the higher the fewer is a band with a tumultuous past. the project first began as a side project of illium's, to explore a more live instrument based sound than the 90% electronic sound of seals of similar size, his other project.

ironically, the band has moved away from the live sound it was originally conceived to have. merging to two ideas, we now use electronic drums, bass, and keys, with live guitar and vocals.

in the beginning, it was a few songs on a demo tape. illium played all the instruments, and frankly, it sucked. there was a darkness and a strong kinetic energy to the music, but it was kind of flat -- too singular of a voice. illium decided to bring in the creative talents of lucidenial for lyric writing and general chummery. this didn't last long, and eventually the tracks either were forgotten or were absorbed into the s.o.s.s. track list.

it seemed this would be the end of a largely boring and very short story, but alas, twas not so. the name and the imagery of the music stuck in illium's brain. he developed graphics, studied the history of the phrase, and just generally grooved on the idea. many moons later, illium ran into an old friend and former band member, garrette hall. together they formed the seminal st. louis darkwave band shard. originally only the two members, the sound was very dark, dancey and guitar/synth driven.

eventually it was decided that they needed a bit more dynamics to the sound, so fellow scenester and long time aquaintence, pariah was added as a main vocalist. shortly thereafter, patrick was added in as bassist. this arrangement lasted for a while with some success, until financial and emotional problems drove garrette to leave the band.

illium and pariah continued to work together, however. backed by synthesized drums, bass, and other effects, they moved into a new direction. eventually bassist, jay, was added in. shortly thereafter lucidenial rejoined the band as the drummer. at this point they decided to take on the name 'the higher the fewer' once more. illium's long time friend and frequent band member in his various side projects, phaedrus, joined the band playing fiddle and mandolin.

the combined influence of each member's diverse musical styles gave the band a rich and dynamic feel that defied genre boundries. the music moved freely from light jazzy sounds to thick heavy industrial. for good measure, throw in some funk and some punk and a healthy dose of 'the cure' and 'the smiths'.

unfortunately the same diverse interests that made the band's sound so unique were destined to tear it apart. intellectual conflicts over the music and power struggles over the composition of the songs, evetually left the band divided. jay and lucidenial split off and started thier own punk band. (for more information about this, send email to xlucidenialx@aol.com). illium, pariah, and phaedrus continued on with the project. illium then met laughing man, while working in a tech support position.

the band reverted back to performing with electronic drum, bass, and synth tracks, with laughing man on percussion and miscellanous other instruments.

and then, in a flash of mystic light and with a choir of angels for background theme music, arthur frentzel emerged from the depths of rural missouri. fully grown and glowing with a kit of drums (but no brushes) he was born playing. the band decided to drop the synth tracks for a while and focus on a live sound. also at this time, one forest peltan, was involved in a freakish chiropractic accident which turned his natural straight hair incredibly curly and transmografied his guitar playing ability into bass playing ability. unfortunately, forest didn't last long as a bassist. the research and development department at the chiropractic school where the accident occured decided he was too unstable to be allowed out in public and required more study and quarantined him within the school.

suffering the loss of thier new found bassist, the band embarked upon a quest to find the lost bassist patrick brassil. guided by eagles, the band hiked through the wilderness surrounding the distant frentzel homestead. they came upon a cave hidden beneath a large old tree. deep within the cave there was a gnome. the gnome giggled insanely and said 'ahh.. i see you've finally come. many waiting years have i been here anxious for this day. come here to the corner.. the computer is here.' the gnome stopped and looked at us expectantly. we glanced around in confusion and shrugged. the gnome then said 'come on now.. my computer is all ready for DSL. lets get to it!' then it dawned upon illium. this gnome mistook us for the mythical DSL installation knight who according to lore would provide high speed internet access cheaply. this was such a preposterous myth that it made illium chuckle despite himself and said 'i'm sorry, sir gnome, we're not here to install your DSL service. we're looking for patrick brassil, our bassist and friend, who has become estranged from us'.. the gnome's bright eyes darkened and his shoulders fell. 'known it was too good to be true should have i... this is not the cave in which the body of patrick the irishman lies. a skip, two hops and a twirl, a wink from a pretty girl, look to the left, kneel to the west and what you seek you will be there.' we thanked the gnome and followed its instruction and soon found another cave. in it, patrick lay flat on his back on a slab of granite, clutching his bass to his chest. his eyes were glazed over and an inscription was carved into the rock at his feet. it took a while in the dim light to figure out what it meant, but eventually illium recognized it for what it was -- guitar tablature!! slowly, illium picked out the song. it was a strange song in 6/8 time, it's melody dark and lilting. it built into a frenzy of fast chord changes and dramatic stops. then just as the end of the song was reached, patrick stirred and his fingers moved over the fretboard of his bass. his eyes glowed and he began to sit up. illium faltered and start to lose the rythym of the song. patrick began to gasp and fall back. then deperatly, arthur banged out the rythym with two sticks he found on the ground and rose's voice echoed through out the cave with a haunting and chilling tone. patrick rose and the bass jammed.

unfortunatly, this could not last. patrick's feeble life force gave out quickly and he sank to the earth with a meaty thud. in his last moments, his eyes twinkled as only irish eyes can, and he half groaned, half whispered, 'use the force, illium... use the force."

sorrowful and confused, illium receded into an oblivion of self-revision and turned to his computer for comfort. the raging grief within him spewed forth in the form of a beam of purest darkness. pariah, in her devotion to him, stayed by his side even through the most terrible and incredible horrors of his dementia. this was too much for arthur however. he feared his pure soul would become corrupt in the face of such a powerful force of evil and destruction. stumbling away in a stupor of conflicting emotions, arthur submerged himself into the obscurity and immediacy of modern rave culture, never to be seen again.

as all thing do, this eventually passed and illium channeled all his pain, anguish, and passion into the music. new songs sprug forth from his fingertips descibing the entire scope of human emotion. from the light, bouncy and lilting feeling of songs such as 'rage' to the powerful, bludgeoning sounds of 'ghost'. realizing there was no human in the world capable of enough temerity and tolerance to work with him on a regular basis (other than pariah, of course), he programmed the computer to serve as a backing band.

currently we are still auditioning for new members on any kind of instrument (keys, cello, violin, lead guitar, manolin, french horn, anything..) so please contact us at illium@unsuave.com if you want to set up a time to audition.