Reported by BROOKLYN VEGAN Back in 2010, band frontman Squarepusher released Shobaleader One: d’Demonstrator, an album that he recorded along with many other musicians. Recently, he turned Shobaleader into a fully-functioning live band. Squarepusher (Tom Jenkinson) plays bass in the band, and the rest of the band includes Strobe Nazard on the keys, Arg Nution on guitar, and Company Laser on drums.

Squarepusher spoke with Q Magazine about why he decided to form the band, he said:

“I got fed up with being in bands when I was a teenager. The whole format seemed stricken with creative inertia and conservatism. And the idea of negotiating with other people in order to get music made seemed like a massive waste of time when there was the option of doing it all with electronics. Even if using electronics meant that certain musical options were discarded, that seemed a fair price to pay. Albums such as Hard Normal Daddy (1997) and Music Is Rotted One Note (1998) represent my attempts to narrow the gap between what a band could do and the standard conception of what was possible with electronics – I tried to make electronics sound like an insane band. But I reckon since then electronic music has itself become well acquainted with inertia and conservatism (and possibly also smarminess and tepidity)… It’s time to make a band sound like an insane band.”

This month Shobaleader will make their way to the United States to make their New York City debut on December 14th, at Le Poisson Rouge. The show will also feature Corey Kings and Mantra Percussion performing the song “Timber”.

Shobaleader’s upcoming tour dates can be seen below:

Fri 09 Dec 2016 Kino Šiška (Centre for Urban Culture) Ljubljana, Slovenia

Sat 10 Dec 2016 Porgy & Bess Vienna, Austria

Wed 14 Dec 2016 Le Poisson Rouge New York, NY, US

Fri 16 Dec 2016 Echoplex Los Angeles, CA, US

Sat 17 Dec 2016 The Independent San Francisco, CA, US

Wed 22 Mar 2017 Ramsgate Music Hall Ramsgate, UK

Thu 23 Mar 2017 Village Underground London, UK

Sat 25 Mar 2017 New Morning Paris, France

Sun 26 Mar 2017 Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld (CBE) Cologne, Germany

Mon 27 Mar 2017 Strom Munich, Germany

Thu 30 Mar 2017 Berghain/Panorama Bar Berlin, Germany