The story of Grey Factor goes as far back as 1978 when Joey Cevetello, Jon Pospisil, Paul Fontana and Jeff Jacquin formed the band in San Fernando Valley, based their sound solely on electronics, and started building a reputation which eventually turned to legend and achieved a cult status.
Grey Factor had a totally unconventional approach to their songwriting, and the results could be considered more accessible than musique concrète or the industrial noise of Throbbing Gristle, yet, a bit knottier than the synthpop of the later Kraftwerk or Human League.
Most notably, in 1979, Grey Factor appeared on the first ever episode of the legendary New Wave Theater, the Peter Ivers-hosted program on local UHF Channel 18 in Los Angeles, and after an interview gone wrong, they ended up trading punches with the off-camera production crew. That was their one and only TV appearance, and the last time they every played live.
The band recorded The Perils Of Popularity EP and the live recording, Grey Factor Live at Hong Kong Café, in 1979 with their original lineup, and later replaced Paul Fontana with new member, Anne Burns and added Joey’s brother, John Cevetello. This version of the band came up with The Feel Of Passion EP in which they introduced a completely different style of instrumentation with traditional instruments, and female vocals.
More than 40 years after the fact, Grey Factor's work, both their EPs and live recording, has been unearthed, and it makes an imperative listen for every forward thinking audience, and those keen on the exploratory electronica of the aforementioned bands, as well as Suicide, The Pop Group, Can, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and so on.
The Perils of Popularity EP is already out through What We Do Is Secret.
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