Fluke (band)

Flukeare an Englishelectronic musicgroup formed in the late 1980s byJon Fugler,Mike TournierandMike Bryant. The band were noted for their diverse range of electronic styles, includinghouse,techno,ambient,big beatanddowntempo; for their reclusivity, rarely giving interviews; and for lengthy timespans between albums.
Fluke produced five original studio albums, three compilation albums, and a live album. They made several line-up changes over the years, with credited appearances attributed to Neil Davenport on guitars, Robin Goodridge on drums and Hugh Bryder as aDJ. In the tour for their fourth albumRisotto(1997), they were joined on stage by singerRachel Stewart, who continued as lead female vocalist and dancer for all of Fluke's live performances between 1997 and 1999.
AfterRisotto, Tournier left the group to formSyntaxwithJan Burton. Bryant and Fugler went on to produce Fluke's fifth and final studio album,Puppy(2003), and the pair subsequently engaged in a project under the name2 Bit Pie, with their first album2Pie Islandreleased in September 2006.
Fluke received mainstream attention through the inclusion of their music in various film and video game soundtracks, includingblockbusterfilms likeThe Matrix Reloaded(2003) andSin City(2005), and the soundtracks to the video game seriesNeed for Speed: UndergroundandWipeout. The filmThe Experiment(2010) uses their song "YKK" fromPuppy.
In 2024, Fluke returned from hiatus with the single "Insanely Beautiful", released on 29 April 2024.
Before forming Fluke, Fugler and Bryant had played in twopunkbands together named The Leaky Radiators and The Layfigures. The third member of Fluke, Tournier, was introduced to the group when he undertook work on a collaboration with Fugler entitled "Skin".It soon became clear that all three shared musical tastes, having a shared interest in the acid house scene and the more experimental electronic sounds of Cabaret Voltaire and Giorgio Moroder.
Fluke's first single, released in 1988, was awhite labelvinyl entitled "Island Life", pressed on a clear blue 12" vinyl record.Although a commercial failure, as well as being very different in sound to the band's later works, the group persisted and released another two white label vinyls: "Thumper!" (sample) in 1989 and "Joni/Taxi" in 1990, a song that sampledJoni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi".The attention that these records received gained the band a record deal withCreation Recordswith whom they released their firstCDsingle "Philly" in the same year.
In the following year, Fluke released their first album,The Techno Rose of Blighty, swiftly followed by the single "The Bells" and a live album entitledOut (In Essence). For the release ofOut (In Essence), Fluke abandoned their deal with Creation Records and signed instead with Circa Records, an offshoot ofVirgin.Along with these releases, Fluke also began their career-spanning tradition of releasing work of a different nature under various names. The first of these, theindustrial musicsingle "All Aboard", was released in 1990 under the nameThe Lucky Monkeys.
At this early stage in their career, the band realized that they would experience the greatest artistic freedom if they had their own recording studio and took it upon themselves to obtain their own premises. This was an asset which, according to Fugler, proved invaluable in coordinating the "wider pool of people — musicians and friends — that we draw on to help".
EMIasked Fluke to remixTalk Talk's 1986 song "Life's What You Make It" for the 1991 albumHistory Revisitedwhich largely consists of new remixes of Talk Talk songs. The album was removed from stores after the band denounced it, saying they had not given permission for the songs to be remixed.
After a two-year break, Fluke returned with what became a breakthrough into mainstream popular music when, in 1993, they released the single "Slid". This became a club classic when it was picked up byDJ Sashawho liked it so much that he included three separate remixes of it on hisRenaissancealbum.This burst of success was followed by two further singles, "Electric Guitar" (sample) and "Groovy Feeling", and, in the same year, the release of the group's second album,Six Wheels on My Wagon.
This new album was a distinctlyhouse musicproduction, with uplifting riffs and ambient effects, as opposed to thetechnostyle of their previous release. The album was received favourably by critics, withBillboardmagazine labelling it "groundbreaking".Other reviewers went further, withThe Independentsuggesting that Fluke was to become the next big thing in Europe:
In 1994, Fluke releasedThe Peel Sessions, recorded for theBBC Radio 1DJJohn Peel. This CD was a selection of tracks from two live sessions recorded on 18 November 1990 and 10 December 1991.The CD included one new song, "Time Keeper", and several tracks which had previously been released on vinyl only. Fluke were invited to perform two further, unreleased,Peel Sessionsafter this CD. One was broadcast on 10 November 1996 and the other was performed live on 8 December 2002.
The following year, Fluke released their third album,Oto, which is theGreekword for "of the ear". In terms of style,Otowas somewhat darker thanSix Wheels on my Wagon, focusing on the downbeat ambient effects which were present in the second half ofSix Wheels, and the band completely removed the uplifting house style that characterised their previous work. Only two singles were released fromOto; "Bullet" and "Tosh". "Bullet" was chosen by Dominic Pride ofBillboardmagazine as one of his top ten picks of 1995.
In 1996, Fluke released "Atom Bomb", a single that reached #20 in the UK charts.Originally created as a track for the video gameWipeout 2097(Along with "V6"), it became the centrepiece of their next album,Risotto.The track was also released as a single from the soundtrack albumWipeout 2097: The Soundtrack, which had tracks fromThe Chemical Brothers,Future Sound of London,Photek,Underworld,Daft Punk,LeftfieldandThe Prodigy.Fluke's fourth studio album was the pinnacle of Fluke's mainstream chart success with the singles "Atom Bomb" and "Absurd" (sample). The album was namedRisottoafter therisottofood dish because, like its culinary counterpart, it contained a mix of "ingredients". These included the singles "Atom Bomb" and "Absurd", new tracks "Goodnight Lover" and "Kitten Moon", the post-album single "Squirt" and reworked older tracks such as "Mosh", a remix of "Tosh" fromOto.David BennunofThe Guardianwrote ofRisotto:
At this time, reused the Lucky Monkeys name for the release of "Bjango", a single which included a remix by Fluke themselves.
After touring for a year withRisottoon the American "Electric Highway Tour", and having made two appearances at theGlastonbury festivalin 1995 and 1998, Tournier left the group to pursue a different project namedSyntax, with the band's long standing friend,Jan Burton.They produced just a single album,Meccano Mindin March 2004, which in turn produced two moderately successful singles and a live tour supportingScissor Sisters.
After Tournier's departure, two "Best Of" albums were released,Progressive History X, a compilation spanning their entire ten year producing history, and, in 2001,Progressive History XXX, a three CD box-set including many rare and hard to find mixes. Both releases were packaged with artwork from "Just Your Average Second On This Planet" 1997–1998,DiscothequebyDavid BethellThe box-set contained black, red, white and blue versions of the same original cover art, and had a poster of the silhouette image on one side and all other album covers on the back.
In 2002, The Fluke DJs were formed, a live-show pairing of Fugler and Hugh Bryder. Bryder was a DJ who had assisted Fluke in their live performances since 1993 as well as working with other DJs such as Seb Fontaine while holding a DJ residency atMTV's special event parties.This seemed to indicate further rifts within the band as this DJ combination included neither Bryant nor Tournier.However, Fugler denied these rumours shortly after they surfaced claiming that the band merely needed some time away from each other after their intense work onRisotto.
In 2000, Fluke produced a promotional CD namedThe Xmas Demos, which included early versions of many of the tracks intended for the albumPuppy. Speculation about a new album was furthered when, in 2003, the remaining members of Fluke released two singles forming the basis of this next album.Though the aptly titled "Slap It: The Return" signaled a break from the past, with the writing credits listed simply as "Bryant/Fugler" under the Appalooso label, "Pulse" exemplified a much darker style and was released on theOne Little Indianlabel. In 2003, Fluke released their fifth studio album and first without Tournier,Puppy, six years afterRisotto. The name of the album was inspired byJeff Koons' fifty foot sculpture of a puppy that stands outside theGuggenheimmuseum inBilbao.This album proved to be similar to the earlierRisottotracks in tempo and mood, but with the introduction of some new ideas, such as the inclusion of abluestrack, "Blue Sky", and a very dark techno orientated bonus track, "Pulse".
The album was not received well critically with most of the critics labelling the album as dated. Andy Gill ofThe Independentwrote:
The only single to be released fromPuppyafter the album's release was "Switch", which was released in CD and vinyl formats. The track was used on the soundtrack for theElectronic Artsvideo gameNeed For Speed Underground 2but achieved nowhere near the critical or popular acclaim of the singles fromRisotto, not even appearing in the UK top 40.
In late 2005, Bryant and Fugler teamed up withJan Burton, Wild Oscar, Robin Goodridge, Dilshani Weerasinghe, Marli Buck and producer Andy Gray to form2 Bit Piewith a limited release of "Nobody Never". This track retained the rough vocals and electronic feel that was by now characteristic of Fluke, but had a stronger emphasis on live playback and real instruments.In May 2006, there were club previews of two new 2 Bit Pie songs, "Little Things" and "Here I Come" (sample).On 4 September 2006, 2 Bit Pie released their first album,2Pie Island, in the UK to minimal critical attention. No further albums were released.
In 2009, Fluke briefly reunited for a live performance, including all three original members, with a show at The Tabernacle in London on 10 October 2009.
In 2024, Fluke returned from hiatus with the single "Insanely Beautiful", released on 29 April 2024.
Although Fluke produced music for the better part of two decades, they remained relatively unknown to a large scale audience and the band members themselves are even less recognizable. Fugler insisted in an interview withThe Independentthat the band's reclusivity was "less about selfish hedonism" than the revival of "a communal attitude that had long been forgotten."The main sphere in which the band had success is through their inclusion in advertisements, film and video game soundtracks. Among the more prominent of these appearances was the 2003 film,The Matrix Reloaded, using the Fluke track "Slap It" (also, "Another Kind of Blues") renamed toZionfor compatibility with the film.
Fluke's 1997 hit "Absurd" was used in the trailer for the 2000 remake ofGet Carter, in the strip club sequence of the 2005 filmSin Cityand the 'Whitewash Edit' is included on theLara Croft: Tomb Raidersoundtrack which tied in with a commercial deal forEricssonwho sponsored the film and then went on to use "Absurd" in its commercials.In addition, it was used in the video game seriesNFL QB Clubuntil its discontinuation in 2002. In the "Knight to King's Pawn" episode of the 2008 series ofKnight Rider, the song "Absurd" was used by KITT to hide a secret message. "Absurd" is also used as the main theme forSky Sports'Monday Night Footballprogram first from August 1997 to May 1998 and since August 2010 to the current day. Where possible Fluke's licensing agent, David Steel at V2 Music, tried to ensure that when their tracks are used in films they also appear on the soundtrack album:
This kind of exposure was welcomed by members of the band, as Fugler said in an interview withBillboard:
In 1997, Fluke's US sales totalled 14,000 which was modest compared with the 200,000 copies ofDig Your Own HolethatThe Chemical Brotherssold.In an interview withBillboardmagazine, Fugler said that he felt that predicted figures for the USelectronicaboom were overhyped by people who were out of touch with the music scene. "The expectations came from the people who [had] nothing to do with the music, it came from the business level, people not involved with it."This lack of commercial success has not dampened the spirits of the band however, Fugler going on to say, "It’s not about being on the cover of a magazine."
Fluke's live shows employed visual effects combining lasers and projected displays.Furthermore, Fluke's performances came in two varieties of show: performances as Fluke where the shows consist of entirely original Fluke material and shows under the alias "The Fluke DJs" where a combination of Fluke tracks are mixed with others in the style of a DJ set. Unable to attract major crowds, Fluke resorted to "festival-style" tours along with other acts to draw in a sizeable audience, as was seen with their participation in the "Electric Highway" tour in 1997 where they were joined byThe Crystal Methodand the "Pukkelpop" festival where they headlined withMetallicaamong others.
When Fluke was touring forRisottothey were joined on stage byRachel Stewartwho acted as a personification of the band's official mascot, a character from theWipeoutseries named Arial Tetsuo. Stewart continued as lead female vocalist and as a dancer for all of Fluke's live performances between 1997 and 1999.
While Bryant remained on keyboards and programming and with only Davenport being the constant touring member on guitars, Fugler and Stewart were able to motivate the crowd visually with vocals and dancing while Fluke's resident lighting technician, Andy Walton, provided a suitable technology-driven accompaniment to the music.In 2004, Stewart left Fluke indefinitely, instead focusing on a new project withEMFband member James Atkin, named Beauty School.
The number of Fluke's live shows decreased significantly after the release ofPuppyowing to their personal commitments to young families.In the few shows since, they have opted for the Fluke DJs set up, which uses "a battery of laptops and the odd deck" rather than focusing on their live band, an approach which Fugler subsequently referred to as "good fun, but ultimately flawed for the dancefloor."