One man bands that also perform that way

[louderthangod]

I know there are a million and one, one man band studio projects but aside from the singer-songwriter guys...what are some one man bands that perform with just that one guy on stage? I know Steve von Till does the Harvestman that way, and Planning for Burial but I'm looking for others since I've got an ambient/doom/drone solo project I've been working on and I'd like to observe non-dj, non-folk guys to see what they're doing and how.

[foomanfat]

Mylets

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3jT8j88vso[/youtube]

[louderthangod]

I've always wandered what the deal was with that kid was. He seems like an odd fit on that label and it seems like he's in half of their Instagram pics.

I can't believe I forgot one of my favorites...The Thrones.

[foomanfat]

Tera Melos and Adebisi Shank are on the same label. I think he fits just fine.

[louderthangod]

I had never heard of those bands till now...not remotely my thing but I can see the connection to that first one.

Another solo live performers?

[trace]

Glad this thread popped up! I've been looking for the same thing lately. They are few and far between it seems though!

VVerevvolf Grehv: Solo project from the guitarist from The Faint, live guitar/vox over computer drums and synths. AFAIK he only toured this project to open for a Skinny Puppy tour a few years back, I saw two nights of it and enjoyed his sets a lot but it didn't seem well received by the industrial crowd, i heard lots of complaints about him using "backing tracks" (which of course skinny puppy heavily uses computer playback/sequencing too )
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDEv97OKgRg[/youtube]

Squarepusher: Definitely more on the electronic/dj/laptop show side, but he does play live bass guitar which spices it up a little bit.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLcxve603-4[/youtube]

Gull: One man band with live guitar/drums/vox, very cool, kinda like a chilled out Lightning Bolt.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzUMKaHcZwM[/youtube]

Thrones: already mentioned but worth mentioning again, live bass/vox over drum machine/synths/samplers. Joe Preston from the Melvins, etc!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaKaVj9-gzQ[/youtube]

Sebastian Arnold/"Mad Scientist Drummer": live drums/vox with a mix of sequenced and live triggered synth. I actually found this video looking for demos of the synth (nord modular) but I really like his setup/playing style even if the music is a little too dancey for me
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP5YF7coBXI[/youtube]

Black Pus: Side project from the drummer of Lightning Bolt. Live drums/vox with lots of pedals and looping. Very noisy
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxSi4a0Ygk8[/youtube]

Mylets: Also already mentioned but worth mentioning again. Live guitar/vox/drum pads with lots of looping. His vocals kinda turn me off but otherwise he is a mad looping/pedal wizard.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM4iRzkZQLY[/youtube]

Thats all I can think of for now

[Eivind August]

Keiji Haino does some solo shows with guitar noise. Saw him in Tokyo in January, it was great!

[Greenfuz]

ty segall sometimes does a one man band thing

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47KCiltIZ0o[/youtube]

[futuresailors]

Not at all what you're looking for stylistically, but when I saw Fred Thomas solo, he had a second mic running through a bunch of verb and delay set up behind him, so it barely picked up his regular vocals, and he could turn around for the full effect.

[pelliott]

O Paon, opened for Earth a few years ago, really cool music

http://opaon.bandcamp.com/album/courses

[pelliott]

And Emma Ruth Rundle

http://emmaruthrundle.bandcamp.com/

[retinal orbita]

Noveller

Mark McGuire

thisquietarmy

[louderthangod]

thisquietarmy...good call. Not sure how I forgot him. Another one that I just realized that I forgot was Jessica 93

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0pVxyqlT18[/youtube]

[Achtane]

Author & Punisher is pretty fucking awesome.
Kishi Bashi also works some looping magic live.

[louderthangod]

Personally I prefer those things without drums. When I hear a record or see a live performance of a one-man-band and they have looped drums it seems odd like you might as well get a drummer and a bass player and everything else you're trying to cover by yourself. I get that having sole control can be good as a writer but I'd really like to find more people that can make the solo aspect an asset that is unique and adds something to the experience other than "wow, watching this guy mange all of these spinning plates is exciting because it's always on the edge of disaster". I think Sunn O))) is often more powerful, unique and makes more of an artistic statement when they do the live shows as just the duo or at least without an drums. I've seem then as a duo many times and with several guests including a full band with the Boris drummer and they're all good and different forms but the duo stuff really stands out as the bolder, more uniquely defined as their own thing kind of statement...not that it's better or that they should be content doing one thing their whole career. I'm really just trying to find what works for me. Right now I'm recording material that's just guitar (though it's a double-neck), synth and vocals in kind of a Sunn-Eno-Post Rock meets Michael Gira's solo work done by someone far less talented than those guys. I'm trying to figure out how to make this interesting for me and the audience as a live performance both musically and as an experience...whatever that means.