Biography
Despite their brief existence, the U.K. experimentalist trio This Heat established an enduring influence that helped shape emerging progressive styles such as post-rock, industrial, and post-punk. Formed in Brixton, London, during January 1976, the lineup consisted of Charles Bullen, Charles Hayward, and Gareth Williams. Each participant handled vocals while rotating among guitar, keyboards, clarinet, viola, and prerecorded tapes. Bullen and Hayward had previously collaborated as Radar Favourites, and Hayward’s earlier affiliations included the Amazing Band, Gong, and Quiet Sun alongside Phil Manzanera. Throughout 1976 and 1977 the musicians concentrated on rehearsal, refining an abrasive and unyielding approach via live appearances and self-made recording trials. They explored tape manipulation and rudimentary looping techniques extensively, generating textures that extended from atmospheric ambient passages to abrasive percussive bursts.
Early demo work took place inside an unused meat locker the band nicknamed Cold Storage; John Peel acquired those recordings in early 1977 and subsequently hosted the group for two Peel Sessions that remain among its most unrestrained documents. During the same formative period This Heat also taped material with Ghanaian musician Mario Boyer Diekuuroh, portions of which later appeared on a 1982 split cassette shared with Albert Marcoeur.
The self-titled debut album, captured between February 1976 and September 1978, reached the public in August 1979. Its dense, unsettling electronic environments and dub-tinged experimental rock arose from the interplay of tape loops, manipulation, and conventional instrumentation. The Health & Efficiency EP followed soon after, foreshadowing the more conventional rock orientation of the band’s second and final release, Deceit. Issued by Rough Trade in 1981, Deceit presented a sharper, more volatile trajectory than the world-music inflections of prior work; its overarching motif of global anxiety surrounding the prospect of nuclear conflict yielded a fragmented punk aesthetic. Improvisation, collaged live excerpts, found-sound fragments, and live mixing by reggae producer Martin Frederick combined to produce a patchwork of unruly textures that would later be viewed as a cornerstone of post-punk.
Williams departed in summer 1981 to journey to India. This Heat reconvened briefly with Ian Hill on keyboards and Trefor Goronwy on bass; the configuration endured barely more than a month, completing a short European tour before disbanding in May 1982. Bullen later joined the avant-jazz ensemble Circadian Rhythms, while Hayward and Goronwy formed Camberwell Now with former This Heat sound engineer Stephen Rickard. Hayward also contributed drums to the Raincoats’ Odyshape and Lora Logic’s Pedigree Charm. Williams pursued studies of Indian religion and music, remaining intermittently active until his death from cancer in 2001.
Repeat, issued in 1993, assembled previously unreleased early recordings, among them a remix of the tape-loop experiment “24 Track Loop.” The six-disc Out of Cold Storage box set, encompassing the complete official catalog plus Peel Sessions and live material, appeared in 2006.
Although their activity spanned only a few years, This Heat’s innovations quickly surfaced in Public Image Ltd.’s pre-industrial abrasion, the early skronk of Sonic Youth, and Glenn Branca’s taut symphonic noise constructions. Their sparse discography subsequently guided successive waves of experimental rock, leaving audible traces in Chicago’s mid-nineties post-rock milieu, C. Spencer Yeh’s tape-manipulation assaults, and Gang Gang Dance’s aqueous polyrhythmic explorations.
Early demo work took place inside an unused meat locker the band nicknamed Cold Storage; John Peel acquired those recordings in early 1977 and subsequently hosted the group for two Peel Sessions that remain among its most unrestrained documents. During the same formative period This Heat also taped material with Ghanaian musician Mario Boyer Diekuuroh, portions of which later appeared on a 1982 split cassette shared with Albert Marcoeur.
The self-titled debut album, captured between February 1976 and September 1978, reached the public in August 1979. Its dense, unsettling electronic environments and dub-tinged experimental rock arose from the interplay of tape loops, manipulation, and conventional instrumentation. The Health & Efficiency EP followed soon after, foreshadowing the more conventional rock orientation of the band’s second and final release, Deceit. Issued by Rough Trade in 1981, Deceit presented a sharper, more volatile trajectory than the world-music inflections of prior work; its overarching motif of global anxiety surrounding the prospect of nuclear conflict yielded a fragmented punk aesthetic. Improvisation, collaged live excerpts, found-sound fragments, and live mixing by reggae producer Martin Frederick combined to produce a patchwork of unruly textures that would later be viewed as a cornerstone of post-punk.
Williams departed in summer 1981 to journey to India. This Heat reconvened briefly with Ian Hill on keyboards and Trefor Goronwy on bass; the configuration endured barely more than a month, completing a short European tour before disbanding in May 1982. Bullen later joined the avant-jazz ensemble Circadian Rhythms, while Hayward and Goronwy formed Camberwell Now with former This Heat sound engineer Stephen Rickard. Hayward also contributed drums to the Raincoats’ Odyshape and Lora Logic’s Pedigree Charm. Williams pursued studies of Indian religion and music, remaining intermittently active until his death from cancer in 2001.
Repeat, issued in 1993, assembled previously unreleased early recordings, among them a remix of the tape-loop experiment “24 Track Loop.” The six-disc Out of Cold Storage box set, encompassing the complete official catalog plus Peel Sessions and live material, appeared in 2006.
Although their activity spanned only a few years, This Heat’s innovations quickly surfaced in Public Image Ltd.’s pre-industrial abrasion, the early skronk of Sonic Youth, and Glenn Branca’s taut symphonic noise constructions. Their sparse discography subsequently guided successive waves of experimental rock, leaving audible traces in Chicago’s mid-nineties post-rock milieu, C. Spencer Yeh’s tape-manipulation assaults, and Gang Gang Dance’s aqueous polyrhythmic explorations.