In 2004, four friends began a musical discourse, originating out of The University of Pittsburgh’s college campus. After copious far flung individual musical endeavors, they came together as the psychedelic electronic pop group called The Van Allen Belt. This is a unique audio/visual performance project that takes several musical styles to penultimate, using a plethora of sampling, effects, and harmonies hoisted to manipulated electronic heights. The songs can be described as skewed or
In 2004, four friends began a musical discourse, originating out of The University of Pittsburgh’s college campus. After copious far flung individual musical endeavors, they came together as the psychedelic electronic pop group called The Van Allen Belt. This is a unique audio/visual performance project that takes several musical styles to penultimate, using a plethora of sampling, effects, and harmonies hoisted to manipulated electronic heights. The songs can be described as skewed or modernized oldies in the sense that the songwriter, Benjamin K. Ferris’ John Barry-esque cinematic scores backdrop unexpectedly personal and uneasily realistic lyrical content performed by the heralded vocalist, Tamar Kamin. With virtuoso Tom Altes on bass, their sound is transformed by sound designer Scott Taylor into a bombastic spectacle of original video works punctuating the theatrical score. Contributing painter and digital artist Peter Luckner (Ohio State University - Columbus, OH) has provided a wealth of original animations and paintings for album art and live visual projections. Since their debut in 2007, they have released 2 LPs, 1 EP, and 2 music videos and they plan to release a new LP in December 2012. They have been included on compilations from Peppermill Records, Under The Radar Magazine, and BEKO DSL, and they have showcased SXSW, MPMF, Irving Plaza in NYC, and the Occupy Pittsburgh General Assembly.