combinator
re//combinator (2022)
"Masterly produced with an intensely hi-fi sound, re//combinator explodes through your headphones illuminating every panned note, industrial beat, ethereal sweep, and vocoder-coated vocal on an album that takes you on an emotive ride." -Bass Magazine
"Funk, progressive, industrial, ambient, drum & bass, metal...Seinfeld?…fans can now see that the ear hurricane that is re//combinator didn’t just come from a jam session between a skilled bassist and electronic producer on ketamine, though one might wonder..." -Your EDM
"This artist is visionary and innovative. His industrial and futuristic compositional style not only demonstrates a great musical and technical knowledge but at the same time a propensity to experiment out of the ordinary." -Edgar Allen Poets
"...like RUSH from the future got moody and are taking it out on their label." -TJPL News
“By finding real connections between diverse soundscapes and subgenres, his signature sound pushes the limits of futuristic, heavy, experimental music.” -Tinnitist
“Highlights on the EP include “Things That Should Be” and “Through The Fog,” opening on a Tool-like intro rolling into progressive rock merged with jazz infusions, conjuring up suggestions of Pink Floyd covering “Schism.”” -Tattoo.com
Read more press coverage on “re//combinator” here
Unabashedly adventurous and pre-soaked in prog // simultaneously self confident and vulnerable // Combinator proudly offers re//combinator on 6/17/22; the follow up EP to 2020’s critically acclaimed Eargoggle Fodder. Featuring four new excitingly eclectic originals, a previously unreleased and insightfully indicative back catalog mix, and two contrasting and engaging recent release remixes (courtesy of rock royal Jesse Holt of ‘90s Seattle scene favorites, Second Coming), re//combinator cements this artist’s evolution and reaffirms the aurally animated work Sean Fairchild began on his previous solo release. Pre-save now and learn more: Linktr.ee/combinator
Healthy helpings of NIN-like industrial textures folded in with frenetic Squarepusher-esque beat fetishism, a Heap of vocoder-drenched emotivity, a couple pinches of progressive metal, and two fingers of rhythmically intricate funk all combine to produce a diverse but ultimately accessible, future-focused roux for meaty lyrical themes ranging from posthumanism to lighthearted cartoon commentary. Combinator revels in a backdrop of bittersweet, earworm-friendly and heartstring-tugging harmony, never losing focus of the song or listener - yet manages moments of blinding instrumental virtuosity, pushing the electric bass envelope deeper and further into the acoustic and electronic realms.
Born abroad and raised in highly disparate locales; Malaysia, France, China, Japan, and around the US; Emmy-awarded and multi-endorsed Sean Fairchild developed an ear for the universally shared qualities of music that would propel him to charge through arbitrary ethnomusicological boundaries threatening to stand in the way of creativity. Settling in Seattle just in time for the city’s alternative heyday, the future allsound combiner adopted the freeness of spirit and alt-rock ethos that would serve as the bedrock for his musical musings and explorations.
Re//combinator is an intriguing and inviting window on fantastic things to come, while undeniably a product of the unique material it grew from. Join us on this journey, and you just may recapture some euphoric inspiration of your own and break free from ordinary musical monotony!
Eargoggle Fodder (2020)
"The swoonsome soul of O Discordia is emoted over a chaotic melange of bleepy electronica, punky noise and Fairchild's four [six] stringed gymnastics." -Prog Magazine
"Eargoggle Fodder stands out as Fairchild's most accomplished work yet, and it will surely turn heads in the bass world and beyond" -Bass Magazine
"An amusement park of musical flavors… synth-funk, melodic progressive metal, breakbeat electronica, indie rock, and dreamy soundscapes... A monumental piece of originality"-V13
“Sean Fairchild didn’t decide to play bass – the bass decided on him.” -No Treble
On Eargoggle Fodder, Combinator (Seattle’s Sean Fairchild) melds virtuosic yet melodic proggy elements, electro-funk, soulful vocals, and glitchy breakbeat into a dizzying, post-futurist dreamscape. It is laced with a pervasive sense of bitter sweetness, reflecting the year of its creation – moving through the realms of uncertainty and longing, finally arriving at a sense of self-assured redemption.
A 6-string bass wielding singer/songwriter, Sean is the creative center around which the Combinator collective universe orbits. Born in Malaysia, growing up abroad, and having a bass thrust into his young hands in Tokyo, he developed a keen ear for analog and digitally-created music from around the world. Sean is an Emmy Awarded artist, and is endorsed by MTD Basses, Gallien-Krueger, GHS Strings, Bartolini Pickups & others.
Combinator began as a trio with guitarist Greg Pascale and drummer Isaac Chirino, based around the of the core concepts of using the bass guitar as a band-leading instrument and the combining of seemingly disparate musical styles and elements. They released an early EP titled Vice & Passion, and a widely distributed full length titled allsound.
“I was always the primary songwriter, lyricist & vocalist” explains Fairchild. “As life changed for Greg and Isaac, they eventually drifted out of full time playing. Combinator became more and more a solo project for me and a rotating collective of co-conspirator musicians.”
Fairchild wrote, recorded, mixed, and mastered Eargoggle Fodder from his studio, Fairchild Sound. Acoustic drums for “Juggernaut” were recorded at ARogue Story Studios, West Seattle. Featured on the record are Phillip ‘Godcloud’ Coleman, Morgan Wick (A Sense Of Gravity), Joshua Kossak (Miller Campbell), Nick Burbey (Spandex Nation, Las Vegas' Fremont Street Experience), Jason Everett aka Mister E (bandleader of Deep Energy Orchestra, feat. Trey Gunn of King Crimson), Isaac Chirino, John Paynich, and Gianfranco Foddai.
Lyrically, Eargoggle Fodder is laced with a pervasive sense of bitter sweetness, reflecting the year of its creation. The record moves through the realms of uncertainty and longing, finally arriving at a sense of self-assured redemption. Give yourself over to the record, and you might just find your own reality transformed.
Sean Fairchild is an Emmy Award winner, for music produced and performed for a Women in Film short film. He is endorsed by MTD Basses, Gallien-Krueger, GHS Strings, Access Bags and Cases, Tsunami Cables, Bartolini Pickups, and Sonic Nuance Electronics.
Press
Bass Magazine
Bass Magazine
Metal Centre
Tattoo.com
Bass Musician Magazine
Bass Magazine
Bass Musician Magazine
Raul from Bass Musician Magazine interviews Combinator about Eargoggle Fodder, gear & more
Bass Magazine
Bass Magazine
Mack-n-Cheeze Music Podcast
Episode 13: Sean Fairchild of Combinator and Eargoggle Fodder
Previous Work
Juggernaut (single, 2020)
Streaming everywhere & available at combinator.bandcamp.com
allsound (full length, 2016)
Streaming everywhere & available at combinator.bandcamp.com
Can’t Pretend to Know (single, 2020)
Available only at
combinator.bandcamp.com
Vice & Passion (EP, 2014)
Streaming everywhere & available at combinator.bandcamp.com