cEvin Key

cEvin Key
Background information
Birth name	Kevin William Crompton
Also known as	Kenny King, Scaremeister
Born	(1961-02-13) February 13, 1961
Origin	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Post-industrial Electro-industrial Synthpop New wave Dark ambient Electronic Noise Glitch
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist
Instruments	Drums, vocals, guitar, bass guitar, synthesizers, violin
Years active	1980–present
Labels	Subconscious Communications Synthetic Symphony Nettwerk Records Metropolis Records American Recordings
Associated acts	Skinny Puppy ohGr Bananasloth Scaremeister Download PlatEAU Tear Garden Images In Vogue Doubting Thomas Hilt Involution Cyberaktif
Website	Subconscious Studios

cEvin Key (born Kevin William Crompton, February 13, 1961) is a Canadian musician and founding member of the industrial music band Skinny Puppy. In addition to his work with Skinny Puppy, Key has had several side projects, including Doubting Thomas, Cyberaktif, and Hilt. After Skinny Puppy disbanded in 1995, Key's main project was electronic noise group Download, as well as some solo releases.

Career

1983 Formed Skinny Puppy... Much of 2001-03 was spent on his own solo material, Music For Cats, The Ghost Of Each Room and The Dragon Experience, as well as an undertaking of an exclusive subscription-only music service entitled the From the Vault series—seven CDs of previously unreleased material from his various projects (Skinny Puppy, Download, Tear Garden, PlatEAU, and Hilt) Key also served as a drummer on ohGr's 2001 tour. 2004 brought about the reformation of Skinny Puppy for a new album, The Greater Wrong Of the Right, and they embarked on a worldwide tour until 2005. Work began underway for their next LP, Mythmaker, shortly thereafter, and was released in 2007. Key worked on another From the Vault series for 2007–08, before embarking on yet another Skinny Puppy tour.

2009 saw Key working on new Skinny Puppy and also on several new albums by his existing side projects, as well as the creation of several new projects. Key collaborated with long-time friend and engineer Ken 'Hiwatt' Marshall on a project entitled Scaremeister, which focuses on "mini-scores" for television, movies and video games. He went on a series of Download/platEAU-based DJ sets across America as well as Japan. In 2009, Key embarked upon the Skinny Puppy In Solvent See tour across the U.S.

In late 2011, Key began a new project for Subconscious Communications by going into Eurorack synthesizer manufacturing, starting with a rare license of an Oscillator and LFO from a defunct company called Plan B, Key redesigned the modules to be built by machine. Moving forward into 2012,Key partnered with Metropolis records for the reissues of many of the Subcon titles including Doubting Thomas, The Infidel, Download Furnace and Fixer and PlatEAU's album Kushbush. Key returned to Subconscious Studios in 2013 for Skinny Puppy's Weapon album. He returned to Japan for another mini tour with Djoto and Utero ZZZAAA, and then brought a trio of bands from Japan to introduce to the U.S.

Discography

Main article: Skinny Puppy discography

with Skinny Puppy

• Remission (1984)
• Bites (1985)
• Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse (1986)
• Cleanse Fold and Manipulate (1987)
• VIVIsectVI (1988)
• Rabies (1989)
• Too Dark Park (1990)
• Last Rights (1992)
• The Process (1996)
• The Greater Wrong of the Right (2004)
• Mythmaker (2007)
• HanDover (2011)
• Weapon (2013)

with Download

• Furnace
• Microscopic
• Charlie's Family
• Sidewinder
• The Eyes of Stanley Pain
• III
• Effector
• Inception
• III Steps Forward
• Fixer
• HElicopTEr
• LingAM

with platEAU

• Music For Grass Bars
• Spacecake
• Iceolator
• Kushbush
• Gort Spacebar

with The Tear Garden

• Tired Eyes Slowly Burning
• The Last Man to Fly
• To Be An Angel Blind, The Crippled Soul Divide
• Crystal Mass
• The Secret Experiment
• Have a Nice Trip

with Images in Vogue

• In the House

with Doubting Thomas (Canadian band)

• The Infidel

with Hilt

• The Flu, 1987, EP (as the Flu)
• Patsy: A Collection Of Absolute Insanity, 1988, LP (as the Flu)
• Call the Ambulance (Before I Hurt Myself), 1989, LP
• Orange Pony, 1991, EP
• Journey to the Center Of the Bowl, 1991, LP
• The Worst Of the Flu, 2003, LP
• Minoot Bowl Dropped the Ball, 2007, LP

with Cyberaktif

• Tenebrae Vision

with Twilight Circus

• DUBCON - UFO Pon Di Gullyside, 2013, LP

Solo

• Music for Cats (1998)
• The Ghost of Each Room (2001)
• The Dragon Experience (2003, with Ken Marshall)

External links

• Subconscious Communications, the official cEvin Key web site
• Scaremeister, a scoring & remix team based out of Subconscious Studios
• cEvin Key discography at Discogs.com
• cEvin Key at Last.fm
• Interview at Billboard Magazine