Heavy Water Experiments

Heavy Water Experiments launched in 2003, when LA-based musician/producer David Melbye sought to revive the heavier sound of his previous band Fuzz Beloved, combined with the r&b rhythms of Ludivine, another previous project. The first album, HWE "Drops," spans a range of approaches from funky to heavier avant-psych, gleaning copious international press praise. The ensemble eventually toured the UK in 2005.

Band members changed thereafter, but Melbye continued working with a talented, self-taught drummer from El Salvador. The first result was a heavier album, called simply "Heavy Water Experiments," with a darker sound and featuring the 8-string bass more. This release also enjoyed international praise, including a feature article in Classic Rock Magazine, who called it "mellifluous stoner rock." HWE did a U.S. tour in the summer of 2006, and then a fall tour in England, Holland, and Belgium.

Another album from this period, "Get Drowned," displays Melbye's older acoustic compositions, which he performed with the early ensemble, although peripheral to the heavier thrust of HWE's sound.

The most recent "Philosopher Queen" LP (released on the Stone Stallion Rex label) is a bold departure from HWE's previous sound. The discriminating underground music journal LA Record reviewed a 3-song demo of this newer material as follows: "The ability to coalesce so many obscure and wonderful influences into such a cohesive mixture requires a level of geek cred that borders on inhuman."