Thou Art That is an ant-xtian Atheist band & everything I've ever recorded, written, performed, arranged, collaborated on as an artist.
TAT is not only my collected output as a musician, but also a band.
The band's name is anarchist, not religious, & was inspired by an ancient Hindu term, "Ye are as gods... thou art that".
It's primarily minimalist experimental grindcore material that crosses over elements of doom Metal & hybrid forms of crustcore & Extreme Metal. Beginning in 1989, the work is pioneering & has contributed heavily to the Oklahoma music scene and has had some penetrating influence in the region with regards to genre, stylistic content, performance & technique.
TAT'Zs genesis and roots are from the central Oklahoma, southern Kansas and Dallas, Texas region of the United States. The band was founded by Brad D. & has often featured Sophie B. Abby B. Raylene S. & Butch P. who comprise the current line-up & have often reconfigured under the early names of Serpent Assassin, Social Parasite, Destructive Criticism, Two Toke Choke, Subsanity, Lot 9, Dead People, Astronome & later QONOS & SITH.
Brad D. was founder of Social Parasite, Serpent Assassin, Two Toke Choke, Lot 9, Dead People, Qonos & Sith.
These were solo projects using various hired musicians for studio & live purposes.
Destructive Criticism was already a band & Brad D. was invited to join from 1989-1992.
Subsanity was also an already existing band but when he was asked to join, there were only 2 very demoralized founding members left. After consulting with the original drummer, he was advised to go ahead as new drummer & proceed with Subsanity. As a result, Subsanity was reassembled as a new band with new members & for half a decade, 1995-2000, Brad presided over that bands most prolific & acclaimed period of output, producing several studio albums, a wide number of splits & compilations & numerous live shows supporting the biggest acts in Metal & Punk- from Sepultura & D.R.I. to Fear, Nile & Obituary.
After he mutually parted with Subsanity, they were unable to fill his position with a suitable drummer, so the band dissolved. The only time they functioned without him was when the original drummer returned in 2014 for some performances.
For over 2 decades, the founders of Subsanity have done what they can to try to erase the existence of Brad D. from the band by removing his name from all songwriting, recording, performances & photos & have refused to pay royalties on the catalog of material he is featured on.
A hired musician for Social Parasite- shortly before his own death- attempted to plagiarize & outright steal Brad's songs by also removing his name from songwriting & performance credits, just as Subsanity had done.
Due to this unprofessional, unethical & criminal behavior, Brad D. elected to protect his own output as a musician under the name of Thou Art That- which encompasses 100% of his artistic output regardless of whatever other names that output was produced under.
Each member of the band has often drawn inspiration from the works of Anarchist writers to direct lyrical content as well as musical style & approach, thus the name fits for the melting pot of sound that is Thou Art That.
The beginning of the band's career saw them debut at the height of the speed-thrash metal era of the late 80s when those particular styles had entered the consciousness of music culture by fusing hardcore punk & Metal. Brad & miscellaneous band members each had cut their teeth on a wide variety of influences from classical instruction, classic rock & blues, big band & Crimson-styled jazz, to traditional folk musics of indigenous peoples & the experimentation of the times that had produced the landscape of a growing underground music scene expressed freely in the U.S. during this period.
With speed & thrash reaching its logical conclusion by the late 80s, TAT turned to its own inspirations to play something fresh while staying true to the heavier expression of true Metal. By experimenting with non-standard tunings, chord progression & song structure, they had morphed their music into something beyond where they began into several subset hybrid genres not seen anywhere- especially in the central United states & its southern regions where fundamentalist conservatism permeates most aspects of local culture.
The result was the beginning of power-violence, southern grindcore, psychedelic doom, stoner rock & other colloquial expressions of guitar & drum based minimalist Metal that have no other precedent.
Throughout the 90s the band crossed over audiences that were often at odds with each other & not seen at the same venues. Everyone from scene-starved punks, death Metalheads & other disaffected audiophiles attended their live performances & blended without the usual antipathy that occurs when disparate audiences gather. The overt hardcore nature of the guitar work satisfied punks, bluesy progressions fed the psychedelic stoners & doom-heads, the obscure violent nature of the drumming hypnotized & scared seasoned musicians accustomed to death & black metal, while the fun of the performance refused to alienate anyone. They are favored by their fans for encouraging them to bootleg live shows.
Often the very crowds that they drew together throughout the 90s were also confused by the band's vacillating nature that resisted labeling & easy categorizing. As the new millennium dawned, the sophistication of the audiences had grown & TAT found a more fertile, open-minded atmosphere in which to defy conventions & entertainment dogma.
With the hard work of continental & international touring, AT has earned a loyal subculture of its own, while it has also helped to define modern heavy music within & without its own locale by inspiring others to perceive self-expression on their own terms.
