BIOGRAPHY

THRUST LAB (TL) was formed by Benjamin J.A. Domanico and Samuel N. Ortiz-Payero in the fall of 2004 while attending the Maryland Institute College of Art.

As a response to an assignment, they recorded a series of short impromptu songs, placing more effort into the song titles than into the songs themselves, thus creating an album that took as long to listen to as it did to create. "Mark Helptd (Shifted The Pitches For Us)" (2004) was Thrust Lab's "debut" - a short, jarring, hilarious jaunt through a broken, underwater funhouse.  Their second EP, "Little Pies for Sunrise" (2004), is a collection of distorted and crushed toy club jams.

Thrust Lab's self-released CD-R, "A Fiery Blast of Oxygen and Gas" (2005) was an exercise in variety and excess. The album's 29 short songs skip back and forth between almost-danceable tracks peppered with ridiculous effects-drenched vocals and awkward dreamy sing-alongs. On some tracks, Thrust Lab offers respite and a warmed heart with reverberated ballads reminiscent of midnight boat rides in a neon lake.

In the summer of 2006, Thrust Lab played its first live show, employing effects pedals, electronic drum pads, samplers, and a laptop to showcase their new-found interest in electronic dance music. Between 2006 - 2008, Thrust Lab's live show changed significantly, expanding to include live bass and drums, additional members playing keyboards, and for a short stint, a vocalist. They have since returned to the original two members.

In 2006, well-known UK music blog and DJ group 20JazzFunkGreats posted Thrust Lab's 'Dance Sweet Dracula,' a cheerful, chip-tunes inspired electronic dance song that first gave the band an internet presence. After hearing this, LA noise-rockers HEALTH asked Thrust Lab to remix "Problem Is." for their upcoming remix album titled HEALTH//DISCO. It was released in the spring of 2008 along with remixes by other well-known acts such as Crystal Castles, CFCF, Pictureplane, Curses!, and C.L.A.W.S. TL's remix of "Problem Is..." garnered them much attention in the blogosphere, being compared by Pitchfork Media to the likes of Vangelis, Giorgio Morodor, Weather Report and M83. In the fall of 2008, a few months after the release of "HEALTH//DISCO," Thrust Lab started touring and released the WIND BREAKER EP on CREATIVE CAPITALISM, their first official release since becoming a band.

WIND BREAKER sports serious song-writing chops, with much attention being paid to arrangement, production, and overall sound. While Thrust Lab's earlier catalog gives a nod to lo-fi noise pop artist Ariel Pink and 8-bit arcade music, WIND BREAKER is influenced and driven by music on a much grander scale. The EP looks to Vangelis' ominous and foreboding Blade Runner soundtrack, Trans Am's humorous instrumental deviation and combination of live and electronic percussion, and Yellow Magic Orchestra's cheerful prog-rock/synth-pop sound. Live drums and bass carry most of the songs’ force, yet Thrust Lab's overall sound is largely electronic, landing gently between Johann Johannssen's bittersweet, delicate laptop pop and Sonic The Hedgehog's rich and dynamic theme music.

Thrust Lab's live show is comprised of live drums, electronic drum pads, bass guitar, keyboard, looping pedals, and a computer. They have played with such notable bands as The Juan Maclean, Health, Crystal Castles, The Presets, Dan Deacon, Height, Chandeliers, and Ponytail.

HUGE PRESS PHOTOS

PRESS SNIPPETS

Impose Magazine - November 24, 2008

Thrust Lab originally came to our attention as Health remixers, and as such, they’re largely electronic in overall sound despite live drums and bass carrying most of the songs’ force. Looper pedals and a variable drum pad arsenal are part of this effect, as are the pre-sequenced keyboard bits, but the crisp precision of the playing did the rest. Sleek and catchy.

Pitchfork Media - May 23, 2008

Thrust Lab's epic "Problem Is" comes off as somehow funny and ominous, tonally coasting from Vangelis' Blade Runner score into Giorgio Moroder into some Weather Report fusion, landing on (duh) M83.

B The Site - May 6, 2008

On Sunday I went to another great free show at Joe Squared (133 W. North Ave). I was treated to Baltimore’s Thrust Lab, an instrumental three-piece band (drum/bass and synthesizer) that pumps out relentless twisting bass, with a backbeat that could make Stewart Copeland blush. The art/noise keyboard flicks make it a certified Baltimore band, but it’s the epic build-ups and complex interludes that leave you coming back for more. Catch ‘em when you can.

Baltimore CityPaper - March 23, 2008

...melodramatic disco-rock....

HELLTHY Entertainment - February 22, 2008

Some more electro Never Ending Story-soundtrack, so-nerdy-it's-cool, so-cool-it-hurts, rollicking Atari-jive that slays your sore-thumb joystick like a level 5 White Mage. Is this a trend I'm sensing? Have kids put down their guitars for more computers and yard-sale synths to recreate the 80's sounds that they played G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K. to? Tell me this track wouldn't rock this MASK theme song. Kudos to them if so.

XLR8R - March 6 2007

...Thrust Lab - a duo that can only be described as Paul Hardcastle raised on NES and Pizza Hut..

20JFG - August 21, 2006

At the merest mention of 8-Bit, Crystal Castles obviously crash into our skulls but whereas CC break your face with vicious punk Mario beats, Thrust Lab are more about pretty little twinkly Sonic The Hedgehog sparkling ring-catching japes in the Star Light Zone; if there was a stage in Sonic where he went chasing rings in a club, Thrust Lab would be the DJs. ‘Dance Sweet Dracula’ sees Dracula not bursting from shadows and draining maidens of their blood, but hop-scotching with glee through pixelated fields with Tails and Sonic, freeing the cute animals from the clutches of evil Robotnick, aaahhhhh.