Biography
Maids of Gravity came together in the early 1990s when Ed Ruscha, after departing Medicine, assembled the group on vocals and guitar. The L.A.-based outfit took its name from an ensemble Ruscha encountered in a dream and laid down its self-titled debut for Vernon Yard Records in 1994. Guitarist Jim Putnam, another ex-member of Medicine, joined alongside drummer Irwin. Their neo-psychedelic approach stood apart from the prevailing grunge sound, yet only the hallucinogenic single “Only Dreaming” from the 1995 album managed to surface amid countless Nirvana and Pearl Jam imitators. That lone track nevertheless earned the band festival slots at radio stations and support dates with Bush and Matthew Sweet. In 1996 the group enlisted Velvet Underground legend John Cale to helm the follow-up, The First Second. On that release Maids of Gravity pushed deeper into acid rock, threading otherworldly lyrics through extended, drugged-out guitar explorations while adding guitarist Eugene Gorester and bassist Mark Kay. The band issued Strange Channel in 2000.