Harvey Milk is an American experimental rock / sludge band that formed in Athens, Georgia, United States in the early 1990s. Despite playing numerous live shows and releasing a slew of 7" singles and three full length albums, they never received much attention outside of their local fanbase. Even when they were together, Harvey Milk releases were notoriously hard to find. It was not until years after the band's demise that their singles, as well as all three full length albums, saw re-release through various labels, most notably Relapse Records. While Harvey Milk invariably draws comparisons to the Melvins, due to their penchant for slow, heavy riffs, the band has touched upon such artists as ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin and Leonard Cohen as influences in their music. They even went so far as to perform a live show consisting of nothing but Hank Williams covers. One April Fool's Day gig at the 40 Watt in Athens, they performed R.E.M.'s "Reckoning" from beginning to end while Michael Stipe was in attendance.

The band are named after Harvey Milk, San Francisco, California's first openly gay city supervisor, who was murdered in 1978.

On June 3, 2008, Harvey Milk released their most recent album, Life... The Best Game In Town. The band toured the eastern and southern US as well as Germany, England, Belgium, France and Scotland during the Summer of 2008. In July 2009, they Co-Headlined a tour with the bandTorche.



http://www.harveymilktheband.com

Coalesce is a Kansas City based hardcore/metal band. Their music is characterized by strange shifting tempos, noise, groove, and boundless creativity paralleled only by the band's peers in groups like The Dillinger Escape Plan and Botch.

The band began in January of 1994 and originally consisted of Jes Steineger (guitar), Stacy Hilt (bass) and Jim Redd (drums). During this time they played under the name Breach, however, when Sean Ingram joined as a vocalist later in the year, the members opted to change their name to Coalesce.

With their name and lineup solidified, Coalesce entered West End Studios to record a demo which was pressed to a 7" EP that rapidly sold out.

The UK division of Earache Records was so impressed by the unique and innovative sound featured on Coalesce's demo that they invited the band to record an EP for Earache's 7" series imprint, 'New Chapter'. The EP, simply titled '002', was recorded in one day and released in 1995. 002 marked the beginning of Coalesce's relationship with Red House Studios and producer Ed Rose, who would go on to produce almost all of Coalesce's later material.

In 1995, Coalesce embarked on their first US tour in support of Bloodlet and 108. When the band returned home from the road, a blowup between Redd and Ingram resulted in Coalesce disbanding in early 1996.

In the summer of 1996, guitarist Jes Steineger contacted Ingram and the two decided to reform the band. Stacy Hilt was included in the reunion, resuming his bass duties, and the drum position was delegated to James DeWees. (original drummer Jim Redd decided not to pick up the drum sticks again because he was attending school in Baltimore) This incarnation of the band put out A Safe Place 7" on Edison Recordings and their Earache-distributed split EP with Napalm Death, 'In Tongues We Speak'.

In 1997, Coalesce wrote and recorded their first full length, 'Give Them Rope' (Edison Recordings), as well as songs for several compilations and split 7" records with The Get Up Kids, Today is the Day, and Converge.

After a few weeks playing the new songs on tour, Coalesce entered Red House Studios in the spring of 1998 to record the album Functioning on Impatience (in 3 days). Shortly afterwards, Coalesce recorded songs for a split 7" with Boy Sets Fire. Both the full-length and the split record were released that summer. It was during this period that bassist Stacy Hilt made his departure and was summarily replaced by Nathan Ellis.

Coalesce once again entered Red House to record the album There is Nothing New Under the Sun, a one-off release on Hydra Head comprised of Led Zeppelin covers, which was released in the autumn of '98.

During their hiatus, the members recorded their final album, '012:Revolution in Just Listening' in separate sessions. Coalesce reformed in 2002 sans Jes Steineger, replacing him with The Esoteric guitarist, Cory White, for a national tour and a few recordings.

The band played what they advertised as their 'final show' in Lawrence, Kansas in September of 2005.

In 2007 the reformed Coalesce 7" entitled Salt and Passage with the intention of eventually touring and releasing a full length.

Coalesce's latest full-length record Ox features 14 songs and was released on June 9 (North America) and June 15 (international) on Relapse Records. The band is planning to do a two week headlining tour of Europe. In addition, the band recently completed the Ox EP which will be released later in the year.

Hailing from Chicago, The Atlas Moth take their bluesy hometown roots and combine that with New Orleans style sludge & 60s psychedelic. Gritty and raw, yet thought out and insightful. If you grew up living in a swamp wearing a Black Sabbath T-Shirt and ate nothing but fried chicken, this is your band.

"Hails to The Atlas Moth! This is slap your mama up against the wall and eat your biscuits and red-eye gravy swampin' sludge! A band to look out for, and for sure lock up your daughters!" - The Sludge Swamp

theatlasmoth.com