Pivot

by Jody Macgregor
Dark experimental instrumental post-rock band Pivot were formed in 1999 by brothers Laurenz Pike (drums, percussion) and Richard Pike (guitar, production), but soon ballooned to a five-piece band with the additions of Adrian Klumpes (keyboard), Neal Sutherland (bass), and Dave Bowman (turntables). It may be de rigueur to compare instrumental music to film soundtracks, but partly inspired by Vangelis, that was exactly the sound Pivot were aiming for. They shut themselves away for two years of regular three-hour rehearsal sessions, and the improvised demos they recorded during this time were packaged as EPs, which managed to capture airtime on the radio. Their first album took roughly three years from the start of recording to its release, partly due to the band's perfectionism but presumably also because of the number of side projects they were participating in. Both Pike brothers played with Flanger and Laurenz Pike must have been particularly busy, at times being a member of Triosk along with Adrian Klumpes, as well as being involved with two of Scott Herren's projects, Prefuse 73 and Savath & Savalas, and also forming Roam the Hello Clouds with laptop musician Dave Miller. In 2005 Miller was invited to join the band, which then became a three-piece consisting of just Miller and the Pike brothers. The album Make Me Love You was finally released that year. Their second (and less delayed) album, O Soundtrack My Heart, was recorded in Chicago and mixed by John McEntire of Tortoise; the band signed to Warp in 2008 to earn it an international release.