The Band

It all started back in Boise Idaho when the only band to come out of our hometown was Built to Spill. It was a dismal time. While some of our contemporaries went out and got jeans, flannel and Fender Jaguar guitars we were more interested in Devo's flower pot hats and keytars.

Throughout the 1990's we became involved in local bands that played amalgamations of punk and industrial music. Along the way we seemed to gravitate more and more to the sexy allure of electronic instruments, learning how to properly molest and fondle their buttons. These projects led to several tours as well as a couple appearances at the Warped Tour on the local stage. We were also involved in remix projects, most notably an SMP track on Invisible Records.

By 2002 we both ended up in Seattle after seeing our Boise projects to their conclusion. We began experimenting more with electronic music and the initial stages of Empty Zen were born. We came up with a set of material that we refined through live performance to eventually become our first label release with Backwards Records in 2006.

The years 2006 - 2009 were all about experimentation. We wanted to try lots of different approaches to making music, from traditional songwriting to impromptu electronic jam sessions, and everything in between. The result was that we worked with several other musicians on "mini-projects" and ended up with over an hour of new music which we finally complied into our new release this year (2010), Empty Zen II.

Currently Empty Zen is retrenching once again for new musical exploration (i.e. we bought new stuff). Stayed tuned!

Empty Zen is:
Justin Guyer and Sam Knox

With invaluable help from:
Alicia Hale (vocals on Countdown)
Susan Reynolds (vocals on Drowning Pool)
Ben Thompson (manipulations on Guemes and Concrete)
Jeff Thompson (drums on In Winter)
Jacen Touchstone (technical and production assistance)

Discography
-Empty Zen II, self-released, 2010
-Empty Zen, debut release on Backwards Records, 2006
-Dark Places (sound design and music) for Braindamage Films, 2005