Biography

SPC ECO (pronounced "space echo") is a London-based shoegaze/indie electronic project helmed by former Curve guitarist Dean Garcia and his daughter Rose Berlin, along with contributions from numerous guest musicians, including producer Alan Moulder and former Curve members Debbie Smith and Steve Monti. The group's music features the type of gliding, effects-heavy guitar work one would typically associate with the dream pop genre, but with a significant emphasis on electronic textures and drum machines accompanying Berlin's sensuous vocals and often dark lyrical themes. SPC ECO have maintained creative control of their work, writing and recording all of their material at their own ELaB Studios in London and self-releasing the bulk of their discography on their Bandcamp page. SPC ECO's later recordings found them abandoning guitars and embracing their love for synth pop and trip-hop. Garcia and Berlin started SPC ECO in 2007, debuting in 2008 with a 7" single called "You're Alright" on the Club AC30 label. Their full-length debut, 3-D, was released in 2009 by Noiseplus Music, an American label associated with industrial/goth pop band Collide (who previously collaborated with Garcia, releasing a 2007 album as the Secret Meeting). Following this album, SPC ECO began releasing albums, EPs, singles, and remix collections on Garcia's ELaB Records/Eco Lab Recording, averaging three or four releases per year. The 2011 album You Tell Me featured selections from the group's first few EPs, as well as several new songs. Dark Notes appeared in 2012, followed by Sirens and Satellites in 2013. In 2014, the duo released an album of icy synth pop titled The Art of Pop under the name B O F C, which was originally conceived as a guitar-free side project; however, the album was soon re-released under the SPC ECO moniker in order to avoid confusion. American neo-shoegaze label Saint Marie Records signed the group in 2014, and gave both Sirens and Satellites and The Art of Pop their first physical releases. In 2015, SPC ECO compiled their work to date onto two generous digital compilations, SPC and Time, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. They also released a new full-length, Dark Matter, which dove headfirst into the darker side of trip-hop. Following its digital release in May of 2015, Saint Marie Records issued the album on CD and vinyl in November. The ever-productive duo released the digital album All We Have Is Now in March of 2016, followed in August by the Saint Marie-issued Anomalies. SPC ECO issued their tenth full-length, Calm, in 2017. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi