Battery 9 (pronounced, in Afrikaans, as Battery Nege), an industrial music project from Johannesburg, South Africa, is the brainchild of Paul Riekert, who writes, plays and records the music. The band name is sometimes written, without a space, as Battery9. Afrikaans is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia with smaller numbers of speakers in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Zambia. ... Industrial music is a loose term for a number of different styles of electronic and experimental music. ... City motto: Unity in Development Province Gauteng Mayor Amos Masondo Area  - % water 1,644 km² 0. ...

History

Riekert started recording under the name Battery 9 in 1994, bored with the creative constraints of a standard rock band format. A platform to run various projects from, One F Music, was subsequently founded, in the form of an independent record label and a small home studio. 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ...

The first Battery 9 album, Protskrog, was released in 1995. Made and backed by little more than a shoestring budget, it sold well enough to warrant a licensing deal with independent record company Tic Tic Bang. 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The next release, Strop, (1996) saw Battery 9 break through to a wider audience, with the song Kiss The Machine receiving daytime airplay and eventually charting on 5FM, a major nationwide commercial radio station. For the first time, the major industry took notice and the project received major media coverage, while the live act played for increasingly bigger audiences, culminating in a solo show at the Viper Room in Pretoria in 1997 that drew 1200 people. In the same year, the album Gris, featuring remixes, re-interpretations and interactive CD-ROM data, was released. 1996 (MCMXCVI) is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 5FM is a SABC radio station in Johannesburg, South Africa. ... City motto: Praestantia Praevaleat Pretoria (May Pretoria Be Pre-eminent In Excellence) Province Gauteng Mayor Smangaliso Mkhatshwa Area  - % water 1,644 km² 0. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Wrok was released in 1998 and was awarded Best Rock Album in that year's South African Music Awards. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

After a few major live performances, like supporting Prodigy and Faithless on their tour in South Africa, Battery 9 took a break for a couple of months to re-assemble the live act. In December of 2000 and January 2001 Battery 9, with the newly formed live act, performed a well received short tour of South Africa. The set included new songs from the album Sondebok which was released in 2002. Look up prodigy on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Faithless are a UK group of musicians whose music is described by one of their band as a cross between trip-hop and dance. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... 2002 (MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

After a long break, a sixth album, Straks, was released in late 2005 with almost no marketing or promotion. 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Discography

• Protskrog — Album — 20 April 1995 — One F Music / Tic Tic Bang
• Strop — Album — 23 August 1996 — One F Music / Tic Tic Bang
• Strop (Limited Edition) — Album (limited to approximately 300 copies) — 23 August 1996 — One F Music / Tic Tic Bang
• Gris — Remix EP — 29 September 1997 — One F Music / Tic Tic Bang
• Gris (Limited Edition) — Remix EP — 29 September 1997 — One F Music / Tic Tic Bang
• Wrok — Album — 17 October 1998 — One F Music / Tic Tic Bang
• Sondebok — Album — 14 July 2002 — One F Music/Gallo Record Company
• Straks — Album — 2005

External links

• Screaming Machine — The official Battery 9 home page (somewhat out of date, and last updated in 2003)