Emeralds

Emeralds are an ambient/drone music trio from Cleveland, Ohio. John Elliott, Mark McGuire and Steve Hauschildt began playing music together under the name Fancelions in 2005 in Cleveland’s western suburbs of Bay Village and Westlake. However, due to a desire to simplify and focus more on live improvisation, they re-formed as Emeralds, playing their first show under that name in June 2006. Since then the group has released over thirty recordings, on labels such as Hanson Records, American Tapes, Manhand, Ecstatic Peace! and also on their own imprint Wagon. The album Solar Bridge, released in 2008, is their most widely known release to date. In fall of 2009 the band self-released the follow-up full length to Solar Bridge which is self-titled Emeralds, as well as the monstrous What Happened on No Fun Productions. In the coming years Emeralds releases will appear on Editions Mego and Industrial Records. They have collaborated with Aaron Dilloway on the cassette Under Pressure, released a split tour CD with Japanese noise musician Pain Jerk and opened for Throbbing Gristle in New York. The band has also had the pleasure of performing headlining spots in Carlos Giffoni’s No Fun Fest in New York and Stockholm, Sweden. Mark McGuire and Steve Hauschildt also perform and record under their own names. John Elliott performs as Outer Space, Imaginary Softwoods, and as various other aliases. Emeralds are noted for blending ambient music with 80’s synthesizer textures, German kosmische music and the minimalism of Terry Riley.