Calliope

Calliope is a US space rock and progressive rock group from East Lansing, Michigan, active from 1994 to the present. The band forms in February 1994 from the remnants of Sixth With Violet, with Andy Dryer, Jason Lantrip and Eric Merckling joining drummer Matt Ellison to complete the line-up. Their sound draws on the free-form approach of bands such as Tortoise, Stereolab and 5ive Style, and the group develops a style that combines organic instruments with studio-based effects, loops, samples and digital manipulation.

Early releases

Calliope signs to Thick Records soon after forming and records its debut at Chicago Trax studio. The self-titled first album appears in 1995 and receives positive critical attention. The track A Taste For Killing is used in a Coca-Cola commercial supporting the 1996 Summer Olympics, while Lantrip later remixes Train Of Thought as a trip-hop-flavoured home recording for a 7-inch release. This marks the beginning of the group’s home studio, Trash180, which becomes central to its work.

Experimentation and studio work

For its second album, Calliope works with Casey Rice at Idful Studios in Chicago in December 1996. I can See You With My Eyes Closed adds electronic elements, including samples, marimba and Moog, and moves the band further into experimental post-rock territory. The recording process encourages a less structured approach, and the group later buys much of the same equipment used on the record for Trash180. The band largely prefers studio work over live performance and spends significant time on digital effects, loops, samples and Pro Tools manipulation.

The 12-inch EP The Last Summer appears in 1998 as a limited edition release assembled largely from separately recorded pieces, with Jason Lantrip acting as the primary engineer. The 1999 album (in)organics develops this remix-based method further, adding sounds such as middle eastern tabla, sitar, techno and DJ beats. The first track, Did You get What You Came For, appears on several compilation CDs and is later re-recorded for a promotional CD distributed by Philip Morris.

Braille and personnel changes

Before the next full-length record, Lantrip pushes the band back toward a more traditional whole-band recording approach. The result is Braille, issued in 2001 as the group’s fourth full-length album. It is described as airy and pop-leaning. During its recording, Eric Merckling begins work on a side project called Crooked Sound and leaves in early 2003 to pursue his own projects. Carmen Paradise joins on bass and backing vocals, and the new line-up starts work on the fifth full-length, Sounds Like Circles Feel.

Members and other work

Jason Lantrip handles guitar and vocals and, with his wife Jay Lantrip, runs Scavenger Hunt, a vintage clothing shop in East Lansing. Andy Dryer provides vocals and winds and manages the Temple Club in Lansing, an 800-capacity venue that hosts concerts and functions as a dance club. Matt Ellison owns MAC's Bar in Lansing, which he turns into an underground rock venue. Carmen Paradise plays bass and sings backing vocals; she also releases a solo record recorded in part by Jason at Trash180, and is voted the “best of the best” in the Lansing State Journal two years running and featured on the cover of Noise Magazine.

Other act with the same name

There is also a Seattle psychedelic band called Calliope, led by singer-songwriter Danny O'Keefe. That group is associated with an album called The Steamed, which includes cover versions of songs by Lee Michaels, The Mamas & the Papas, Bob Dylan and Chuck Berry alongside original material. Another entry under the same name is an Italian progressive rock band with a 2002 album titled Generazioni.