Boymerang

Boymerang is the drum'n'bass aegis of London-based producer Graham Sutton, better known as one-half of celebrated early-'90s industrial pop group Bark Psychosis. Covering similar territory as dark ambient/electronic dance groups such as Coil and Front 242, Bark Psychosis released only one album and a pair of singles for Virgin before splitting in 1994, due to intense internal conflict. Sutton as Bark Psychosis played at the electronic Music Festival in Russia, alongside Seefeel, Autechre, Ultramarine and Aphex Twin, a lineup that reflected what for Sutton had by then become his primary musical interest; experimental dance music. He and Daniel Gish then performed an electronic set under the Bark Psychosis name at the UK's Phoenix Festival. Sutton immersed himself in the drum'n'bass scene, learning the ropes from artists such as Ed Rush, Trace, Fabio, Luke Vibert, Goldie, and Doc Scott before releasing a self-titled EP on 4AD defect Tony Morley's experimental Leaf label. Sutton created two of the three songs ("The Don" and "Rules") with Gish; the 12" also included Sutton's first solo piece as Boymerang, "(Theme From) Boymerang." A mixture of tight jungle programming and frantic, armchair-oriented experimentation, the single did loads for Sutton's rep (to say nothing of Leaf's). Following an additional EP for Leaf and a remix of 2Player's "Extreme Possibilities" for Ninja Tune (next to Vibert in his Wagon Christ guise), Sutton contributed material to a pair of compilations on Jon Tye's Lo Recordings and inked a non-exlusive contract with EMI. Remixes for Collapsed Lung and Sufi followed, as well as an EP for Grooverider's Prototype label and a track on the Volume compilation, Breakbeat Science. His debut full-length Balance of the Force appeared on Regal/EMI in May 1997.