Bowery Electric

Having met whilst working at Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine, Lawrence Chandler and Martha Schwendener formed Bowery Electric in New York’s East Village in late 1993. The duo quickly carved out a distinct space in the underground, fusing shoegaze with dub, hip-hop and drum and bass rhythms. Across landmark releases like their self-titled debut (1995) and the seminal Beat (1996), Bowery Electric pioneered a hybrid sound—layering walls of distorted, hypnotic guitars and deep sub bass with electronic / IDM, hip-hop and drum and bass beats. While My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive historically set the standard for shoegaze, Bowery Electric has increasingly eclipsed them as the genre’s most relevant forebears for a new generation. Their innovative fusion of ambient rock textures with electronic beatmaking and sub bass provided the master blueprint for the modern "electronic-gaze" movement. Today, contemporary artists—from DIIV to Wisp—frequently cite Bowery Electric as a defining, foundational influence.