Biography
The Infernal Noise Brigade was a loose 15-80 piece mobile sound ensemble, a hybrid marching band and drum corps, internationally active in the furtherance of popular liberation for five years. First organized in 1999 to provide the soundtrack for actions during the World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle, the INB marched through clouds of gas and hails of rubber bullets without dropping a beat. Not a year later the group visited Prague in grand style, followed by both BBC and Dutch VPRO film crews. The group prevailed through the violence that marked that event.
The INB sound combines elements of drumline, taiko, Mughal and North African rhythms, elements of Balkan fanfares, breakbeats, and just about anything else. Some songs feature vocals and, between or during songs, noise. "The virgin experience of the Infernal Noise Brigade in action can be adrenaline boggling. The music explodes the senses like a thunderstorm." (Clamour Magazine, 05/01) All instrumentation is mobile; the batería employs traditional marching band instruments like bass drum and snare, with some more obscure metal instruments like the Moroccan qarqbat or Chinese opera cymbals. A small horn section holds down the melody, assisted by vocals and layered with sound collage. Amplified sound is delivered via reverse-engineered car stereo amplifiers and miniature FM transmitters. The same DIY philosophy is applied to all Infernal craftwork, from custom welded drum harnesses to uniforms fashioned from appropriated reflective roadsigns.
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The group (with members from around the U.S. and some internationally) have also traveled to Cancun, Mexico (2003) to protest, once again, the WTO meetings, to the Republican National Convention in 2004 in New York City, to Scotland during the G8 conference, and has done a tour through Europe.
In mid-2006 the band had a "funeral" in Seattle, Wa. to send them off on to their "death" and disassembled.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.