Biography
Mark Harris (vocals, flute, clarinet, reeds, winds, saxophone, percussion);
Mike Johnson (guitar, banjo, mandolin, percussion);
Dave Willey (guitar, accordion, keyboards, bass guitar, drums);
Emily Bowman (viola);
Jon Stubbs (trombone, keyboards, bass guitar, triangle);
Raoul Rossiter (marimba, drums, percussion);
Brian McDougall,
Matt Spencer (bass guitar).
Hamster Theatre is an American band based in Boulder, Colorado specializing in complex music that defies all genre boundaries. The band was formed in 1993 by Dave Willey (formerly of Big Foot Torso) and Jon Stubbs. They were inspired by European artists outside the commercial mainstream, such as Nimal and Fem Soker En Skaat. Original members also included Deborah Perry (keyboards, vocals), Steve Doyle (guitar), Greg LaLiberte (saxes, flute), and Josh Wright (drums). Willey plays keyboards, guitar and melodeon; Stubbs handles bass, keyboards, trombone and miscellaneous other instruments.
The band's first album, Songs from the Hamster Theatre, was recorded on four-track cassette and released in 1995 on Prolific Records. Personnel changes abounded, and it was not until 1996 that the band recorded again. At this point, Willey and Stubbs were joined by Mark Harris (winds, reeds), Mike Johnson (guitar), Mike Fitzmaurice (bass), and Raoul Rossiter (drums). Harris and Johnson are also in Thinking Plague. An album called Siege on Hamburger City was recorded live at the Mercury Cafe in 1998.
While engaging a series of different bass players, the band has put out two more albums: Carnival Detournement (2000) and The Public Execution of Mr. Personality (2006), which is packaged with Quasi Day Room, a live document from a festival appearance in Seattle in 2002. These later albums appeared on Cuneiform Records.
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