Biography of the band plankton

UPDATED February 08, 2008

"Post-Punk / Art Rock..." - Boyd Nutting
"...in the realm of Sonic Youth or Fugazi..." - Max Kauffman
Hailing from Culver, Indiana, plankton is comprised of Matt on guitar, bass, vocals - Tina on bass, vocals, guitar - and Eric on the drums.

Matt and Eric were in a band in 1992 when Matt met Tina. That band went bust, but Tina and Matt stayed together. Tina began to learn bass. Matt and Tina searched for a drummer to suit their music. For one reason or another, people never worked out.

In January of 2003 plankton was joined by Eric on drums (Eric left the band in late 2005 and returned in 2007). Right away they knew they could have something special if they practiced hard. Festivals, battles of the bands, private parties, and a free public performance on the Fulton County Court House (Indiana) lawn sponsered by the Fulton County Public Library have all contributed to the band’s growth and progress. Plankton has appeared on WNIT's "Open Studio," a program on local public television focusing on talent in the station's viewing area. They were even selected to participate in the Chicago Bodog Battle of the Bands! They have been working their butts off to craft their originals into a crowd pleasing set of shock, amazement, and yes, even the occasional offense.

So...what do you call THAT?

Boyd Nutting, owner of the former Club Cackle in South Bend, Indiana and currently operating Manifesto! in Niles, Michigan, described plankton as "Post-Punk / Art Rock."

Something that helps to set plankton’s music apart, Matt and Tina switch off on bass and guitar. They both played drums in other bands. Adding to that, they write all the songs, and do all the recording themselves in their studio, Splatcat Records, with Matt acting as the band's ample engineer. Being a totally DIY band, Tina makes all the band's t-shirts - dying and printing them by hand. The plankton logo was designed by Max Kauffman.

Influences run up and down these lines: King Crimson, Talking Heads, Beck, Midnight Oil, Laurie Anderson, Shellac, Big Black, Throwing Muses, Pixies, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Danny Elfman, Tim Burton, Wire, Firehose, Tool, Ella Fitzgerald, The Modern Jazz Quartet, XTC, Brian Eno, Joe Jackson, The Fall, Cure, New Order, Joy Division, Duran Duran, Juliana Hatfield...

Bands plankton has been compaired to include Ween, Cake, Portishead, Pixies, PJ Harvey, The Breeders, Pink Floyd, and for some reason... The Cranberries.