Dave Weinberg and Ego Sensation (aka Lynnea Scalora)
Antony Hodgkinson, Bob Bellomo, Daved Pankenier, John Colpitts, Mike Boul, Pierre Auntour
"WHITE HILLS is an American psychedelic rock band that was formed in 2005 in New York City. Founding members Dave W. (guitar & vocals) and Ego Sensation (bass & vocals) have been the only constant members.
They are known for being one of the most prolific bands of their generation, recording over 40 separate releases including 7 full-length studio albums. Their music strikes “a riveting balance between heaviness and ethereality” combining elements of krautrock, post-punk, art rock, goth, psychedelic rock, metal, stoner rock, ambient and experimental music. They are often compared to Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, MC5 and Spiritualized.
The band is currently signed to Thrill Jockey Records whose artist roster also includes Future Islands, Wooden Shjips, Tortoise, The Sea and Cake, Matmos, Liturgy and Trans Am. The band’s first album, No Game To Play, was a solo recording project by Dave W released in 2005. Julian Cope reissued the album as They’ve Got Blood Like We’ve Got Blood on his Fuck Off and Di label. The band’s next album Glitter Glamour Atrocity (self-released) garnered the attention of Stewart Lee from the Sunday London Times creating sudden visibility for the group. Shortly after, UK label Rocket Recordings (Goat, Teeth of the Sea, GNOD) asked the band to record a third album. The band recorded Heads on Fire, the title track of which did not make it onto the album but appears on the tour-only CD-r Oddity II- Night Scene On Mill Mountain. Rocket went on to release a split 12” with WHITE HILLS and The Heads and a collaboration between WHITE HILLS and GNOD before the band signed with Thrill Jockey in 2009.
Upon signing to Thrill Jockey in 2009, the label released the 12” EP Dead followed a few months later by the band’s self-titled album. Recorded at the Ocropolis in Brooklyn, Oneida’s now extinct recording studio, the album features Kid Millions on drums and was reportedly recorded over three days. The band went on to record their career-defining H-p1 at the Ocropolis. Hailed as “quite possibly the finest album of space rock”, H-p1 has been described as a “work of science fiction”, the band citing Abstract Expressionist art as muse and a concern for “societal ills like consumerism and corporate control of government” as motivation. The title’s meaning, according to Dave W, “is the name I have given to this disease of greed…that plagues our time…in the same way that scientists name viruses.”
The band’s next two full-length albums Frying On This Rock (2012) and So You Are…So You’ll Be (2013) were recorded with Martin Bisi at BC Studios in Brooklyn. Bisi, well known for his work with Sonic Youth, Swans, The Dresden Dolls, Herbie Hancock and John Zorn among others, helped the band achieve crisper tones than on their previous releases.
Their discography covers a wide expanse of sonic ground. Dave W, the principle lyricist for the band, has cited Jim Carroll and Buckminster Fuller as inspirations and has been quoted as saying, “I’m very conscious about making the records sound very different from each other.”
The band has several live releases in their discography including the full-length album Live At Roadburn from their performance in 2011 and a Scion released 10” split with Earthless from their 2012 performance at the Roxy in Los Angeles.
In Fall of 2014, the band convened in Bethesda, Wales at Bryn Derwyn studio to record an album with producer David Wrench, best known for his work with Caribou and FKA twigs. The album Walks For Motorists is set for release in April 2015.
White Hills' live shows feature dramatic lighting and the usage of a fog machine. Previous auxiliary (recording / touring) members include: Antronhy (drums, various instruments), Nick Name (drums), Bob Bellomo (drums), Daved Pankenier, Kid Millions, Shazzula, and Pierre Auntour. They have shared stages with bands such as MONO, The Flaming Lips, Sleepy Sun, Cloudland Canyon, Mudhoney, Akron/Family, Monster Magnet, Oneida, Pontiak, and The Cult.
Legendary independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch became a fan of WHITE HILLS after inviting the band to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties New York 2010 weekend he curated along with Iggy Pop and The Stooges, Sleep, Sonic Youth, Sunn O))) and Boris. Jarmusch contacted the band in March 2012 asking them to play themselves performing their 2007 song "Under Skin Or By Name" in his new film, Only Lovers Left Alive. The script denotes a “visually striking band” playing wild music in a Detroit club. Jarmusch said he felt the part was made for WHITE HILLS. The band shares the screen with Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska and Anton Yelchin. When the film was released in December 2013 in Germany, the band joined with other artists from the soundtrack including Jarmusch’s band SQÜRL, Jozef van Wissem, Zola Jesus and Yasmine Hamdan to do a series of traveling live performances following the screenings of the film in Cologne, Berlin, London, Paris and New York. The events were orchestrated by ATP.
In 2014, the band also appeared in Sound and Chaos: The Story of BC Studios directed by Sara Leavitt and Ryan C. Douglass. This documentary chronicles the birth and life of Martin Bisi’s legendary recording and production studio co-founded by multi-instrumentalist and collaborator-extraordinaire Bill Laswell. Initially funded by Brian Eno (much of his album On Land was recorded there), the studio went on to host a who's-who of NYC musicians: White Zombie, J.G. Thirlwell, Afrika Bambaataa, Cop Shoot Cop, and many more. The film includes footage of WHITE HILLS in BC Studios during their Frying On This Rock sessions. The film made its New York premiere at Anthology Film Archives on July 17, 2014."
Albums
No Game To Play - White Hills Music 2003
They've Got Blood Like We've Got Blood - Fuck Off & Di 2005
Glitter Glamour Atrocity - White Hills Music 2007
Heads On Fire - Rocket Recordings 2007
Abstractions And Mutations - White Hills Music 2007
A Little Bliss Forever - Drug Space Records 2008
White Hills / Gnod - Aquarian Downer (CDr, Ltd) White Hills Music none 2008
White Hills / The Heads - Collisions V.01 - Rocket Recordings 2009
Gnod / White Hills - Drop Out (CDr, Album) Drug Space Records Tablet 9001 2009
Gnod / White Hills - Gnod Drop Out With White Hills II - Rocket Recordings 2010
White Hills - Thrill Jockey 2010
...Oddity...A Look At How The Collective Mind Works (CDr, Album, Car) Drug Space Records DSCDR 102D1 2010
H-p1 - Thrill Jockey 2011
Live At Roadburn 2011 - Roadburn Records 2011
Live On WFMU (Cass, Ltd, C60) Who Can You Trust? WHO-07 2011
Oddity III: Basic Information - Drug Space Records, White Hills Music 2012
Frying On This Rock - Thrill Jockey 2012
White Hills / Farflung - To Find The Secret Door / Fade - Cobraside Distribution Inc. 2012
So You Are... So You'll Be - Thrill Jockey 2013
Oddity V: Freaky Farm Funk (CDr, Album) Not On Label none 2014
Walks For Motorists - Thrill Jockey 2015
Oddity VI: Slogans (CDr, Album, Ltd, Num) Not On Label none 2015
Singles & EPs
No Kind Ending (CDr, Mini) Diagnosis... Don't! Recordings DONT024 2007
Acid Mothers Temple And The Cosmic Inferno / White Hills - Sonic Attack (Psychedelic Warlords) (7", Single, Ltd) Trensmat TR014 2008
Dead (12", EP) Thrill Jockey 12.36 2009
Stolen Stars Left For No One (12", Maxi) Thrill Jockey thrill 12.45 2010
Der Blutharsch / White Hills - Today I Want To Catch Clouds (7", EP, Ltd) WKN WKN 36 2010
Measured Energy - Trensmat 2011
Black Valleys (CD, EP, Ltd) Aquarius Records (7) aQ-001 2011
Earthless, White Hills - Scion AV Presents: Label Showcase - Scion Audio/Visual 2013
White Pee + White Hills - "in love but not committed" Live at the Retox Lounge (CDr, EP, Ltd, Num) Bright Yellow Records none 2015
White Hills / Mugstar - I Remain In / Wire To Wire (7", Single) God Unknown Records GOD006 2015
White Hills / RMFTM - As You Pass By / Decadence - Fuzz Club Records 2015
Compilations
Oddity II: Night Scene On Mill Mountain (A Collection Of Out Of Print And Previously Unreleased Tracks) - Drug Space Records 2010
Timeless Tracks For Aural Pleasure (LP, Comp, Ltd) Thrill Jockey Records Thrill 12,52 2013
Naam, Black Rainbows, The Flying Eyes, White Hills - 4-Bands Split Vol.1 - Heavy Psych Sounds 2014
Miscellaneous
No Game To Play [Extended] (CDr, Ltd, Promo) Not On Label none 2004
Koko (CDr, Ltd) White Hills Music none 2006
Live On WFMU 4/10/2007 (CDr, Ltd, Promo) White Hills Music none 2007
White Hills / White Pee - Wish You Weren't Here (CDr, Ltd) White Hills Music none 2007
White Hills / Verily - Verily White Hills (CDr, Ltd) White Hills Music none 2007
Live At The Knitting Factory, NYC 6-26-08 - Apollolaan Recordings 2008
No Kind Ending V.2 (CDr, Ltd) White Hills Music none 2008
The Process - Sonic Meditations 2011
Oddity IV: Black Valleys II "Out Psychedelia" (CDr) Drug Space Records none 2013
http://whitehillsmusic.tumblr.com/ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/white-hills-mn0001068859 http://www.thrilljockey.com/thrill/White-Hills http://www.gigposters.com/band/85547_White_Hills.html https://www.facebook.com/WHITE-HILLS-90476409450 https://myspace.com/whitehills https://whitehills.bandcamp.com/music https://twitter.com/whitehillsmusic https://www.instagram.com/whitehillsmusic/ https://www.discogs.com/artist/424983-White-Hills 
// psychedelic rock. US
