass hooks and signature stoic composure.
Influences range from the detached sounds of proto-post-punk groups such as A Certain Ratio and Wire as well as the art damaged sensibilities of the Contortions and Can. Ultimately, the sum of these references add up to one unique sound being produced by a band that may be best described as truly inspiring.
MOVING UNITS - DANGEROUS DREAMS CD
In New York, it's been convenient and popular to tap into the recycled angst fueling the early '80s revival that's on every iPod and every dance floor. Moving Units' Blake Miller, Johan Boegli (bass) and Chris Hathwell (drums) make music that is solely about the here and now.
Ask Blake Miller, Moving Units' singer/guitarist, which records were in rotation during the making of "Dangerous Dreams", the L.A. trio's roiling debut album, and he won't mention the usual post punk suspects. That's not, however, because 1982 wasn't a major influence on the record. "The first Christian Death record ("Only Theatre of Pain") had a significant influence on the last 9 months of my life," he says. "It's the sexiest goth record ever made - it's as sexy as anything Marvin Gaye ever did."
You would be making an enormous mistake, and one that you would soon come to regret if you shrugged this group off as a mere revival act. "Dangerous Dreams has little to do with the latest dance-punk phenomenon and more to do with the restless inner workings of three clumsy musicians who have no choice but to throw their heart and soul into these songs. "The truth of the matter is, what we did at the time was a really honest emotional expression," Miller says of the band's beginnings, "but it just happened to coincide with a sort of musical zeitgeist."
The same depth and intensity of emotion that propelled Christian Death to spawn their chilling debut 20 years ago played a key role in the recording of "Dangerous Dreams". Nearly two tumultuous years in the making at various L.A. studios, the album boasts a tightrope sound whose volatility is both musical and emotional -- a result of either the band's perfectionism or it's unique chemistry. There seems to be no escape, for example, from the drum attack by Hathwell. He hits the kit like his pants are on fire, slicing off shards of spastic dancefloor grooves at will and stopping and starting on a dime with impetuous urgency.
"Emancipation" connects instantly with a ferocity that is simply irresistible, with drum thrashing by Hathwell, who is a veteran of SoCal's indie punk scene (see Festival of Dead Deer). Miller shreds his guitar like his life depends on it and Boegli unfurls bass hooks as if drawn from some bottomless crate of imagined 80's dance 12 inches.
Moving Units also venture into darker sonic and emotional terrain on "Dangerous Dreams". On songs like "Scars," which Miller says was originally titled "Scars on the Inside," it references the ambiguous memories and experiences we all hide in our subconscious. Wrapped inside a swirling and chiming guitar riff the six-minute musical journey marks an exciting new direction for the trio and hints at new ideas yet to come.
A raggedy crew who car-crashed in L.A.'s indie music scene three years ago, the only thing the trio's backgrounds had in common then was a pent-up fury waiting to be unleashed. Miller grew up lost in Detroit's down-and-dirty suburban wasteland and suddenly found himself in Los Angeles out of step with the city's industry-driven music scene. Mild-mannered and sophisticated, Boegli emigrated to L.A. from D.C. but strangely absent were the typical hardcore roots often associated with the seminal D.C. music scene. Hathwell ventured from band to band in Southern California, eventually bumping into Miller amidst the underemployed underground.
The members finally crossed paths and melded their diverse backgrounds and styles to synthesize the early Moving Units style. Quickly going into the studio, the band recorded their first songs with a raw organic feel that instantly translated to tape.
The alchemy of those sessions was proven when four new tracks became an EP released in early 2003. A steady flow of L.A. gigs established the band as a fan favorite in the All-Ages crowd. They selected the name Moving Units to mock the sales-obsessed record industry they were united in despising, but it is open to a variety of interpretations.
By 2003, America and the rest of the world had taken notice. The band was hand-picked by Damon Albarn to open Blur's North American Tour. Contemporaries Hot Hot Heat invited the band to tour across the US and throughout the UK. Recently, a secret show on the eve of the Coachella festival found Moving Units opening for none other than the Pixies.
In addition to the dreams that haunt Miller, Boegli and Hathwell on their debut album, their waking life seems to point toward a future that will find some of their more idyllic dreams - like musical innovation and success - being realized as well. For now, they're less focused on "moving units", and more devoted to perfecting the sound of their group. "We have a clear idea about the musical territory we want to explore. It has to be raw, and it has to sound like us," Miller says of the band's top priority. "Who knows what that means? But in our heads we hope we know what that seems to mean."
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