The San Francisco based band Switchblade Symphony was formed in 1989 by composer Susan Wallace and vocalist Tina Root.
These artists took dreamy, dark visual imagery, the poetry of alienation, and the timeless romance and grandeur of classical and
theatrical styles of music, and layered these elements over dynamic heavy beat industrial and electronica to create thier unique
sound. Their intense, theatrical live performances in San Francisco and self-released cassettes created a buzz in the underground
alternative scene. Propaganda's Eric Fischer wrote that their cassette EP, Fable, constructed a "fairytale-like world," full of
images of "haunted dollhouses and macabre, dancing marionettes."
Switchblade Symphony's first full-length album, Serpentine Gallery, debuted in 1995 on Cleopatra Records and attracted the attention of the underground music press. Alternative Press
wrote of Serpentine Gallery in their second review of the album, "All signs point to Switchblade Symphony as the Next Great
Goth Thing." Prime's Robert DeSalvo wrote, "Not one song on Serpentine Gallery is dismissable.... This eerie collection
is....defiant, cold, powerful, and self-assertive." In 1996, the band returned with a new lineup, a powerful new single, and a tour
with label mates Christian Death and Big Electric Cat. 1996 also saw them performing with label mates Spahn Ranch at F Fest
(Foundation Forum) as well as preparing their fans only release, Scrapbook, not available in stores. They then contributed a
song to the Siouxsie and the Banshees Tribute compilation and Tina contributed vocals to the new Das Ich record.
In their hometown of San Francisco, the band has consistently drawn crowds in the thousands, has dominated college radio, and can
often be heard on the commercial/alternative station, Live 105. The San Francisco Guardian, a high profile weekly, has featured
the band. Through consistent national tours as an opener for Christian Death and as a headliner, Switchblade Symphony have
drawn immense crowds in markets across the country.
1997 was a great year for the band, where at the request of Peter Steele, they opened for Type O Negative at a number of engagements. The highly anticipated follow-up release to Serpentine
Gallery, Bread and Jam for Frances, was released on September 16, 1997. The band has just finished up a high profile tour
headlining venues all across America as well as sharing the spotlight with gothic legends The Sisters of Mercy, selling out the
4000 capacity Dark Harvest III festival in Philadelphia. In the words of Alternative Press, "Yes, Eugene, their time has come."
