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| High Noon Records Artists: |
| Here you can read about your favorite High Noon artists as well as listen to all released tracks. Bands are listed alphabetically. |
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| Base Burners: |
| Marie Laveau herself is rolling over in her grave for
the bog-banging bass and beats of the Base Burners. Theirs
is a cocktail of Voodoo Swamp Rock mixed with Down
Tempo/Electro Beats. Sit back, relax and prepare to get
burned. Jake Spade, the driving force behind the Base Burners, began his musical journey in his hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, where he was a recording engineer at Robert Wallace Studios. Raised in the Southern/Swamp Rock environment, he gained a reputation for achieving that coveted "dirty" sound for many artists that worked with him. He also could sit in on sessions and play virtually any instrument needed. He moved to New Orleans in 2003 to submerge himself into the music scene there. Bobby Tate is a turntablist/keyboard player from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He became known as DJ Lazy-8, specializing in mixing his breaks with old western music. A move to Miami in 2002 introduced him to fellow DJ, Argo "Professor" Beetson (eventually of Phantom 309) and more importantly, bassist, Christof Durant. Durant was raised on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten where he studied bass from an early age with exposure to many forms of tropical music. He moved to New Orleans in 1999 and played in several bands ranging from blues to jazz to Zydeco. Of these, his Hoodoo-Zydeco band, Mauvais, found the most success. Bobby Tate approached him after a Mauvais show in Miami in 2003 about collaborating on a song that was to be featured in an independent horror/voodoo film. Durant was interested but suggested that they work on the track with Spade in New Orleans with whom Mauvais had just recorded a demo. Having heard of Spade, Tate agreed. Calling themselves the Bokor; Spade, Tate and Durant recorded the track "Drawing Straws" for the film "The Seventh Son". The film did poorly, and even a copy would be a challenge to find; but the Bokor were quite pleased with the collaboration, and plans to continue were indefinitely made. Until then both Tate and Durant had obligations to fulfill: Tate with a calendar of club dates, and Durant to the Mauvais. In 2005 Beetson of Phantom 309 contacted Tate about Halloween at High Noon, suggesting that the Bokor submit "Drawing Straws" to High Noon Records. High Noon was at the time searching for artists to appear on the original Halloween compilation. Akers and Innes loved the track and invited the Bokor aboard. Changing their name to the Base Burners, they offered the track "Haunted Bayou" for the compilation as well. Although considered a High Noon artist, Base Burners remains a secondary project to all three of its members. Talks of a full-length release have begun, but for now they will simply provide tracks for the Halloween at High Noon (and similar) releases. ______________________________________________________________ |
| Buck James & the Bullwhips: back to quick access |
| A 1959 Cadillac hearse with menacing chrome lines and
crushed velvet leather interior cruises the dusty back roads
of Nowheresville, USA, the engine growling with dread. Buck
James and his Bullwhips are on the prowl. Duane Eddy, Link
Wray and Poison Ivy collide with 1960's late night chiller
theater to bring you the underground sound that no living
soul can resist. The Bullwhips draw their inspiration from
the primal smack of Rockabilly, the psychedelic mind
expansion of the 1960's, garage rock, psycho-surf, haunted
organs and enough old-fashioned reverb to make the music
pass through you like a ghost. Please welcome Buck James and
the Bullwhips. Guitarist, Buck James, and bassist/bandmate, John Laramie hail from Texarkana, Arkansas. They have played together in different bands since their high school days, the music ranging from Bluegrass to Rockabilly to Surf to Blues. James and Laramie moved to Memphis out of high school to join the music scene there. It was there that the Bullwhips were born. Buck is the grandson of Earl "Toothpick" James, late guitarist of the Viceroys, the famed Rockabilly band from 1950's. Piper Phelps was a session drummer/recording engineer at a Memphis studio where James and Laramie frequently booked recording time. Phelps sat in as their drummer for the sessions and has been the Bullwhips drummer ever since. Owen Rae is the cousin of Phelps and is from Lancaster, Ohio. The most unlikely Bullwhip, he is a member of a team that works with a professor from Ohio University, studying the effects of musical hypnotherapy through the use of subliminal musical phrasing. Rae specializes in the piano/organ for the study. The Bullwhips were in need of an organ player, so Phelps invited him aboard, labeling him "much more than your typical organ player". Rae recorded his material for the study at Dead End Ranch, the studio owned by High Noon Records, with the owners, James Akers and Jason Innes, on hand. After several sessions Rae told Akers and Innes of the Bullwhips and gave them a demo. Buck James & the Bullwhips signed to High Noon Records in January, 2006, and in addition to contributing to the Halloween at High Noon projects, there are also plans to eventually record a full length CD. ______________________________________________________________ |
| Dead End Ranch: back to quick access |
| In addition to being the name of High Noon Records'
recording/production studio, Dead End Ranch is yet another
project of Akers and Innes. Focused almost entirely on
experimental/horror, Dead End Ranch is a place you may or
may not want to find yourself, depending on your taste for
adventure. Eerie soundscapes chill the air as swirling
layers of noise creep and crawl, creating a texture suited
to only those who like their vibe a little on the scary
side. Influenced by horror film soundtracks, Dead End Ranch
is open for business, and these guns are for hire. ______________________________________________________________ |
| Delvis: back to quick access |
| Delvis, the two-headed Electrobilly monster, is an
enigma, only surfacing on rare occasions. Seldom seen and
always unclean, Delvis draws influences from 80's new wave,
punk and pyschobilly. Music for the outsiders. Delvis has ranged from as few as one person, who calls himself Delvis, to as many as six members. Reclusive and preferring little fanfare, there is not much history to provide other than Delvis having ties to Chicago. Introduced to Akers in 2001, they frequently worked together over the following 4 years on several tracks. Delvis was later asked to sign with High Noon Records, and although there are no immediate plans for a release, Delvis has provided several tracks for the Halloween at High Noon releases. ______________________________________________________________ |
| The Divine Sham: back to quick access |
| The New World of Western Dub: Heavily beat-driven
soundscapes fortified with heady, dub bass rhythms and
interwoven with the music and sounds of the Old West; The
Divine Sham have taken Electronica/Dub, bound it at the
ankles and dragged it behind a horse along the Santa Fe
Trail. If you're lookin' for trouble, they'll accommodate ya. The musical Journeys of Akers and Innes crossed once again in 2005 with the indtroduction of The Divine Sham, coinciding with the launch of their new record label, High Noon Records. Stay tuned for much more. shop ______________________________________________________________ |
| The John Dauber Trio: back to quick access |
| The awkward, uncomfortable journeys of the subconscious
that we take, booked or otherwise, is where John Dauber
finds home. An experimental mixture of down-tempo, jazz and
blues, the John Dauber Trio does not compromise. The John Dauber Trio itself is a bit misleading by name and has more to do with Dauber's obsession with the number "3" than it does with indicating a head count. Still, Dauber rarely works alone. Instead he recruits other artists - never more than two for any certain project - to establish the "trio". In 2000 one of those artists was Jason Innes, who was at the time working on some material of his own as Sweet Alien Game. Innes's "trio" status over the ensuing 4+ years was frequent, and after starting High Noon Records with James Akers, Dauber was asked to join the ranks in early 2007. Dauber began contributing with two tracks on Dead Beats & Head Treats, and although his back catalogue is substantial, it is currently the property of another label. The John Dauber Trio will eventually have its own release under High Noon Records; whether it will include prior material has not yet been determined. ______________________________________________________________ |
| Man with the Spinning Face: back to quick access |
| Man with the Spinning Face is a surreal and exhilarating
combination of gothic, new wave, industrial, electronic
music: a journey into the deepest layers of the mind. It was given life in 1997 when James Akers and Jason Innes joined forces with Marc Leib and Jakob Sylvan. Akers and Innes had already been working together, recording music of their own*. On a diet of strictly electronica, they were just beginning to develop a taste for more organic/less predictable material when they were introduced to Leib and Sylvan. They were instantly and mutually intrigued to learn that their visions paralleled one another's, and Man with the Spinning Face was born. It was an ideal situation in that each brought his own musical background to the table in terms of instrumentation and experience, so Man with the Spinning Face became very diverse and spanned beyond genre templates and guidelines. Instruments became anything that generated unique sound, and although the project remained ultimately "electronica", the loose feel of the music and uncompromising style of four very independent minds turned Man with the Spinning Face into something else entirely - something that could not be labeled. Just over two years after the first take, Man with the Spinning face were on the eve of recording their first full length studio album with a handful of record labels interested in the product. Unfortunately, Leib and Sylvan backed out at the last minute, citing artistic differences. Obviously, the album was scrapped and the songs filed away. All that now remains of Man with the Spinning Face is a collection of demo tapes. Akers and Innes decided that this would be a good time to step away from what had become a years-long marathon of recording and producing to focus on other things as well. Eventually, they would come together once again in 2005, this time as The Divine Sham and owners of High Noon Records. As for the legacy of Man with the Spinning Face: fortunately, Akers and Innes hold the rights to the music on the demo tapes. They are currently in the process of remastering the songs that are salvageable with intent on releasing a Man with the Spinning Face collection under the High Noon label in the near future. *All projects of Innes and Akers, collectively, prior to 1997 now fall under the Man with the Spinning Face name. ______________________________________________________________ |
| Phantom 309: back to quick access |
| Phantom 309 formed in 2002, the product of an online
collaboration between Flux, a
post-industrial/experimental/propaganda duo from Trenton,
New Jersey, and Argo "Professor" Beetson, a club DJ from
Gainesville, Florida. Lem Giles and Frankie Baxter are the minds behind Flux. Coming of age in the twilight of the underground industrial music scene, Giles' and Baxter's love for Skinny Puppy, Front 242, Meat Beat Manifesto, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Cyberactiv, and others is more than evident. Combine this with an ear for the outlandish and an eye on the world, and Flux became a phenomenon that was either loved or hated but would not be denied. They began recording in 1997 and realized limited success in a seemingly diminishing industrial audience, but they pressed on. They met Argo Beetson through an online music community in 2001. Beetson had been DJ-ing for 6 years in clubs on the East coast and had just taken his art online. He, along with Murania - his proclaimed "muse" and notorious stage presence at live shows - was invited by Giles to DJ before and after a Flux show. The two acts were well received, and it was not until after a couple more performances that they realized the audience thought they were one act. It seemed to be working well, and the crowds were growing, so they took advantage of it. They joined to become Argo-Flux, eventually changing their name to (after several variations) Phantom 309, citing Giles love for semi trucks. They found marginal success playing clubs and concert halls. They were given the opportunity to open for several artists including Front Line Assembly, The Hunger, and Final Cut. But their passion still lay in recording, production and experimentation, and this is what ultimately caught the attention of Innes and Akers. In 2005 they attended a Phantom 309 show in Cleveland and were intrigued enough to buy the Phantom 309 E.P. The E.P. sealed the deal and got Phantom 309 in the door. They were signed shortly thereafter. shop ______________________________________________________________ |
| Poison Pickle: back to quick access |
| High Noon co-founder, James Akers, is the mind behind
one of High Noon Records most intriguing projects. Poison
Pickle lives in a bizarre world where anything is possible
and nothing seems to be quite real. Surreal, gothic textures
blend with mind-expanding beats to form sound pallets never
heard before. Poison Pickle has contributed tracks to the
Halloween at High Noon releases and will be releasing a
full-length collection in the future, opening a world
stranger than you've ever imagined. In the wake of the disbanding of Man with the Spinning Face, Akers focused his efforts on some of his own material, dubbing it Poison Pickle. In addition, he worked extensively with Delvis, who would later be added to the High Noon roster. ______________________________________________________________ |
| Sweet Alien Game: back to quick access |
| High Noon Records' other half and co-founder, Jason
Innes, offers Sweet Alien Game to this expansive roster.
State of the art production, mind-blowing beats and top
notch song crafting are some of the staples of this
exhilarating artist. Sweet Alien Game has graciously
contributed tracks to the Halloween at High Noon releases
and will be releasing new material in the future. In much the same way as Akers and Poison Pickle, Innes moved on from Man with the Spinning Face as first, Bughouse, and later, Sweet Alien Game. When he was not working on his own material, he could often be found as an occasional 3rd member of the John Dauber Trio, who eventually would also become part of the High Noon Records line up. ______________________________________________________________ |