Sonic Boom

by Jason AnkenySonic Boom was the alias of Pete Kember, best known as the singer-guitarist in the legendary hypno-drone unit Spacemen 3. A native of Rugby, England, while attending art college Kember teamed with Jason Pierce to form Spacemen 3, recording a demo tape in 1986; after signing to Glass Records, the group recorded their debut LP Sound of Confusion, for which Kember adopted the name Peter Gunn. By the time of their follow-up EP Walkin with Jesus, he had rechristened himself Sonic Boom, keeping the pseudonym for the duration of his career. In 1990 he issued his lone solo LP, Spectrum; after the 1991 swan song Recurring, Sonic recycled the Spectrum title as the name of his new band, which debuted with the LP Soul Kiss (Glide Divine). Sonic Boom was also the driving force behind the Experimental Audio Research project, a loose configuration of musicians which included My Bloody Valentines Kevin Shields.