Livesexact!
Biography
"Livesexact delivers a groove to which no one is immune. They command us to "get down," and we do.
- Laura Slapikoff, The Noise, November 2002
"Livesexact was the hypercharged hit of the night. ... got the artsy crowd jumping in the span of just three songs."
- Katie Johnston, The Boston Globe, March 2002
"Livesexact puts on a hell of a show and you definitely want to see it. Who else has stuffed animals as a drum set??! There's definitely no 'screengazing' or 'hitting play' going on here. They are rocking it totally live and energetically"
- Dan Paluska, Tek Fu, October 2001
"Livesexact is not your ordinary band. ...Their Clark Kent personalities by day in no way belie their wild Superband nighttime alter-egos. ... These artists live and perform with an honesty that has no bounds; they make their own rules; they create their own niches. "
- Scott Kathan, Improper Bostonian, August 24, 1999
MISSION: Livesexact returns the energy, power & spectacle of live performance to the realm of electronic music, reformulating the band's relationship with its audience, so that, ultimately, _everyone_ gets to GET DOWN!
LIVESEXACT v1: Alex Westner, Freedom Baird & Stefan Agamanolis first met in 1996 as grad students at MIT's Media Lab. Freedom liked Stefan's poise. Stefan liked Alex's signal processing know-how. Alex liked Freedom's ass, and visa versa. Livesexact took shape in '97 when the trio was awarded a $6000 grant from the MIT Council for the Arts to develop a set of unconventional MIDI instruments - including stuffed animal drums, body triggers, and astro-turf looping targets - that allow them to play music and video simultaneously. Through continued gigging, Livesexact's distinct brand of electro-punk dance-pop began to emerge. Later in '98, along with several other New England bands, Livesexact opened for EBN at the Salisbury Beach Multimedia Festival. In '99 Livesexact headlined at the Boston Cyber-Arts festival at The Middle East, shortly after which two of the band members got married in the woods.
LIVESEXACT v2: Livesexact spent a year in 00' and 01' in and out of studios in Vienna, Austria and Cambridge, MA, developing its much anticipated debut CD Upsetting Remedy, released in August '01. Stefan then broke away to commence his mad scientist adventure in Dublin, Ireland, and shortly thereafter, Scott Schmitt and Amy Dattilo appeared out of a blue sparkly vortex called The Appliance of Science, to slide seamlessly into the LSA mix. (Hallelujah - a gender-balanced band!) During this time, Livesexact made kissy-kissy with Martin Atkins (Pigface, Ministry, PiL, etc.), who in '01 remixed Livesexact's "You Must Get Down." Their burgeoning relationship led to Livesexact's participation in Invisible Records' first Notes from Thee Real Underground compilation, and an opening slot at the Boston Roxy during the "Preaching to the Perverted" tour with Pigface, Gravity Kills & gODHEAD. In '01-'02 the band invited 12 whip-smart artists from across the USA & Vienna to remix tracks from their debut CD, Upsetting Remedy. Segmented Purity, was the response - a driving, breaking, drole, funhouse ride through an IDM, drum-n-bass, pop collage playland. The remix CD dropped September '02 to a nationwide audience, via the 120+ college radio stations who added it to their playlists (with 32 of those stations charting). The Livesexactivate remix enjoyed TV time, included in a pair of episodes from MTV's Sorority Life and Fraternity Life.
LIVESEXACT v3: The band took a year-long sabbatical in 03-04, as Freedom and Alex, along with the invaluable assistance of friends, family, midwives, doulas, doctors, and the Great Mystery, birthed beautiful boy/girl twins, Jupiter Thomas and Karma Rose. Once the new family was able to sleep through the night, basic brain functionality returned, and creative juices began to ooze. The band now commences on its 2nd Renaissance, riding their spanking new perspective into the studio to polish old tunes, craft new ones, and restore hair & grunge metal favorites to the foreground. Expect an expanded lineup, new instruments, and an exuberant return to the stage in 2005.