Main: Biography

Main
Formed:
Jan 1, 1991 in Croydon, London, England

Genres:
Electronic & Dance Music, Ambient Music, Dance Pop Music

Decades Active:
1990's|2000's


Artistic Quality
Low
Cultural Impact
Medium
Popularity
Low



Upon the 1991 dissolution of the British trance-rock quartet Loop, bassist Neil McKay and John Wills formed the Hair and Skin Trading Company, leaving guitarists Robert Hampson and Scott Dawson to found the highly-experimental Main, a project combining the aesthetics of ambient music with layered tapestries of droning electric guitar textures and dark, ominous soundscapes. Main's debut EP releases, 1991's Hydra and 1992's Calm -- later collected as the Hydra-Calm LP -- were their most aggressive, as well as the closest to conventional rock idioms; beginning with 1992's stellar Dry Stone Feed, the duo began exploring ambient sounds, gradually eliminating all traces of percussion and rhythm from their work.

With 1993's Firmament and the triple-LP set Motion Pool, Main began pushing into "drumless space," a realm of cold, alien sound with little resemblance to conventional musical structure; 1994's Firmament II severed all remaining ties to tradition, focusing instead on two epic, abstract environmental pieces with no earthly precedent or connection. After 1995's Ligature, a collection of early material remixed by the likes of Paul Schütze, Jim O'Rourke and Paul Kendall, Main mounted Hz; their most ambitious project yet, it compiled a series of six monthly EPs pushing harmonic drones, industrial intensity and atmospheric minimalism to their furthest extremes. Upon completing the third installment in the Firmament series, Dawson left the duo in late 1996, and Hampson continued Main primarily as a solo project, soon returning with Firmament IV.

- Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

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