Assemblage 23

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Seattle, Washington, USA (1988 – present)

“Assemblage 23” is a one-man / project, whose sole member is musician Tom Shear, based in Seattle, Washington, USA.

Prior to starting Assemblage 23, Shear experimented with music under the name “Man on a Stage”, beginning in the early 1980s. Most of Shear’s music at this point was instrumental, as he lacked the confidence to sing; the quality of the music itself was highly questionable by his own admission. Shear eventually began to add vocals to his music; at the same time, Shear was also playing bass in a punk band called the “Advocates”.

Assemblage 23 got its start in 1988, when at a “Depeche Mode” concert, founder Tom Shear heard the opening DJ spinning music. Prior to hearing this type of music, Shear had been creating primarily and type music.

Hearing industrial music for the first time proved to be something of an epiphany for Shear, as he had finally found a form of music that combined the electronic sounds he loved from his synth-pop background with the heavier, darker aggression punk represented. Even so, the project was more of a hobby for Shear at this point; it took until 1998 for Assemblage 23 to gather enough positive acclaim to attract the attention of record labels.

Shear signed a deal in 1999 with the Canadian label Gashed! for a full-length album, “Contempt” (released in November 1999). A second album, “Failure”, followed in March 2001 and was released by Gashed! in North America and Accession Records in Europe. A single from “Failure”, “Disappoint”, was released on Accession in October 2001. The song dealt with Shear’s sense of loss after his father’s suicide on October 28, 1999.
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  • Failure
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  • Defiance
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New Lost Signal EP Out Now on 23db Records!

27 Sep 2010 | from blog.myspace.com/officialassemblage23

Tom Shear's 23db label has released the first new music from Lost Signal since 2006's critically acclaimed "Eviscerate".  The 5-track EP, entitled "Apparition" shows the project …

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