65daysofstatic

65daysofstatic are an English post-rock band from Sheffield, United Kingdom, active since 2001. The group begins as a trio formed by Iain Armstrong, Paul Wolinski and Joe Shrewsbury. It also uses the shortened names 65dos and 65days.

Style and sound

The band works in instrumental electronic and post-rock forms, with a sound that combines heavy, progressive, guitar-led sections with programmed and live drums. Their music also draws on electronic, experimental and IDM-related approaches, and their recordings have a gritty, sometimes industrial character. Their listed genres also include electronic rock, electronica, experimental rock and math rock.

Early line-up changes

The group is formed partly to write music for a deleted 1983 John Carpenter film, Stealth Bomber, after Joe Shrewsbury watches a bootleg version without its soundtrack. Iain Armstrong leaves in May 2003. Feedle, also identified as Graham Clarke, joins for a short period and contributes to the writing of the first single from The Fall of Math, Retreat! Retreat!. By the end of 2003 Rob Jones on drums and Gareth Hughes on bass are added, taking the band to four members. Gareth Hughes leaves around the time of the debut album’s release and Simon Wright replaces him.

Albums and releases

The debut album, The Fall of Math, is released in 2004 and receives critical acclaim. The second album, One Time For All Time, follows in 2005 and has modest success. The third album, The Destruction of Small Ideas, appears in 2007 and is supported by the single Don't Go Down To Sorrow. The live album Escape From New York is released in 2009 and includes two new tracks, No Use Crying Over (Some Techno) and Four Score and (Some Drum 'n' Bass). The fourth studio album, We Were Exploding Anyway, follows in 2010, with a Japan-only single, Weak4, issued ahead of it. Wild Light, the fifth studio album, is released in 2013 and comes out on Superball Music.

Soundtrack and later projects

In 2016 the band provides the soundtrack for the video game No Man's Sky. Its trailer features the track Debutante, shown at E3 in 2014. The group later develops a soundtrack album for the game. After working on generative music for No Man's Sky, the band takes the experimental audiovisual show Decomposition Theory on tour in 2017, using live instrumental performance processed through algorithmic software to create unexpected results.

2019 project and recent releases

On 1 May 2019 the band starts a year-long project called Unreleased/Unreleasable Vol. 4 - A Year of Wreckage, with new material issued monthly through its Bandcamp subscription service. The project is described by the band as an archive of early 65daysofstatic sounds, including computer errors, guitar glitches, drone ambience and breakcore-influenced material. Each subscriber release later becomes available as a standalone EP on the band’s Bandcamp page. In October 2019 the band releases replicr, 2019, described as its seventh or eighth official studio album. The Year of Wreckage project ends with the release of the Endings EP and a 60-minute remix of Safe Passage.

Members

The listed members are Iain Armstrong, Joe Shrewsbury, Paul Wolinski, Feedle, Rob Jones, Gareth Hughes and Simon Wright.

The band releases music on The Destruction of Small Ideas Ltd.