Society Burning


Society Burning is an American coldwave industrial rock band composed of Daveoramma, Twitch, and Boom chr Paige. The group was founded in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1991 and was originally named The Watchmen.

History

Daveoramma began recording music in 1991 under the name Watchmen with one other person while at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM. As an instructor of recording arts at the university, Mansfield had unfettered access to the university's 16-track recording studio, where he met Boom chr Paige, who was recording for a band called Your Mother. Boom provided guitar work and other musical support during the production of Watchmen's first release, Is God in Showbusiness Too?.
After completing work on the Showbusiness cassette, Chase of If It Moves... records found out about the band via a New Mexico college radio station. Soon after, Chase include their track "Merciful Release" on the compilation Cyberflesh Conspiracy.
After the other member of Watchmen left, Dave asked Boom to officially join the band. The duo released a second self-produced work, Plague, in January 1992, gaining further attention from Chase, as well as from German label Kugelblitz. Both labels released compilations featuring the band, but the band changed its name upon discovering at least two other bands vying to use the name Watchmen. The resulting name change to Society Burning was chosen in time for both record labels to use the name on separate compilation appearances.
During this time the band relocated to Denver, Colorado, where they met and enlisted, for a time, Michael Smith of Fiction 8 for assistance with keyboards on-stage. The move to Denver turned out to be difficult financially, and the duo found that they spent more time working to make ends meet than creating, a situation which contributed a turn towards writing "really mean music".
In 1993, the band met Steven Seibold of Hate Dept., who would go on to produce/re-engineer the song "Human Waste" for the Re-Constriction compilation Thugs 'n' Kisses. This would be the beginning of an odd precedent set by Re-Con and the band for 'premixing', or releasing the remixed material before releasing the original versions of their work.
In the first years of the 1990s, the band utilized emerging technologies alongside their music, from promotion via Usenet and via internet as early as 1991, to being one of the first bands with a website as the World Wide Web emerged in 1994. In 1993, before the Web, Boom programmed and distributed 3.5" floppy discs containing multimedia samples of the band's work in packages they called "noise letters." The band's multimedia expressions continued beyond the nineties with Dave's own company, Prescient Thought Productions.
In 1994, Twitch – an industrial DJ in Denver – met Boom while he was working at a local software retailer and they immediately connected. Soon after, Twitch took his place as guitar player for the band while Boom switched to keyboards. Also in 1994, the band brought on Tracey – Boom's wife, a once Miss Teen Colorado and classically trained pianist – for live keyboard support. Despite the band having additional personnel for live support, they never had the financial support to justify a tour, but did play many one-off shows.
In 1995, Society Burning signed to Re-Constriction. The band had already begun work on an album, spending time and money on a professional studio in Golden, Colorado. At the same time, the band released older tracks to other artists for remixing. Due to a series of delays, Chase at Re-Constriction decided to release the remixes before the debut album was complete. The following year, the label issued the "premix" CD EP, Entropy Lingua. By October 1996 the band had re-worked their original material and had the album Tactiq ready for release, but logistical concerns at Re-Constriction pushed its release into 1997.
Over the next two years, the musicians worked mostly independently: Mansfield worked with a cast of voices to bridge songs for the parody/tribute album Cyberpunk Fiction while Fernandez worked as remixer for artists including Leæther Strip, Purr Machine, THD, Urania, Hexedene, and Battery.
In 1998, the band provided six tracks for the Re-Constriction satire soundtrack CyberPunk Fiction – A Synthcore "Soundtrack" alongside other bands such as Tinfed, Killing Floor, Christ Analogue, Collide, Purr Machine, 16 Volt and Hexedene. The band also created the mock dialogue filler in the style of the film between the compilation tracks.
The band parted ways in 1999, following the closure of Re-Constriction. After completing a degree at the Colorado Institute of Art, Dave relocated to Los Angeles, California, while Twitch remained in Denver, Colorado, and Boom relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The band regrouped in 2007, writing material for a new release on their own Audiocomm International Publishing label in addition to finalizing and releasing their previously unreleased 1994 album State of Decay in late 2009. October 2010 saw the release of their sixth album, Internal Combustion.
Mansfield has frequently teamed-up with other bands and producers to lend both vocal and production support. In 2017, he provided vocals for Gross National Produkt's track "Faceless." In 2020, Mansfield joined Gabriel Wilkinson of Microwaved to co-produce the track "The Enemy God" for the latter's EP release Phantom Whisper.

Discography

Albums and EPs

  • Is God in Showbusiness Too? Label: Prescient Thought Productions PTP-02
  • Plague Label: Prescient Thought Productions PTP-03
  • State of Decay Label: Audiocomm International Publishing
  • Entropy.Lingua Label: Cargo/Re-constriction REC-019
  • Tactiq Label: Cargo/Re-constriction REC-036
  • Internal Combustion Label: Audiocomm International Publishing
  • Nausea ad Nauseam Label: Audiocomm International Publishing
  • D3l3te Up10ad Label: Audiocomm International Publishing
  • Rotor 25 Label: Audiocomm International / Rabid Coyote Music
  • Ready End User Label: Audiocomm International / Rabid Coyote Music / Technocosmic Music
  • End User Agreement Label: Audiocomm International / Rabid Coyote Music / Technocosmic Music

Compilations

  • Cyberflesh Conspiracy Song: Merciful Release Label: Cargo/Re-Constriction IIM-02
  • Rivet Head Culture Song: Party Girl Label: Cargo/Re-Constriction IIM-03
  • Shut Up Kitty Song: Stand and Deliver Label: Cargo/Re-Constriction REC-009
  • Rotation.3 Song: Vision Label: Kugel Blitz KBR 002
  • Biotech 01: Colorado Electronics Compiled Song: Lovesick Label: SDS Productions SDS-019
  • Thugs 'n' Kisses Song: Human Waste Label: Cargo/Re-Constriction REC-016
  • Vampire Rodents: Clockseed Song: Clockseed Label: Cargo/Re-Constriction REC-017
  • Chambermade Song: Awaken Label: Cargo/Re-Constriction REC-300
  • Vampire Rodents: Gravity's Rim Song: Evasion Label: Fifth Column Records 9868-63224-2
  • Operation Beatbox Song: Colors Label: Cargo/Re-Constriction REC-023
  • Re-Constriction 10* Year Anniversary Song: Dead Man Label: Cargo/Re-Constriction REC-400
  • T.V. Terror Song: Magnum P.I. Theme Label: Cargo/Re-Constriction REC-032
  • Awake the Machines Song: Less Than Zero Label: Out of Line OUT-017
  • Circuit Noir Song: Broken Label: United Endangered Front UEF-CD/1006
  • Got Moose? Song: Tactiq Label: Cargo/Re-Constriction REC-037
  • Persistence of Division Motion Picture Soundtrack Song: Time Label: Kinotonik KINO.CD 001
  • Cyber-punk Fiction Label: Cargo/Re-Constriction REC-31 Songs: Cyberpumpkin and Engergizer Honey Bunny Dialogue, Electro Body Music Dialogue, Busted Surf Boards, Chemlab's Dead Baby Dialogue, Bullwinkle Pt.2, Mos Eisley Download Contest Dialogue, If Love is a Red Dress, Bring out the Hack Dialogue, Comanche, Flowers on the Wall, User-friendliness goes a Long Way Dialogue, Surf Rider, FAQ 25.17 Dialogue
  • Songs from the Wasteland Song: Naked and Savage Label: Cargo/Re-Constriction REC-041
  • Nod's Tacklebox of Fun Song: Lovefool Label: Cargo/Re-Constriction REC-35
  • The Challenge From Beyond Song: Hold Your Breath Label: Dion Fortune, SPV GmbH
  • Drowned Visions Song: Nauseau Ad Nauseam Label: Dark Horizons
  • CRL Studios Presents: The Second Wavelength Song: Exile Label: CRL Studios CRLF013-2
  • Electronic Saviors: Industrial Music To Cure Cancer Volume II: Recurrence Song: I Am the Man Label: Metropolis, Distortion Productions
  • CRL Studios Presents: The Third Wavelength Song: Playing with Undead Things Label: CRL Studios
  • Electronic Saviors: Industrial Music To Cure Cancer Volume IV: Retaliation Song: Memory Label: Metropolis, Distortion Productions
  • Neo-Denver Is About To Explode: Weltmuzik Festival Song: Deleting Me Again Label: Welt Muzik
  • Electronic Saviors: Industrial Music To Cure Cancer Volume V: Remembrance Song: Bleed for Me Label: Metropolis, Distortion Productions
  • Electronic Saviors: Industrial Music To Cure Cancer: Synthcore Dreams Vol. 1 Song: Stand In L1ne Label: Distortion Productions
  • A Riveting Protest Song: For What It's Worth Label: Riveting Music
  • Electronic Saviors – Electronic Music To Cure Cancer Vol VI: Reflection Song: Under Your Skin Label: Distortion Productions
  • Regulate This Song: Sex Label: Riveting Music
  • Electronic Saviors: Industrial Music To Cure Cancer: Synthcore Dreams Vol. 2 Song: In the Year 2525 Label: Distortion Productions
  • Electronic Saviors: Industrial Music To Cure Cancer: Synthcore Dreams Vol. 3 Song: Reboot Label: Distortion Productions
  • Electronic Saviors Vol. 7: ReUnion Song: Doctor Fantastic, Inc. Label: Metropolis, Distortion Productions