Spaceseed

Spaceseed is a North American space rock act founded in 1988 in Atlanta Georgia by guitarist/singer John Pack.
John decided to form the band to explore his love of experimental music and space rock.
<big>Origins</big>
The band had its beginnings in October 1988 and has been functioning non-stop since then.
<big>History</big>
The group spent a number of years "testing" ideas in the studio as well as performing live at events like Lollapalooza and a myriad of chic clubs.
The group continued through myriad line-ups experimenting with its style as it evolved.
Breaking onto the international scene in 2003 the group joined forces with forces with Nik Turner (Hawkwind/Space Ritual).
Turner who is one of the founding fathers of the space rock genre, recognized an opportunity to work with a US based collective of talented and like-minded musicians. The combo recorded and toured together for two years delivering red-hot renditions of Turner classics (like Master of the Universe and Shouldn’t Do That) and Spaceseed originals. It was during this time that Future Cities Of The Past Spaceseed's debut disc was produced and released in 2003. It features performances by Pack, Turner, The Subliminator and Gal-Axy.
The opening track on Future Cities of The Past Mojo is a driving song which was featured prominently in the bands set on their early tours.
In 2004, Mark Reiser became the official band artist.
This was also the year of the group’s largest tour to date. The Future Cities of the Past tour featured Pack, Nik Turner, Gal-Axy augmented by drummer Sam Lohman (Acid Mothers Temple)and introduced Spaceseed's longest tenured drummer Hank Tart.
2005 brought about the advent of the Pack, Fowler guitar team. In this same year the group found itself paired with another space rock heavy and ex-Hawkind member, Harvey Bainbridge.
At this time the combo with Bainbridge in tow holed up in the North Georgia mountain town of Cartersville and recorded The Empire Of Night Featuring a demented, performance by Bainbridge, a cameo by Bob Harvey (formerly of Jefferson Airplane) and a large chunk of lyrics by Bostonian space man Paul Angelosanto from the band Astro Al.
On Empire the group cast space rock against the shadow of an Orwellian society. Dark and eerie it set the pace of the groups future work. This mayhem was unleashed on the world by Zeta Reticuli Records. The disc also featured the first studio appearance by long time member of the groups touring unit John Stanton a veteran of the Washington D.C. music scene.
This album features the track Empire of Night, a fan favorite mainly due to what fans have called “the molten guitar riff” which is featured in the song.

More tours followed and the group proved equal to their recorded work zig zagging the nation with a barnstorming, strobed out, mind melting set of authentic sweat stained space rock.
The band then released the limited edition Assault Transmission CD which was a mixture of live and studio material.
The official bootleg Assault Transmission features performances by Bainbridge, Lora Bloom (from Radio Eros) and Ken. One of the songs on the disc, It Came From Beyond has generated some controversy as some people have claimed it’s not even music. It is one of the most experimental tracks the band ever recorded.

The group then released its fourth CD Architects Of Twilight. On this recording Spaceseed played hammer to space rock’s anvil. Woven of a tighter fabric and forged of a stouter metal than any off the groups previous works it marks the groups shift to more of a rock format. It features the groups core Pack, Fowler and Tart as well as appearances by Bainbridge, Bridget Wishart (Hawkwind/Spirits Burning) Steve Hayes (Secret Saucer/Ultra Violet Rays), Bob Harvey (Jefferson Airplane) and Joshua Sattler (Speed X). Allen Welty Green (Zentropy) handled production chores at the AG Media studio in Atlanta Georgia.
The disc's art was produced by Mark Reiser outside of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania as well as a secret location know simply as 'space mountain lodge'.
The mainly instrumental track Titan is considered to be the stand out track from Architects of Twilight with its driving beat and strangely distorted vocal samples.

The band has started work on its latest project The Fraternal Order Of Spaceseed. The core line up for this project is John Pack, Gabriel Monticello (Zentropy), Brendan McKusker (Pickman's Model) and Allen Welty Green.

<big>Musical style</big>
Spaceseed’s genre style is in the vein of space rock, progressive rock blended with heavy metal overtones. Some call them “Space Metal”.
<big>Influences</big>
The band is considered by many to be the North American answer to the English space rock band Hawkwind who are seen as their primary influence. Other bands that are often sited by band members as being guideposts in their style are; King Crimson, Blue Oyster Cult, David Bowie, and Captain Beyond.
<big>Characteristics</big>
The band is known for its heavy psychedelic sounds, wild light shows, and stage theatrics. Dancers and performance artists are often featured onstage with the group as they play and the band is often known to appear on stage in bizarre costumes. They are a favorite attraction at Halloween shows and Science Fiction Conventions.

<big>Catastrophes and Controversies</big>
The band has had many brushes with danger throughout their history and is no stranger to controversy. During the Cities of the Future Past tour their bus (which had previously been used by Porcupine Tree on one of their early US tours) split almost in two while the band was driving on the highway. Fortunately all involved escaped major injuries.
Several former members of the band claim that they were plagued by a poltergeist while staying in an old hotel in New Orleans during a tour.
One night while the band and Harvey Bainbridge were taking a break from song writing they were fired upon by drive by shooters in Atlanta. Luckily no one was hurt.
Some people have accused the band of hiding subliminal messages in their art and recordings that link together to form a string of Orwellian authoritarian messages encouraging people to surrender their freedoms and embrace brutal governmental control. The band denies there are any such messages in their work and state that their philosophy runs completely counter to such ideals.
<big>Venues:</big>
The band has played in many different venues and has toured the US multiple times. They have played arenas, nightclubs, art galleries, private parties, science fiction conventions, and festivals. Some of the festivals they have played include Lollapalooza, the Landing Pad, and the Spacerock Convention.

<big>Playing with other bands:</big>
Spaceseed has shared bills with many different bands including; The Flaming Lips, Hawkwind, Nik Turner’s Space Ritual, Acid Mother’s Temple, Gunslinger, and Scattered Planets.

<big>Touring:</big>

The band has toured the US multiple times. The first two tours featured guest performer Nik Turner (formerly of Hawkwind). The next two tours featured guest performer Harvey Bainbridge (formerly of Hawkwind). On these tours the band brought an expansive multi-media light and projection show the Solar Flare Light Show. This light show was also used by Ozric Tentacles on one of their US tours and by Hawkwind on some of their US shows. The band played at nightclubs, art galleries, and auditoriums.
<big>Band members</big>

Spaceseed has what some view as a revolving membership but is really more of a collective. Bandleader John Pack puts together different line-ups and configurations for the project in an effort to always have the best players for whatever the focus of the band is at that time.

<big>Current members</big>
John Pack: vocals, lead guitar, synths
Gabriel Monticello: Bass
Brendan McCusker: Drums
Allen Welty Green: synths
Paul Angelosanto (sometimes credited as Astro Al on Spaceseed cds) usually contributes spoken word pieces and on Empire of Night performed a spoken word segment for the track Photon Phantasm.
<big>Former members</big>
Joshua Sattler
Brian Fowler
John Stanton
Gal Axy
The Subliminator
Sam Lohman
Hank Tart
Grant Dawson
Kellye Kenderick
Lora Bloom
John Lascko
Tracey Story
Chris Tinsly
Mitch Cherry
Emmy Cherry
Donna Caroll
Oji Brazemore
Eric Schroeder
Rick Atkinson
Richard Kuykendall
Dan Morton
Dave Clark
Billie Fields
Greg Psoamas
David Chastain
Jay Lipe
Kirk Duffy
Danny Simmons
George Box
Crawford Land
Michael Thomas-Roe
Steve Hayes
Greg Willard
Danny Simmons
Billy Wright
Brian Morris
Wade Gallintine
Jenny
Audrey Montague
Rev Dave
Cyndee Lee Rule
I Rock
James Lewis
Chris Kemp
Rob Ayers
<big>Guest musicians</big>
Nik Turner (Space Ritual, Hawklords, formerly of Hawkwind & founding member)
Harvey Bainbridge (Hawklords, formerly of Hawkwind)
Bridget Wishart (Spirits Burning, formerly of Hawkwind)
Bob Harvey (formerly of Jefferson Airplane)
Meredith Greer (singer, dancer, performance artist)

<big>Discography</big>
1990- Process (Cassette only release. Naked City Records) (now out of print)
2004- Future Cities of the Past PT 1 (Featuring Nik Turner) (now out of print and is a highly sought after collectible by Hawkwind fans and fans of psychedelic music)
2006- Empire of Night (Featuring Harvey Bainbridge) Zeta Reticuli Records
2007- Assault Transmission the Official Bootleg (live & studio material) Zeta Reticuli Records (a limited edition release, now out of print)
2009- Architects of Twilight (featuring Bridget Wishart & Harvey Bainbridge) Zeta Reticuli Records

<big>Music Videos:</big>
So far the band has only released one officially produced music video. Titan -from Architects of Twilight filmed at Z-Axis studios by director James Lewis. The video starred performance artist & dancer Meredith Greer.
<big>Television:</big>
In 1989 John Pack and David Clark hosted a local Atlanta cable show produced by Dick Richards called The Spaceseed Video Freakout hour. RuPaul was a frequent guest host.

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