CRUISER: a history of 21st century Caledonian muzak:

Cruiser are a band based in Fife, Scotland - they were was founded in 1998 by Kevin Lynch in Cowdenbeath, from a crew of musicians passing through that town's famous SubStation recording studio.
The ethos behind Cruiser was simple. Kevin had been working on dance tracks for a while, but never felt they really had any meaning to him. So, grabbing a guitar and learning a few chords - Cruiser was born.
The idea was to create a band that played electronic music but combined it with live instruments and to keep sequencing to a minimum. The other key was to add a Scottish element to the songs, thus reflecting our own culture. And also we recognised that all melodies and styles had been explored, and that all that was left to do with music in the 21st century was to take elements from what had went before and remix them into something that couldn't be directly labelled. 21st century artists are fooling themselves if they think they are being original and pushing back boundaries. Honesty has always been cruiser's policy.

And so that's how a band that appeals to many differing tastes was born. With reverb guitars that sound like bag-pipes and 80's pop keyboard lines and a darker indie side with scattershot beats, it's all Scottish, it crosses many genres, it's very 21st century and hopefully it brings a smile to someone's face from time to time.

In 1999, Kevin uploaded a few demo cruiser tracks on the internet. One month later Mike Cloward at Devil In The Woods records wanting the band to record an album for release in the USA. Other internet sites saw 1000's of downloads and on Besonic.com cruiser had internet No.1's in Africa, Australia, Europe, Asia, North and South America!
And so the task of getting a full band together had begun and through the artists that were coming and going from Cowdenbeath's SUB STATION recording studio (where Kevin worked) a band was formed, and an album recorded with their input.

INFLUENCES and INSPIRATION:
We cite our Scottish influences as : Cocteau Twins, Strawberry Switchblade, Altered Images, My Bloody Valentine, (early) Simple Minds, the Blue Nile, the Yummy Fur, BMX Bandits, Eurythmics (Annie Lennox was Scottish!), and of course SIR Jimmy Shand

We haven't mentioned current Scottish acts as they are our fellow musicians and although we like them all, we aren't influenced by them.

It would also be foolish not to admit that countless non-Scottish bands have influenced us: KRAFTWERK, the Beatles, Crosby, Stills Nash and Young, OMD. New Order, Nine Inch Nails, Joni Mitchell, the list is endless and spans many genres.

Without all these artists, we would not be doing the music we are today.



CRUISER FLIGHT CREW:
Over the years many differing musicians have guested on cruiser tracks (see N. Electric for details) It takes time to find a team that is all comfortable doing the same thing.

The permanent cruiser team are:

Kevin Lynch:
Vocals, guitars, keyboards, samples + sequences, percussion, and other oddments

Matthew Dean:
Vocals, bass, guitars, keyboards, and oddments

Mari Erskine:
Vocals, keyboards, percussion and 80's pop sensibilities

Tom McKinney:
Guitars, keyboards and oddments

Trevor Helliwell
Cello, and electronic trickery

On tour and in future recording we will have many more guest artists:

The Cruiser team also produce their own tracks.


So who are cruiser really?:

Kevin Lynch: is a self taught musician, has been a Graphic Designer and Lighting Designer, producer and remixer. He loves sci-fi, robots and loads of music.

Matthew Dean: is a trained musician who has been in a few local bands and plays bass like a bastard! He also drinks and writes very beautiful music.

Mari Erskine: is a fourth year journalism student, with the voice of an angel. She is also cruiser's very own 80's pop queen.

Tom McKinney: no longer has a beard, but regularly plays retro games that he has downloaded from the internet.

Trevor Helliwell: his day job as a sound engineer is another talent ripe for exploitation by the band.