Emergency Broadcast Network | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Providence, Rhode Island |
| Genres | Electronica,techno[1] |
| Years active | 1991 (1991)–1999, 2011 |
| Labels | TVT Records |
| Past members |
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Emergency Broadcast Network is a multimedia performance group formed in 1991 that took its name from theEmergency Broadcast System. The founders wereRhode Island School of Design graduatesJoshua Pearson,Gardner Post, andBrian Kane (author of theVujak VJ software). Kane left EBN in 1992. The EBN Live Team included DJ Ron O'Donnell; video artist-technologistGreg Deocampo, founder ofCompany of Science and Art (CoSA); foundingCTO ofIFilm.com), artist-designer Tracy Brown; and programmer-technologistMark Marinello.
The first EBN video project was a musical remix of theGulf War, created in 1991 as the war was still ongoing. Pearson cited their interest in how the media turned information about the war into entertainment as an inspiration for the band.[2] The VHS tape of the remix project, which contained theGeorge H. W. Bush "We Will Rock You" cover, became a viral underground hit, and was distributed widely by fans as bootleg copies. In the summer of 1991, EBN traveled with the firstLollapalooza tour, distributing tapes and showing their videos on a modified station wagon with TVs on the roof.[3] The group also became well known for their media sculptures and stage props which were created by Gardner Post.[4]
Bono ofU2 took notice of their work and hired them to provide visuals for theirZoo TV Tour. EBN's video work featured prominently into the show, and their "We Will Rock You" cover was played at the beginning of each show.[2] EBN also produced visuals forThe Edge's performance of "Numb" on the 1993MTV Video Music Awards.[5] In addition to the visuals, audio from those clips were featured in the live performance to create rhythmic effects. In 1997, EBN collaborated with U2 for an MTV miniseries,ZooTV: The Television Program, which featured satirical videos and remixes.[6] In 1998, EBN returned to theMTV Video Music Awards fold by designing the respective montage videos for the 1998 nominees announced in their signature "video scratching" style.
In 1996, the group contributed to theAIDS benefit albumOffbeat: A Red Hot Soundtrip produced by theRed Hot Organization.
In 2011, EBN collaborated with Nico for the 10th Year anniversary of the EJ Midi Turntable at First Avenue[citation needed].
Commercial Entertainment Product was released in 1992 onTVT Records.Spin called it "dizzyingly hypnotic, politically subversive sound-and-vision barrage that renders superfluous its repeated exhortation to 'try psychoactive drugs!'".[7] Videos included a cover of "We Will Rock You" byQueen, with a vocal track made up of remixed clips ofGeorge H. W. Bush, who made announcements about theGulf War.
The albumTelecommunication Breakdown, released in 1995, was one of the firstEnhanced CDs ever produced, and contained contributions fromBill Laswell,Institute of Technology,Grandmaster Melle Mel,Brian Eno, andJack Dangers.[8] Among the videos released are "Get Down" and "Electronic Behavior Control System", which mocks the way television controls our lives. The band used a video/audio sample ofR. Budd Dwyer's suicide in "Get Down".[9]Wired.com described the band's use of samples on "Get Down" as "the video equivalent ofPublic Enemy'sBomb Squad".[10]
Josh Pearson, EBN's charismatic front man and principal performance artist, was also EBN's music composer and main video editor. He says that the band are not musicians but use sampling technology to create multimedia performance art.[11]
The EBN modus operandi was to take cable television broadcasts and remix them with a funky beat, often having the lyrics "sung" not by a singer but by half-second sound clips from TV, spliced together. For example, the lyric "electronic behavior control system" would be created with a clip ofRoss Perot saying "electronic", followed by a clip of George H. W. Bush saying "behavior", thenTed Koppel saying "control", and finally a clip ofBill Clinton saying "system".[2] This technique has been namedvideo scratching.
Though recognizing a long tradition before EBN, author and academicHolly Willis traces modernVJing to them.[12]
Following his departure from EBN, Kane co-developed video sampling softwareVujak.[13] Kane has since worked a number of times with British AV artistsAddictive TV on many of their projects, both live and recorded, includingMixmasters and at London'sInstitute of Contemporary Arts.
Deocampo foundedCompany of Science and Art, which developedAfter Effects.[14] He continues his video remixes independently today, using footage from the2003 invasion of Iraq (which he refers to as Gulf War II). In 2006, Deocampo started working with a trio of London videoturntablists,Eclectic Method: Jonny Wilson, Ian Edgar, and Geoff Gamlen.
Joshua Pearson is Senior Editor at Outpost Digital / RadicalMedia,[15] and has edited numerous commercials, television shows, and documentary films, includingUnder African Skies: Paul Simon's Graceland Journey, andWhitey: The United States V James J. Bulger, both of which were Sundance selections. In 2015, he editedWhat Happened, Miss Simone?, directed by Liz Garbus, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and won an Emmy for Outstanding Documentary.
Gardner Post has continued to work in sculpture[4] and audiovisual performance, including the band United Content Providers.[16]
