Biography
Variac emerged from Detroit by fusing the psychedelic hard rock approach of Queens of the Stone Age with the spiraling shoegazing textures associated with My Bloody Valentine, yielding arena rock that bassist Andy Sutton once described as intended to "make the ladies swoon."
The group took shape in 1998 from the remnants of two earlier Michigan outfits, Andy Sutton's Forehead Stew and the widely acclaimed Big Chief. Al Sutton, Andy's brother and former producer for Big Chief, handled guitar and vocals alongside Forehead Stew drummer Ken Tudrick and Big Chief guitarist Philip Durr, allowing the new band to craft songs of greater intricacy than those from either prior project. This led to early support slots alongside Jonathan Fire*Eater, Morphine, and the Smashing Pumpkins.
Variac issued its debut full-length, Hard Starward, in 2001, an album that blended Richard Ashcroft-style grandiosity, spacey repetitions in the manner of Trainspotting, and the raw Detroit aesthetic.
The group took shape in 1998 from the remnants of two earlier Michigan outfits, Andy Sutton's Forehead Stew and the widely acclaimed Big Chief. Al Sutton, Andy's brother and former producer for Big Chief, handled guitar and vocals alongside Forehead Stew drummer Ken Tudrick and Big Chief guitarist Philip Durr, allowing the new band to craft songs of greater intricacy than those from either prior project. This led to early support slots alongside Jonathan Fire*Eater, Morphine, and the Smashing Pumpkins.
Variac issued its debut full-length, Hard Starward, in 2001, an album that blended Richard Ashcroft-style grandiosity, spacey repetitions in the manner of Trainspotting, and the raw Detroit aesthetic.
Albums