Negativland

Negativland is an American experimental group from Concord, United States, active since 1979. The band works across avant-garde, experimental, noise, plunderphonics, sampledelia and sound collage, and it is closely associated with the use of found sound, cut-up techniques and sampling.

Formation and core members

The group begins in Concord, California in 1979, formed around Mark Hosler and Richard Lyons while they are still at high school, with David Wills and Don Joyce also becoming central figures. The core lineup includes Hosler, Lyons, Wills and Joyce, and Chris Grigg is a former member. Peter Conheim joins in 1997. Other members listed with the group include Ian Allen and Jon Leidecker.

Recordings and labels

Negativland releases much of its work on its own Seeland Records label, and its later catalogue is also associated with Seeland MediaMedia. Its first release is the self-titled Negativland in 1980, followed by albums such as Points, A Big 10-8 Place and the long-running Over the Edge series. The group’s work ranges from pure collage to more musical material.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band issues several records on SST Records, including Escape From Noise, Helter Stupid and U2. Escape From Noise brings the group wider attention. The 1991 single U2 uses samples, parody and a cover image of a Lockheed U-2 spy plane, and it becomes the focus of a trademark and copyright dispute with Island Records. Copies are recalled and destroyed, and the release remains notable for the legal issues around it.

Copyright, sampling and related projects

Negativland takes a strong interest in intellectual property and fair use. In 1995 it publishes Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2, a book with an accompanying CD on copyright law and the U2 dispute. The group is also the subject of Craig Baldwin’s documentary Sonic Outlaws.

Don Joyce presents the weekly interactive radio programme Over the Edge on listener-supported KPFA in Berkeley, and a substantial part of Negativland’s later output develops from material made live on the show. The band also takes part in a multi-year archiving project to place more than 5,000 hours of the programme on the Internet Archive.

Collaborations and later work

In 1999 Negativland collaborates with Chumbawamba on The ABCs of Anarchism, which draws on the writing of Alexander Berkman and includes cut-ups of “Tubthumping”, “Anarchy in the UK” and the theme from Teletubbies. Members also contribute to Creative Commons in 2003.

Negativland curates an art exhibition called Negativlandland in Manhattan in 2005, later shown in Minneapolis in 2006. The exhibition includes works inspired by the group’s recordings, video projections, an animatronic Abraham Lincoln figure inspired by “God Bull”, and an exhibit centred on the Booper, the audio-processing unit built by Wills from old radio parts.

Death of members

Don Joyce dies in 2015, Richard Lyons dies in 2016, and former member Ian Allen dies in 2015.

Selected releases

The group’s catalogue also includes Free, Dispepsi, Negativ(e)land: Live On Tour, Deathsentences of the Polished and Structurally Weak, No Business, It’s All in Your Head FM: Over the Edge Live on Stage, Thigmotactic, It’s All In Your Head, True False, The World Will Decide and Speech Free: Recorded Music for Film, Radio, Internet and Television. Singles and EPs include Guns, Truth In Advertising, Happy Heroes, No Brain, and the bootleg releases Negativconcertland and These Guys Are From England and Who Gives a Shit.