Material

The Arc of Material

The pivots — what forced Material to reinvent.

1. 01

   The Squat-Rock No Wave Days

   Early on, the core trio of Laswell, Beinhorn, and Fred Maher operated like a street-tough version of Gong, fueled by the aggressive friction of the New York No Wave scene. They tracked the Temporary Music EPs with a raw, abrasive edge that favored sharp angles and jagged basslines over any semblance of pop structure. You hear the physical stress of the gear in those recordings, especially the way they pushed the synthesizers into red-line distortion to match the chaos of the city outside. It was cerebral music played with a switchblade mentality.

2. 02

   The Celluloid Dance Floor Pivot

   Everything shifted when they hooked up with Jean Karakos and the Celluloid label, pushing the band toward a heavy, dub-influenced club sound that predated the electro-funk explosion. Adding Nona Hendryx and Bernard Fowler on vocals turned them from a basement experiment into a legit powerhouse that could actually chart. The 1982 album One Down is the pivot point, where the avant-garde noise gets smoothed out by professional polish and an obsession with the emerging hip-hop groove. This era is defined by the heavy use of the DMX drum machine and a thick, bottom-heavy production style that made the avant-garde feel danceable.

3. 03

   The Axiom World-Dub Expansions

   By the late 80s and early 90s, Laswell used the Material name as a flagship for his Axiom label, turning the project into a global collective that ignored genre boundaries entirely. He brought in guys like Bernie Worrell for that P-Funk grease and paired them with Moroccan Gnawa musicians or jazz legends like Wayne Shorter. The record Seven Souls, featuring William S. Burroughs narrating over slow-burn ambient dub, is the peak of this phase. It’s no longer a band—it’s a curated sonic environment where the studio board is the primary instrument.

Influences

• Miles Davis — Laswell has constantly cited the Bitches Brew era as his blueprint for leadership and studio assembly. You hear it in the way Material tracks are edited and spliced together after the jam, a direct nod to Teo Macero’s work with Miles. It’s the sound of organized chaos.
• Magma — Before forming Material, Laswell was obsessed with the Zeuhl sound and Christian Vander’s martial, repetitive rhythms. The early Material rhythm section plays with that same heavy, relentless momentum that feels like it’s marching off a cliff. It gave their early No Wave stuff a discipline most of their peers lacked.
• King Tubby — The entire Material philosophy is built on the Jamaican dub concept of the 'version.' Laswell’s bass playing and his use of the mixing desk as a weapon are direct descendants of Tubby’s work at Waterhouse. The space and the dropouts on the Memory Serves tracks are pure Kingston methodology.
• The Meters — Michael Beinhorn has pointed to the Meters as the gold standard for how a rhythm section should breathe together. You hear that lean, syncopated funk underneath even their most abrasive 80s tracks like 'Bustin' Out.' They took the New Orleans pocket and moved it to a Brooklyn warehouse.
• Ornette Coleman — The 'Harmolodic' theory Coleman developed was the guiding light for the free-jazz elements Material injected into their funk. Collaborating with Coleman students like Billy Bang or James Blood Ulmer wasn't a coincidence; it was a way to keep the music from ever getting too predictable. It’s why their pop songs still feel like they might fall apart at any second.