Octant

The Seattle-based group Octant is known as because of its third member, a robotic drummer developed by singer/songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist/inventor Matt Steinke. Also an associate of Mocket and Satisfact, Steinke researched kinetic artwork and music at Evergreen Condition College and researched consumer electronics after graduation. Desperate to combine each one of these disciplines, he started building the Octant, an computerized assortment of mallets bolted onto a drum package; as it takes on, it not merely makes music but provides a visual component towards the group’s futuristic, appealingly off-kilter audio. Performers/keyboardist Tassy Zimmerman and clarinetist/turntablist Pierre Crutchfield will also be an integral part of Octant’s displays and albums. Octant’s debut, Shock-No-Par, arrived in 1999 over the Up label. Car Alarms & Crickets implemented a year afterwards.