Biography
The Nightcrawlers emerged as a Philadelphia-based trio devoted to a distinctly homemade strain of cosmic electronic music shaped by the Berlin school. Dave Lunt and New Jersey siblings Peter and Tom Gulch, each rooted in classical training, first encountered the expansive electronic works of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze in the 1970s. Those encounters prompted the acquisition of synthesizers and an eventual accumulation of numerous machines, pedals, and mixers.
The group took shape officially in 1980 when the Gulch brothers initially recruited Bob Stevenson, whose contributions were limited to acoustic tools including harmonica, zither, violin, and bells. Stevenson’s reluctance to adopt a synthesizer led to his departure, after which Lunt completed the lineup. Throughout their existence the musicians staged many performances alongside fellow Philadelphia electronic artists Don Slepian and Charles Cohen, frequently in nontraditional spaces such as churches, and maintained ties to the International Electronic Music Association.
Although the Nightcrawlers remained active for more than ten years, only three studio albums appeared: Nightcrawlers (1984), Spacewalk (1985), and Shadows of Light (1987). The members avoided protracted studio labor, instead capturing live improvisations on a boombox for direct cassette release. Between 1980 and 1991 more than three dozen such tapes were issued, along with solo cassettes by individual members and recordings from Xisle, the project Peter formed with Andrew Rath and WXPN DJ Chuck van Zyl. Following the 1991 double-cassette Barriers the ensemble dissolved. Lunt shifted primary focus to visual art, Tom faced mounting health difficulties and died in 2013, while Peter sustained his musical work with van Zyl, occasionally under the Ministry of Inside Things banner.
Berlin’s Manikin label assembled the double-CD Traveling Backwards in 1997, drawing selections from the trio’s three LPs. Anthology Recordings later issued the 2018 compilation The Biophonic Boombox Recordings, which gathered material from the extensive cassette archive.
The group took shape officially in 1980 when the Gulch brothers initially recruited Bob Stevenson, whose contributions were limited to acoustic tools including harmonica, zither, violin, and bells. Stevenson’s reluctance to adopt a synthesizer led to his departure, after which Lunt completed the lineup. Throughout their existence the musicians staged many performances alongside fellow Philadelphia electronic artists Don Slepian and Charles Cohen, frequently in nontraditional spaces such as churches, and maintained ties to the International Electronic Music Association.
Although the Nightcrawlers remained active for more than ten years, only three studio albums appeared: Nightcrawlers (1984), Spacewalk (1985), and Shadows of Light (1987). The members avoided protracted studio labor, instead capturing live improvisations on a boombox for direct cassette release. Between 1980 and 1991 more than three dozen such tapes were issued, along with solo cassettes by individual members and recordings from Xisle, the project Peter formed with Andrew Rath and WXPN DJ Chuck van Zyl. Following the 1991 double-cassette Barriers the ensemble dissolved. Lunt shifted primary focus to visual art, Tom faced mounting health difficulties and died in 2013, while Peter sustained his musical work with van Zyl, occasionally under the Ministry of Inside Things banner.
Berlin’s Manikin label assembled the double-CD Traveling Backwards in 1997, drawing selections from the trio’s three LPs. Anthology Recordings later issued the 2018 compilation The Biophonic Boombox Recordings, which gathered material from the extensive cassette archive.
Singles