Floater: История американской рок-группы

American rock band

Floater is an American rock band currently based in Portland, Oregon. The band was started in 1993 by Robert Wynia, along with Peter Cornett and David Amador. They are known for their progressive concept albums, stylized storytelling, intense live performances, and devoted fanbase. Floater routinely sells out local venues in Oregon The band was also a musical guest for Live Wire Radio on OPB radio. The band was voted the "Best Band" in the Willamette Week "Best of Portland" reader's poll for 2009 and 2010.

The seeds for Floater were planted when Robert Wynia placed a musician wanted ad in Eugene, Oregon and it was answered by Cornett. By 1992, they had formed the band Henry's Child. Rob and Pete left Henry's Child after the musical direction was not what they wanted, and they formed a band called The Dog's. Sometime after, their guitarist got drunk and ruined a local gig and Dave Amador stepped in to replace him. The moniker of The Dog's was replaced with Floater. It was 1993 and they began playing small garage parties and eventually the University of Oregon. In early 1994, Floater recorded their first four song demo tape Stiff & Restless at Pro Arts studio. Later, in early 1994, Floater recorded a nine song demo tape Sink, which was the four tracks off of Stiff & Restless, plus 5 new songs, which were recorded at the home of a friend in his studio. This tape impressed the indie record label Elemental, when Rob and Pete handed Jonathan Boldt a copy of their demo tape, who a short time later signed them. Floater's first full length album, Sink, was released on September 9, 1994 and contained some songs from the demos. One year later in October 1995, a second full length album was released, titled Glyph. This album increased the band's popularity in the Pacific Northwest and allowed tours further east, into Arizona, Utah and Texas as well as an excursion to New York in the fall of 1996.

listen|filename=Floater Glyph The Sad Ballad Of Danny Boy sample. ogg|title="The Sad Ballad of Danny Boy"|description="The Sad Ballad of Danny Boy" received nationwide radioplay on Z Rock. Floater's airplay increased greatly. The network shut down in late 1996, but not before acquiring scattered fans across the nation as in Georgia, Iowa, New Jersey, and even outside the U. S. in Quebec. According to World Drum! a newsletter for CD World in Eugene and Corvallis, Floater sold 21,000 copies of Sink and Glyph combined.

Just before Floater released their third album, Angels in the Flesh and Devils in the Bone in May 1998, the band moved to Portland, Oregon where they remain today. Prior to and throughout this time, Floater was being visited by interested major labels including Zoo Records, but they would remain unsigned by a major label. In September 2000, Burning Sosobra was released and it marked a shift in the use of samples that Floater was known for. Rather than sampling movies and television, the band began creating the majority of their own sounds for inclusion on their albums. Burning Sosobra represented a lifting of burdens for Floater, symbolized by the burning effigy on the cover of the album. With Sosobra, Floater moved into a new phase, having purged a dubious manager and beginning to work with Cassandra Thorpe, who bought Elemental Records on September 9, 1999. The sculpture in the cover photo was a collaboration between Floater and Mark Orme. "Exiled" is considered the single of Burning Sosobra. Other notable tracks with "Independence Day" and "Waiting for the Sun," a cover of The Doors.

Floater experimented with acoustic in store performances throughout the late 1990s, but around the time of their New Year's Eve show in 2000/2001 at the Aladdin Theater, Floater began including entire acoustic sets in their performances. A part of the Aladdin show would be released on their second live album, Live at the Aladdin. Floater subsequently released Alter, their fifth full length album in July 2002. The album was noted as a first step in altering their sound; however, the shift in sound was markedly less than expected. Floater's sound shifted from a focus on heavy riffs to a well rounded and eclectic sound. The band's exploration in sound fruited with their 2004 album Acoustics. This would coincide with an increase in acoustic performances abroad. Floater regularly plays back to back shows with one electric set and one acoustic set.

Floater's 2006 release, Stone By Stone, is their most critically acclaimed record to date. The album bridged a familiar older Floater sound in the case of "An Apology" and coupled it with a new creativity infused in their songs like "Weightless," "Breakdown," and "Tonight No One Knows." "An Apology", considered the single of the album, has lyrical content suggesting a sarcastic apology: as one eye looks to the future and the other in the past. The album also marks a time of increased effort to tour more extensively in the western United States. Floater has expanded greatly, playing larger venues in some cities, like The Showbox in Seattle, Washington and the McDonald Theatre in Eugene, Oregon. They also began playing more cities along their tours through Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and California.

By 2009, Floater started work on recording their eighth full length album. Some of the tracks that were expected to appear on the upcoming album were previously recorded during the Stone By Stone sessions. By this time, Floater hired Alex Steininger as their new manager. In the lead up to the band's ninth album, the band switched drummers. Mark Powers replaced Pete Cornett on December 31, 2017 when he made his debut at the Star Theater in Portland. Floater released their ninth album The Thief in May 2018 after an 8 year interval. Powers is also featured on this album. Willamette Week's "Best of Portland Reader's Poll" selected Floater as Best Local Musician/Musical Group for 2018. On November 20, 2021, it was learned that Peter Cornett, the band's original drummer, had passed away.

Samples are used extensively in Floater's live performances and earlier albums. Samples from the early albums were primarily from movies. While samples are present on later albums they are not as common. Those that were included, occurred infrequently and were created by the band and local actors. Their albums Sink and Glyph included samples from movies such as Apocalypse Now, THX 1138, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Shining, The Last Temptation of Christ, Nice Dreams, various episodes of The Twilight Zone and old radio programs.

Sentenced to Life Sometime around the fall of 1995, Rob Wynia and Pete Cornett collaborated with Keith Brown to develop a short lived side project. Riverboat Peter Cornett's solo project. Robert Wynia / Robert Wynia and The Sound The spoken word and solo music of Rob Wynia.