steven is a phd in music composition and funkology. michael has no musical training and he knows how to play a computer, and knows a good thing when he hears it.

michael and steven have been friends since junior high school. they met playing dungeons and dragons. steven (dm) turned michael (cleric) into a ring-wraith. michael then proceeded to destroy andy stafford's high-level paladin.

in high school steven had these great gatherings with rooms full of instruments, glow-in-the-dark paint and no parents. it's here that michael discovered that the cocteau twins sound really great through a vocoder. it's also here that michael and steven started playing music together. "ointy, pointy" was a lovely ditty dedicated to michael's pointy black beatle boots.

svelte started in 1990 after a long discussion concerning suzanne somers and the thighmaster. steven and michael were fascinated by the possibility of using the computer as a recording device and made some pretty weird and pretty stuff. you can hear samples from the first release "adam & steve" here.

svelte played some fun gigs during this era with friends karl and andy backing them up: gay pride at cal state hayward, a queer punk club called q-tip, woodstockhausen out in the middle of the redwoods.

after the first cassette release, ennui set in. how to proceed after the brilliance that was "adam & steve"? svelte didn't release any of recordings for about 5 years. in 2001, the hand of g*d reached down and introduced steven to nicholas dobson, co-founder of the the Immersion Composition Society (or "ICS"). the idea is to go to your sound holes, make a bunch of music without editing, and have a party at the end of the day to share your creations. if it has a track number, it's a song. steven started his own ICS branch, called the wig lodge, and invited michael, karl, andy, and a bunch of other musical friends to join. svelte blinked their eyes and suddenly they had tons of new music to make fashion into a new CD. bing, bam, boom.

we usually work like this: michael brings the beats, yo. steven adds samples and music. we both sing. we add stuff on top. steven toils for hours over a hot mixing board while michael back-seat drives. steven is a patient man. sometimes we don't do this at all and will start by playing a kazoo. watch out! we're wacky!

our most direct influences are prince, the residents, art/punk/disco bands like gang of four, voice farm. the clash, x, the cramps, parlaiment/funkadelic, camper van beethoven, frank zappa. recently michael's been listening to a lot of arling & cameron and underworld. svelte also likes dr. carl sagan, the B-52's, carol channing, the velvet underground, elvis costello, and they might be giants.

thanks for reading and listening. now go make something (cookies, art, music, macrame owl) instead of buying it. give svelte a holler. they would appreciate it.