Alarm Pressure

Alarm Pressure are an Ukrainian indie-rock duo that formed in Kharkiv in 2008. The band consists of Den Mitchell (vocals, guitars, banjo, percussion) and Nick Acorne (piano, electric organ, drums, percussion, back vocals). In this configuration, the band recorded their first LP CON, which sounded quite different to the music they play now on their concerts. It was not only their first experience, but also the great musical experiment.

Alarm Pressure are an Ukrainian indie-rock duo that formed in Kharkiv in 2008. The band consists of Den Mitchell (vocals, guitars, banjo, percussion) and Nick Acorne (piano, electric organ, drums, percussion, back vocals). In this configuration, the band recorded their first LP CON, which sounded quite different to the music they play now on their concerts. It was not only their first experience, but also the great musical experiment.

LP CON was not just a mixture of dirty, weird sounds and strange arrangements, it was also a unique concept, the core principle of which is analyzing the limits of human perception under the conditions of maximum possible sound volume which is being transformed into real music. The sound is pretty similar to chaos, but the music doesn’t lose its main properties and still can be perceived as an esthetic musical unit. When the work on LP CON was finished, Den Mitchell initiated a new musical period in their life, they decided to work on songs. First records were similar to CON-style.

The band used not only their own lyrics, but also their friends’ poems and poems of different American authors, such as Gregory Corso, William Carlos Williams and others. Step by step Alarm Pressure realized, that it wasn’t enough just to record their own music but to work on their performance. For the first time, songs and instrumental compositions were performed on 14th of January, 2009 in the bosom of friends and family at Nick’s home. That first concert ended with arrival of police and brawls with neighbors.

However, it was the beginning of the band’s concert life. In February, 2009 they recorded new songs at Klim Records studio. In spring, 2009 the duo took part in different concerts and festivals. The main audience those days were painters, sculptors, designers, photographers and, of course, friends.

Now Alarm Pressure give concerts on the opening days of the exhibitions of their friends. The last concert they played before summer holidays was an open air one within “Fete de la Musique” festival. Working on their performances Nick Acorne came up with an idea to use not only an electric organ, but also an electric kick drum. It added dance rhythm to their songs. Then the band played live via skype for their friends.

Last autumn inspired the band to start a new period. The band replaced the electric organ by the piano. They started to use the electric guitar and the piano for their new songs and new arrangements of old compositions. The Kick drum was replaced by the drums.

At the end of the concerts Nick stopped playing the piano and started using the drums. Indie and psychedelic were changed into jazz and punk. Such combinations of different music styles made the concerts of this period more interesting. Gradually, acoustic sound began to prevail on electric one.

They started to give acoustic concerts. During their last concerts the band revealed their affection to famous British comedy group Monty Python: strange jokes with the audience, small sketches between the songs… Nowadays Alarm Pressure are working on their new songs which are going to be released soon, preparing for new concerts and just having fun. Contact: E-mail: alarmpressure@gmail.com Alarm Pressure on My Space Alarm Pressure on YouTube User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL..