History
Nautical Almanac first organized in Ann Arbor Michigan in 1994 (the year Harper and Ptak met) from the same experimental music scene which produced Wolf Eyes, Beast People and Andrew W.K..
Nautical Almanac was created after Harper's infamous band Scheme was dissolved; at that time he was influenced by Bulb Records, Harry Pussy and Caroliner as well as the fecund local scene. Nautical Almanac's first shows revolved around guerrilla performances and consisted of general open door member policy. In the year 1996 Nautical Almanac released its self-titled debut LP on Hanson Records. By then the band's lineup solidly consisted of Nathan Young, Sol Meltzer, and Twig Harper. The following year those members were involved in a police riot which was followed by unwarranted house surveillance and raids looking for Twig Harper which caused him to move to Chicago with Carly Ptak. At this point Ptak and Harper furthered Nautical's research in DIY electronics, circuit bending, record cutting and costumed performance. From 1997-2001 Ptak and Harper operated a junk-resale-antique store on Division Street named The Mystery Spot. In 2001 they relocated to Baltimore, Maryland buying a store front with two abandoned floors above; right away they knocked a hole in a wall and began squatting the top two floors and doing repairs to the neglected space. The building was named Tarantula Hill and hosted many touring and local experimental performances, the first ever show held there featured Lightning Bolt, Forcefield, Neon Hunk, and Spread Eagle, Ptak's band with Misty Martinez. During this time the HERESEE record label was created and Nautical Almanac toured the USA and Europe extensively. In 2004 Nautical Almanac was reformed as a Noise-Rock band with the inclusion of Max Eisenberg on drums, electronics and vocals, three months of touring and the LP Cover the Earth featured this line-up. In March 2006, shortly before Harper's performance at New York's No Fun Fest, the first floor of their building and much of their equipment and archives were lost in a mysterious fire. The outpouring of support was tremendous, The True Vine record shop hosted a series of benefit concerts, Ecstatic Peace released a double CD compilation, and countless individual and arts collectives from across the world sent support. During the next year they worked on gutting the bottom floor with help of volunteers and worked with Baltimore City to secure a loan to get the building legally up to code. The repairs were finished by the middle of 2007 after which Nautical Almanac completed a 20 day tour of N. America and performed and traveled in Peru and Bolivia. Since that time Ptak has opened a hypnotherapy office while Harper continues his research into radionic record cutting and music production.
Read more about this topic: Nautical Almanac (band)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Racism is an ism to which everyone in the world today is exposed; for or against, we must take sides. And the history of the future will differ according to the decision which we make.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)
“There has never been in history another such culture as the Western civilization M a culture which has practiced the belief that the physical and social environment of man is subject to rational manipulation and that history is subject to the will and action of man; whereas central to the traditional cultures of the rivals of Western civilization, those of Africa and Asia, is a belief that it is environment that dominates man.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)
“Don’t you realize that this is a new empire? Why, folks, there’s never been anything like this since creation. Creation, huh, that took six days, this was done in one. History made in an hour. Why it’s a miracle out of the Old Testament!”
—Howard Estabrook (1884–1978)