Biography
There is more than one artist using the name Microfilm.
1. Microfilm (USA) is the Portland duo of Matthew Mercer and Matt Keppel.
Two men in love with German minimalist techno, disco trash, early ‘80s synthpop and lush, moody soundtracks; that’s what brought these musical minds together. Matthew Mercer, a graphic & UX designer, and Matt Keppel, a writer and former music journalist, created Microfilm in a home office in Chicago during January 2006. They had amassed an album’s worth of songs in a matter of months and decided to test out their wares on the internet scene.
By mid-summer they had been programmed on a UK indie label podcast, remixed tracks for Ladytron and Sarah Nixey, interviewed for Brazil’s largest electronic music website, featured as one of the Boston Phoenix paper’s “Top 20 Bands to Watch”, and found its debut single ‘Young Adult Fiction’ had notched a place on acclaimed BBC Radio 1 DJ Rob Da Bank’s weekly ‘One Music’ broadcast.
The worldwide iTunes exclusive release of their debut album After Dark, in August 2006, coincided with a lead profile feature in Chicago’s Time Out magazine, declaring that the band “slides up comfortably to Fischerspooner or Goldfrapp”. The duo released its first CD, After Dark + Blueprints, on their own imprint, Fiche Music, which includes a remastered version of the After Dark album as well as a full disc of new remixes from artists such as InfantJoy, Kero, Warmdesk, Frenchbloke, Monologic and more.
Since 2008 Microfilm are based in Portland, Oregon. In 2010, they collected assorted tracks into I Am Curious: Microfilm 2006-2010; it was accompanied by a separate release of remixes, I Am Rewired: Remixes 2006-2010. They have continued to release numerous albums and EPs, with a compilation in 2021 called Hauntology capturing tracks from the previous ten years.
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2. Microfilm (France) was a French post rock band that started in 2003 and disbanded in 2014. Before disbanding, they toured throughout France, Switzerland and Spain. Coming from various musical backgrounds their music have influences from bands such as Gum, Seven Hate, Myra Lee, Sonic Youth, Jawbox, Foxy Brown, My Bloody Valentine, The Neptunes, Queens Of The Stone Age, Bernard Hermann, Trs 80, Black Sabbath and Envy.
The music itself is a "Post Rock" instrumental style that includes movie samples reflecting closely their feelings much in the vein of Mogwai, Explosions in the sky and From monuments to masses.
The musicians of MICROFILM have been happy to play alongside bands such as Playdoh, Explosions in the sky, M83, Jeffrey Lewis, Sayag Jazz Machine, Millionaire, The Black Heart Procession, Dalek, Subtitle, Houston Swing Engine.
The first album of MICROFILM “A journey to the 75th” was released on CD in January 2005 (through Rejuvenation records/JR prod) and then re-released on LP in January 2006 (through Migouri records). MICROFILM are continuously working on new tracks & movies.
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3. Meanwhile, back in the 1980's MICROFILM were a short lived Australian band fronted by Lisa Gerrard (later of Dead Can Dance). They released a single (Centrefold b/w Window) and 2 tracks to a 1981 compilation. Centrefold will be released on Chapter Music's "Can't Stop It! II" compilation in Feb 2007.
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