Tom Shear
Tom Shear ( born November 12, 1971 in State College, Pennsylvania) is an American musician and music producer and founder of Solo-Future-Pop-/Elektro-Projekts Assemblage 23
Shear now lives in Seattle, Washington.
Background
His musical ability has appropriated autodidactic Shear. After he had taught himself to play the piano, he took piano lessons for a few months, he stopped when he got the feeling to go backward. In 1994, he successfully completed a course of study at Syracuse University with a degree in television and film production.
Even during his high school days in the late 80 's he began at home under the name Man On A Stage with the composition of instrumental synth-pop music. He also played bass in a live -influenced punk music band called The Advocates.
Shear himself describes the band Depeche Mode as the biggest factor influencing his musical career in the direction of electronic music. A formative experience occurred during a visit to a Depeche Mode concert in 1988: Shear was impressed by the Industrial / dance performance by a DJ from the opening act so that he built from this time on, even industrial influences in his work. In the course of this creative change his project Man On A Stage was renamed Assemblage 23.
Assemblage 23
An Assemblage 23 Shear worked during his time at the College. His occasional attempts to draw attention to themselves with demos were without great effect. At the same time, he worked with his friends Matt Guenette and Mike Ukstins also to the synth-pop project Procession, which earned him further experience with live performances.
Published in 1992 Shear on their own under the name of Wires is a collection of his own works, although at smaller radio stations and underground magazines some enthusiasm aroused but could not arouse the interest of record labels. The mid- 90s he produced techno tracks for his side project Nerve Filter, with whom he met when record label 21st Circuitry on a certain interest. The first official release as Assemblage 23 found with Graverobber on the compilation Construction No. 009 of Arts Industria. Shear wrote more songs for Assemblage 23 and never tired of continuing to send demos despite his frustration at the lack of interest of the record industry. The reason he called later in particular the support and encouragement of his early fans.
1998 bought out his perseverance, as the Canadian label Gashed Records Assemblage 23 signed her and in 1999 the first album Contempt published. In the same year Shears committed suicide father and the associated pain and loss was evident musical processing in the second album, Failure, published in 2001. Both albums were well received by critics and enjoyed particularly in dance clubs some popularity.
Shear left Gashed Records and signed with the label Metropolis Records, which released alongside the new editions of Contempt and Failure also the albums Defiance (2002) and Storm ( 2004). The track Let The Wind Erase Me from the album Storm even appeared on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Charts.
Shear describes his project Assemblage 23 as " melodic, danceable electronic music."
More creative
Shear is backandtotheleft among other producer of the band and released in 2004 their album Obsolete under his own label, 23db Records. He also carries out occasional guest appearances as a singer for other musicians true.