Eat Static was formed in 1989 by Merv Pepler and Joie Hinton as a creative outlet for
the diverse range of electronic music that the pair were writing. This year sees them
reach the magical 30 years of performing! Always primarily intended as a live band, Eat
Static can legitimately claim to be one of the UK’s first live techno outfits. Eat Static
quickly developed a spectacular live show that included a huge light show and a giant
illuminated brain. A loyal following quickly formed, with the crowds realising that dance
could be performed live at a time when ‘live’ performances by other bands were often
mimed by PAs. Since that time Eat Static have played hundreds of gigs headlining
festivals and shows around the world.
Early Eat Static releases were on the band’s own imprint – Alien Records, and laid the
foundations of the band’s sound with inventive editing, B Movie samples and a sense
of humour and unpredictability. They then signed to Michael Dog’s legendary label
Planet Dog, which captured the spirit and idealism of a heady time. The album
Abduction was a particularly strong release and the band went on to enjoy chart
success with a number of their EP’s on the label. At the same time, Eat Static were
headlining Megadog nights and festivals as well as Glastonbury.
With their departure from Planet Dog, the band formed their own label – Mesmobeat
and a number of album releases followed, including the standouts Crash and Burn and
In the Nude, where the band explored a wider palette of sounds, including Big Beat,
70’s kitsch, psychedelic Latin and subtly twisted lounge music. Merv also started a
side project Hi-Fi Companions with Will White from Propellerheads. As well as
recording and releasing on their own label the band also worked with Solstice, BNE,
Twisted, TIP World, Interchill and a handful of other labels. The tracks on Interchill
compilations provided an outlet for downtempo and chillout.
Merv’s collaborations are numerous; Hi-Fi Companions, The Flexitones, Strontium
Dogs, MX Experiment, and System Static. Collabs include music recorded with Steve
Joliffe (Tangerine Dream), Steve Hillage (as System Static), Robert Hjeinen (Psychick
Warriors of Gaia), Robert Smith of The Cure, Georgina Brett and many more. Eat Static
also have a long list of remixes to their name including Suns of Arqa, Shpongle, Kaya
Project, Front Line Assembly, System 7, Joujouka, Uzumaki and many more.
After the 2007 summer festival touring season ended, keyboardist Joie Hinton left the
band and it was then just Merv left to fly the Alien flag! But more recently, he has been
rejoined in the studio by original member Steve Everitt who made strong appearances
on the acclaimed albums ”Last Ship to Paradise” and ‘Dead Planet’.
2008 saw the release of Eat Static’s first ever full length down-tempo album, Back To
Earth, with Canada’s Interchill label. The album was infused with dashes of Arabian
and jazzy influences alongside solid rhythmic elements of dub/breaks and spaced-out
other-worldly electronica.
In 2015 Eat Static released their 25th anniversary double album entitled Dead Planet /
Human Upgrade. One half up-tempo and banging and the other half exploring more
experimental sounds. Merv put out this monster release to counter the disposable
culture of streaming music. People said it couldn’t be done and shouldn’t be done
which was reason enough to do it.