Failure (band)

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Failure
Failure performing in 2014
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock post-grunge alternative metal art rock space rock shoegaze
Years active	1990–1997 2014–present
Labels	Warner Bros. Failure Records PIAS
Members	Ken Andrews Greg Edwards Kellii Scott
Past members	Robert Gauss Troy Van Leeuwen
Website	failureband.com

Failure is an American alternative rock band from Los Angeles that was active from 1990 to 1997 and again from 2014 to the present.^[1] They have released six full-length albums and five EPs.

History

1990–1997: Formation, Comfort, Magnified and Fantastic Planet

In 1992, Failure

The band were unsatisfied with the sound of Comfort and their lack of involvement in the mixing process; they wanted a more flattering, produced sound that went beyond Albini's style of essentially documenting a band's raw live sound.[2] So when the band went back into the studio in 1993, Andrews and Edwards took on the role of producers themselves. Midway through these sessions, Gauss left the band, so Edwards played some drums himself, until a replacement was found in Kellii Scott. Their second album, Magnified, was released in March 1994; a promotional video (the band's first) was made for the single "Undone", but it received little airtime, if any, on any of the traditional music video outlets. Critics took note of the sonic and musical advances achieved on Magnified, and other more well-known musicians also began singing Failure's praises. That year, they again went on tour with Tool, and during Failure's set each night, Tool guitarist Adam Jones joined them onstage to play rhythm guitar on the Comfort track "Macaque".

Anxious to build on the momentum afforded to them by the relative success of Magnified, Andrews, Edwards, and Scott began recording again in 1995, this time in a rented home owned by

Ken Andrews has gone on to become a well-known producer, engineer, and mixer, and has been involved in several different music projects. ON (1999–2002) was more or less a solo project, and was not unlike Failure, in terms of songwriting, but the overall sound was more based on electronics, with less emphasis on guitars and the typical heavy rock sound. Year of the Rabbit (2002–2004) saw Andrews' return to the four-piece rock band format, alongside ON's touring drummer, Tim Dow, and former members of National Skyline and Cupcakes; the harder-rocking sound of YotR is much closer to that of Failure, but the band lost momentum and eventually went on indefinite hiatus after their label, Elektra Records, was ostensibly shut down by in the wake of its merger with Atlantic Records. Throughout all of this, Andrews has become increasingly sought-after for his production and mixing skills, and his résumé has expanded to include work on albums by Pete Yorn, Paramore, Candlebox, Tenacious D, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Mae, among many others. Also notable is his participation in the production of "You Know My Name", the theme for the 2006 James Bond movie Casino Royale, performed by then-former Soundgarden/Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell.^{[citation needed]} Currently, Andrews is performing as a solo artist, as well as collaborating in a self-described "digital band" called Los Angeles Digital Noise Academy, whose loose membership also includes Brad Laner (Medicine), Sharky Laguana (Creeper Lagoon), Charlotte Martin (whom Andrews married in 2005), Jordon Zadorozny (Blinker the Star) and others. He released his first solo album, Secrets of the Lost Satellite, in 2007. He has also started a label, Dinosaur Fight Records, which has released his solo album and Martin's, and has announced their intention to release the forthcoming LADNA album, as well.

Greg Edwards collaborated with fellow musicians

In 2004, although the band had been inactive for many years, Andrews and Edwards got together to collaborate on a CD/DVD set entitled Golden, which collects demos, outtakes, touring footage, both of the band's videos, and other rare material from the band's active period. Another posthumous compilation, a 2-CD set titled Essentials, was assembled for release in 2006; the first disc contains selected tracks from Failure's three studio albums, and the second disc features the first official CD release of all four songs from their two pre-Slash singles, and the complete demos for Magnified. In 2008, a tribute album to Failure was released titled: "A Tribute to Failure: The Nurse Who Loved Me." On June 8, 2010, Fantastic Planet was planned to be released on a 2LP vinyl set for the first time from Warner Bros. Both Magnified and Comfort were released on LP for the first time in the second half of 2011 by ORG Music (Magnified was delayed until late 2013). The 2010 limited LP release of Fantastic Planet were in such high demand, that they were fetching hundreds of dollars online. In 2016 as part of their pledge project for The Heart Is A Monster, the band re-released Fantastic Planet on vinyl once more.

2013–2017: Reunion, Tree of Stars, The Heart is a Monster

Failure announced their reunion in late 2013.^[5] With the "classic lineup"^[6] of Greg Edwards, Ken Andrews and Kellii Scott, they performed their first show since 1997 at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on February 13, 2014. It was subsequently announced that the band would open for Tool on their upcoming tour.^[7]

After the first leg, starting in March and culminating with the "Cinquanta" shows on May 10 and 11 at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles, Failure's separate "Tree of Stars" tour took place during May and June 2014 for 18 performances.

On March 30, Failure announced their fourth studio album The Heart Is a Monster, spanning 18 tracks, which was released on June 30 through INgrooves. This announcement coincided with the release of the new single "Hot Traveler," which the band debuted at SXSW earlier that month.^[11] Troy Van Leeuwen was not cited as returning to the band, however, he contributed guitar work on several tracks ^[12] and would participate in its October 2015 tour.

In 2016 Failure announced an October tour where they would be playing Fantastic Planet in its entirety to celebrate the album's 20 year anniversary. On Thanksgiving 2016, Failure announced they'd be releasing Fantastic Planet live, using tracks recorded during the Fantastic Planet Anniversary tour. On December 8, 2017, Failure's Slash Records albums were acquired by PIAS Recordings, as part of Warner Music Group's divestment of artist catalogues to indie labels.

2018–present: In The Future... EP/LP Releases and Wild Type Droid

On March 14, 2018, Failure announced a series of four EPs, with the first, In The Future, released on March 30. The remaining three will be released throughout 2018 and will eventually culminate in a complete full-length studio album later in the year. The second EP, Your Body Will Be, was released on May 25, 2018, and the third, The Furthest Thing, was released on September 14, 2018. .^[13] The finished album, titled In The Future Your Body Will Be The Furthest Thing From Your Mind was released on November 16, 2018, with the completion of the fourth and final EP, From Your Mind. In support of the new album, Failure embarked on a 29 city tour starting March 11, 2019 and ending April 24, 2019.^[14] They were joined by Swervedriver as a co-headlining act on the tour.

While Failure had previously financed two projects, the 2015 album The Heart is a Monster and the 2016 live album Fantastic Planet Live, using the crowdfunding website PledgeMusic, the band announced in March 2019 that they were not paid at the end of a similar crowdfunding campaign for In The Future.... The band advised supporters to seek remedies from their credit card companies and PledgeMusic declared bankruptcy in May 2019.^[15] Andrews said that, following the PledgeMusic bankruptcy, major label artists were refunded but independent and self-funded musicians were left out.^[16]

As of December 2021, Failure moved their digital releases to Bandcamp going forward, including prior albums released with Ingrooves & Slash Records.^[17] On February 1, 2022, Failure released a statement that they would be removing their music from Spotify due to policies regarding COVID vaccine misinformation and artist royalties.^[18]

On December 16, 2019, Failure announced their vinyl box set Failure 1992–1996, which includes their albums Comfort, Magnified, and Fantastic Planet. The band was to embark on 2020 residency shows in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City in support of its release, however the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of all dates.^[19]

On July 3, 2020, the band released a re-recorded cover of "Enjoy the Silence", titled "Enjoy the Silence 2020". Failure had originally covered the song in 1998 for the tribute album For the Masses and re-recorded the song due to the album being hard to find, being out of print for several years and not available on streaming sites. Ken Andrews stated that Failure received the blessing of Depeche Mode for the updated cover.^[20]

Ken Andrews appeared on a podcast by Shiner's Allen Epley on April 26, 2021, stating that Failure was currently working on music for an upcoming album.^[21] The band's sixth studio LP, Wild Type Droid, was released on December 3, 2021.^[22] On January 12, 2022, Failure announced a tour to support the new album during June & July 2022.^[23] On February 1, 2022, Failure announced they parted ways with Spotify citing artist compensation and disinformation as the two leading causes of the split.^[24] Albums under Rhino Records, who purchased the rights to Slash's back catalog, remains on the service.

The concert film We Are Hallucinations featuring performances from the band's Wild Type Droid tour was released to Veeps on December 15, 2022.^[25] A blu-ray version was released on July 6, 2023.^[26]

Musical style

Musically, the band has been described as alternative rock,^[27] art rock,^[28] space rock,^[29] post-grunge^[30][31][32] and alternative metal.^[29][33] However in December 2021, Edwards stated that the band may be leaning away from the space rock themes and iconography in their future work.^[34] Failure has cited a number of bands as influences, including the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and the Cure.^[35]

Band members

Current members

• Ken Andrews – vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards (1990–1997, 2014–present)
• Greg Edwards – bass, guitar, piano, keyboards (1990–1997, 2014–present)
• Kellii Scott – drums (1993–1997, 2014–present)

Former members

• Robert Gauss – drums (1990–1993)
• Troy Van Leeuwen – guitar (1996–1997)

Discography

Studio albums

• Comfort (1992)
• Magnified (1994)
• Fantastic Planet (1996)
• The Heart Is a Monster (2015)
• In the Future Your Body Will Be the Furthest Thing from Your Mind (2018)
• Wild Type Droid (2021)

Compilation albums

• Golden (2004)
• Essentials (2006)
• 1992–1996 (2020)

Live albums

• Fantastic Planet Live (2017)
• We Are Hallucinations (2023)

Extended plays

• Tree of Stars (2014) ^[36]
• In the Future (2018)
• Your Body Will Be (2018)
• The Furthest Thing (2018)
• From Your Mind (2018)

Concert films

• We Are Hallucinations (2023)

Singles

• "Count My Eyes"/"Comfort" (1991)
• "Pro-Catastrophe"/"Dipped In Anger" (1991)
• "Empty Friend" [Promo] (1994)
• "Moth" [Promo] (1994)
• "Stuck on You" (1996)
• "Pitiful" [Promo] (1996)
• "Saturday Savior" [Promo] (1996)
• "Solaris 2014"/"Shrine" (2014)
• "The Focus" (2014)
• "Hot Traveler" (2015)
• "Mulholland Dr." (2015)
• "Enjoy the Silence 2020" (2020)
• "Headstand" (2021)
• “Submarines” (2021)
• "Waiting Room" (2022)

Music videos

• "Undone" (Magnified)
• "Stuck on You" (Fantastic Planet)
• "Hot Traveler" (The Heart Is a Monster)
• "Counterfeit Sky" (The Heart Is a Monster)
• "Dark Speed" (In the Future Your Body Will Be the Furthest Thing from Your Mind)
• "Headstand" (Wild Type Droid)

References