_: About Sound Tribe Sector 9

STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9) is an instrumental band who are known for their live performances. The band’s genre-blending sound is based heavily on instrumental rock and electronic music crossed with elements of funk, jazz, psychedelia, and hip hop. The band mixes standard live rock instrumentation with electronics, favoring group rhythm over individual solos.[1]

STS9 has released five studio albums, one remixed album, and one live DVD (Live As Time Changes) on their own label 1320 Records. As an independent artist, they have succeeded by using their live performance to conduct multiple concert tours and appear at music festivals. They have achieved significant niche popularity in a few areas of the country through frequent appearances, most notably in greater San Francisco Bay Area including Santa Cruz, California; the greater Denver, Colorado area including Boulder, Colorado; and the greater Atlanta, Georgia area including Athens, Georgia.

STS9 was formed in Atlanta, Georgia in the late '90s, but relocated to Northern California in late 2000. For a short period of time, the band was a 4 piece until Lerner joined in early 1999.
In early 2005, the band released Artifact.[2] In Fall 2006, the band released their first DVD on their label, a concert performance recorded live at the Tabernacle in Atlanta. STS9 also maintain their own independent digital download web site where they have released hundreds of live soundboard recordings, as well as the band's studio releases.[3]

The band's name has also evolved over time. Since the release of Artifact in early 2005, the band has promoted themselves full-time under their named initials STS9. From 2000 to 2004, the band used the names Sound Tribe Sector 9 and Sound Tribe Sector Nine; aficionados usually refer to them by "Sound Tribe" or simply by their initials. These variations can be seen on two official album releases, live concert posters, and other promotional material. The band's original name from their first two albums was simply Sector 9.

STS9 is also known for their affiliation with the Mayan Calendar and The Law of Time. The Natural Time Calendar is a growing global movement to change the world standard away from the Gregorian Calendar. The Law of Time is a formula developed by Jose Arguelles that defines the mathematical ratio of 13:20. From 1998 through 2001, STS9 performed special live shows on the Day Out Of Time, the name of the last day of each year of the Natural Time Calendar.

STS9's music resists easy classification. One helpful analogy is to the title track of the Miles Davis album Nefertiti, where the rhythm section essentially replaces the melodic instruments as the driving improvisational force. In the same way STS9's compositions and improvisations (especially from the early part of their career) are driven by their drummer and percussionist, often against a static melody repeated by the guitarist/keyboardist. This is keeping with the tradition of much drum and bass music, which often features complicated drum patterns under relatively simple melodies and harmonies. Despite the harmonic simplicity of much of their work they are capable of a high level of rhythmic sophistication.

During the past 2 or 3 years STS9's compositions have moved farther and farther from the drum and bass aesthetic to embrace elements of genres as diverse as electro, hip hop, Rock, and IDM. One example of their newer direction is "Somesing" (from 2005's Artifact[1]), a 7 minute long composition with the textural changes of a classical piece. More and more of their compositions now include digital elements and vocal samples, often from the singer Audio Angel.[2] Still, the vocals are usually limited to a few lines within one section of a song. The fact that much of STS9's music is instrumental has been cited by Jeffree Lerner as allowing each listener their own "adventure" or interpretation of the song.

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