Back in orbit

Pioneering synth-punks Six Finger
Satellite rock upon reassembly

SANS SENSITIVITY: Six Finger Satellite

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

As we stand on the cusp of 2010, there’s hardly a shortage of bands fusing their vintage analog synthesizers with discordant guitars and punk rock’s fury. While Suicide may have been the first band to set their synths on “rage,” and the Birthday Party, P.I.L. and Gang of Four may have introduced the angular slash-and-smash style of guitar playing, Providence, Rhode Island’s Six Finger Satellite were easily the first band to merge the two. Their cold and calculated sound, as well as their menacing and acerbic humour, continue to be a direct influence on many bands in both the underground and mainstream. Having made their biggest splash in the mid to late ’90s, Six Finger Satellite are finally back together after an eight-year hiatus, with a new record in the can, slated for a release early next year. The Mirror spoke to singer/keyboardist J. Ryan over the phone from his home in Denver, Colorado.

Mirror: How does it feel to be so influential to so many current bands?

J. Ryan: Well, I’ve been out of the loop for a while but I have heard that band from Montreal called Duchess Says that do a version of “Rabies,” and I thought it was pretty good. I guess I can hear our influence in some bands but I never really associated us with those kind of new wave-y keyboard bands that came later. I just thought of us as a rock band, even if we were playing keyboards.

M: Having been in the indie scene of the ’90s, how do you think it’s progressed?

JR: When I look at indie rock now, it’s like soft rock has just taken over, with too many sensitive white men running it.

M: How does it feel to be back together again?

JR: Well, the idea of Six Finger Satellite never really went away. Some of us went and started families but I always knew that it would be something I would go back to. The stuff we’re doing now really feels like a natural continuation of what we were doing before, and after about six or seven shows so far, it just feels great. It’s tough to be in a band for a lot of years, so we just took a break. A band can be a hard thing to hold onto when you have children or whatever, but now that I’m older, I have a clearer perspective of what the band is, and we’re able to just steer clear of more of the bullshit now and get things done quicker.

M: Right now, there’s an explosion of underground bands coming out of your hometown, Providence, that arguably could all trace a lineage to Six Finger Satellite, if not sonically then certainly in attitude and scope.

JR: People in Providence have always gotten easily tired of the same old sound, so there was a certain tone coming out of that town for a while. It will always be a good place for the aggressive, noisy, chance-taking type of band.

M: Any final words for your Montreal fans?

JR: Yeah, tell Duchess Says if they need any more songs, they can feel free to just mine the rest of our back catalogue.

WITH THE CHINESE STARS AND SENSITIVE
HEARTS AT LA SALA ROSSA TONIGHT,
THURSDAY, OCT. 22, 10 P.M., $15