sxsw 2006

Decoder Ring was formed in 2001, in Sydney, Australia. Original line-up consisted of Matt Fitzgerald ( keyboards, guitar) Geoff Towner (bass, El Mopa), Pete Kelly (guitar, Sea Life Park), Kenny Davis Jr (keyboards, piano, The Jackson Code, The Blackeyed Susans) & Thomas Schutzinger (drums). Original line-up recorded the EP "Spooky Action at a Distance" (2002) and album "Decoder Ring" (2002). Geoff Towner departed in 2003 and was replaced by Ben Ely (Regurgitator).

El Ten Eleven is a Los Angeles-based instrumental rock duo consisting of Kristian Dunn and Tim Fogarty. What separates El Ten Eleven from their musical peers is that they are only two musicians on stage creating pounding landscapes of sound with no laptops or sequencers. Dunn switches off (sometimes mid-song) between a double-neck bass/guitar and a fretless bass, while his feet dance on an extensive floorboard of looping devices and effects pedals. He plays everything live, loops himself and juggles all the layers of tracks on top of each other.

Read more about El Ten Eleven on Last.fm.

There are two bands with the name Gyroscope. The first is a pop punk/alternative rock band from Perth, Western Australia formed in 1997 by Daniel Sanders (vocals, guitar), Zoran Trivic (guitar), Brad Campbell (bass), and Rob Nassif (drums). They recorded their first demo cassette, First, as Gyroscope Sunday in 1998, and took up playing regularly on the Perth live circuit whilst also finding time for work and school commitments. The second is a psychedelic jazz outfit from Quebec, Canada.

The Lovetones is led by Matthew J. Tow (acoustic & electric guitars / sitar / autoharp / vocals), formerly of Drop City, Colorsound and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, along with Matt Sigley (bass / keyboards / vocals) and Chris Cobb (drums / percussion). The Lovetones released their debut album, Be What You Want in 2002 through Bomp! Records, creating a palpable buzz amongst critics from the likes of Creem and Rolling Stone magazine. The latter hailed mainman Matthew J Tow's songwriting worthy of Ray Davies, Bowie, Lennon and McCartney: a bold statement, yet in his case, completely justified.