Videodrone

Videodrone vocalist Ty Elam bagged groceries by day, then jammed in friends' parents' living rooms by night. In Bakersfield, California, a David Lynch-esque oil town, there was no place to play except country-western clubs, gay bars and high schools. So Elam would get together carloads of friends and drive on into LA. In 1990 Videodrone was known as <a href="spotify:artist:22NVhIky4uVCzBfyjm0VGI">Cradle of Thorns</a>, stylizing their synthetic aggro-electric sound that was influenced as much by sub-B horror-movie soundtracks as the technoshriek arrangements hurtled out by their pals in <a href="spotify:artist:3RNrq3jvMZxD9ZyoOZbQOD">Korn</a>, their Central Valley homeboys. Getting talked into <a href="spotify:artist:3RNrq3jvMZxD9ZyoOZbQOD">Korn</a>'s own label was a happy convenience for the band. Yet long before signing with <a href="spotify:artist:3RNrq3jvMZxD9ZyoOZbQOD">Korn</a>'s Reprise/Elementree label, <a href="spotify:artist:22NVhIky4uVCzBfyjm0VGI">Cradle of Thorns</a> signed in 1990 with respected indie label Triple-X, home of of <a href="spotify:artist:16nn7kCHPWIB6uK09GQCNI">Social Distortion</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:02NfyD6AlLA12crYzw5YcR">Jane's Addiction</a>, and others. Well-known on the thriving Huntington Beach club scene, <a href="spotify:artist:22NVhIky4uVCzBfyjm0VGI">Cradle of Thorns</a> released a short series of back-of-the-van one-off albums with Triple-X, including Remember It Day, Feed Us and Download This over a span of four years. Eventually at the urging of bassplayer Mavis, who liked <a href="spotify:artist:3RNrq3jvMZxD9ZyoOZbQOD">Korn</a>'s Elementree Reprise subsidiary, bassist Fieldy Arvizu agreed to produce a new COT record in 1998. With <a href="spotify:artist:3RNrq3jvMZxD9ZyoOZbQOD">Korn</a> acting as A&R reps with Elementree, <a href="spotify:artist:22NVhIky4uVCzBfyjm0VGI">Cradle of Thorns</a> had one essential change to make. The boys changed to the name 'Videodrone' styled after the David Cronenberg film Videodrome, to celebrate their new label. They wanted a new name to go with their new feel -- futuristic, but still decidedly "80's." The well received new Videodrone CD featured Limp Bizkit's <a href="spotify:artist:6xs3t4VrfszbO3YJg2wLPa">Fred Durst</a> and Korn's <a href="spotify:artist:1VW5tZ9pmSb2rG0GmSELwW">Jonathan Davis</a> on vocals. Their CD arrived on the heels of sold-out concerts with <a href="spotify:artist:3RNrq3jvMZxD9ZyoOZbQOD">Korn</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3HVdAiMNjYrQIKlOGxoGh5">Rob Zombie</a>. ~ Becky Byrkit, Rovi