The Greatest Band You Never Heard: The Electra
By David Yardley
Special to ASSIST News Service

SANTA ANA, CA (ANS) -- Long before The White Stripes, Beck, and other progressive art-based rock bands, there was The Electra, a three, sometimes four, piece band hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area.

What made this group of teenagers so incredible is that they were,

The Electra (from left: Chris Manak, Hippy Wilson, Brian Nixon, Jeff Jank /Carlson)

literally, years ahead of the musical curve with their unique sound, blending many influences into one cohesive whole: alternative, punk, hip hop, soul, white noise, and 60's influenced rock (aka Velvet Underground).

As a matter of fact, when I, and some friends, listen to The Electra, we say, "man, this is still fresh." And when you put it next to other bands of the era, the music really sounds ahead of its time, something the youth of today would listen to and enjoy.

So, why have you not heard of them? The answer is that maybe you have. Two of the members (Jeff and Chris) went on to form a popular underground record label, Stones Throw, and the other (Brian), believe it or not, entered the Christian academic world and is a nationally recognized radio and TV host.

Of interest, Nixon was in two other popular regional bands after he left The Electra, named Canterbury and Widow's Mite (both have MySpace sites).

Cover of The Electra demo. Art- Jeff Jank

Yet, together, The Electra created some of the most elusive, yet engaging music- from hard driving, punk-based, "Trash," to jazz-inspired, "I Hope I can Fly." When you throw in 5 minutes of a cat meowing over a piano loop, you get something quite unlike anything else.

So, how did they do this? According to Brian Nixon, founding member, with Jeff Carlson, the three diverse influences each brought to the music created something unique.

Nixon states that, "Chris Manak brought soul and hip hop to the mix. Chris was working as a DJ, and with some local rappers. He went on to record for Hollywood Record."

"Jeff brought a solid, alternative rock sound to the music," continues Nixon, "with a hint of 1960's music. He was probably the most talented of us, able to infuse various styles in the music. He was also the artist, doing all the album covers."

Incidentally, Jeff Carlson is also known as Jeff Jank, a nationally known album artist, working with Jazz and Hip Hop musicians. The other band mate, Chris Manak, is known as Peanut Butter Wolf, who was recently featured on the cover of DJ Magazine.

After some prodding, Nixon states that his own influence was that he owned all the instruments. But on a serious note, Nixon's influence came in the form of a cross between pop music and avant-garde classical music; "white noise meets Bach meets Andy Warhol" as Nixon told me.

"Jeff was the real artist," Nixon continues, "but I liked all the visual arts, especially-at the time- Warhol and the whole Art Factory vibe in New York, and really saw The Electra as a band that tried to capture what Warhol did with his art, mixing the Pop world with the underground world."

Jeff and Brian met in high school and formed a band called Mourning Becomes Electra, along with three other members. They put out one demo, winning KSJO's (college radio station) best band in 1987/1988. After artistic differences, the band split. Carlson and Nixon formed The Electra in 1988, asking Chris Manak to join.

The rest, if you will, is music history, or at least should be.

Here's the thing, though, the music is very difficult to find. The Electra put out one major release- Epitahat/Americanon in 1990 (though they have three very-hard- to-find demos and various other obscure tracks floating around on the internet).

Manak had already left the band by 1990, and Nixon was on his way to college, leaving in 1991. So, ultimately, the record came out and sat there. Only a few lucky people have the album, myself included. There is a MySpace site featuring The Electra- that does have some of the music, both from demos and from U.S America (the one major release).

Until then, you will just have to scrounge around the Internet, bug Stone's Throw Records, and call into Pastor's Perspective (on several radio stations throughout the nation) to ask the former band-mates for some music- all for the sole reason of getting a taste of California music history. You won't be disappointed.

To learn more about the band, you can check out the MySpace site, or read the article from Dan Wooding on http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2008/s08010174.htm

David Yardley is an 18 year old music lover and computer tech, working for Calvary Publishing in Santa Ana, California.