Freezepop

This article is about the band. For the food, see Freezie.

Freezepop
250x200px Freezepop performing at the Cambridge River Festival on June 18, 2005
Background information
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genres	Synthpop, bitpop, electronic rock, electroclash
Years active	1999–present
Labels	The Archenemy Record Company, Elefant, Cordless, Rykodisc
Associated acts	Symbion Project, Lifestyle, Karacter
Website	www.freezepop.net
Members	Liz Enthusiasm The Other Sean T. Drinkwater Robert John "Bananas" Foster Christmas Disco-Marie Sagan
Past members	The Duke of Pannekoeken/The Duke Of Pancakes/The Duke Of Candied Apples/Kasson Crooker

Freezepop is an American electronic music band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 by Liz Enthusiasm, Sean T. Drinkwater, and The Duke of Pannekoeken, an alias for composer Kasson Crooker. As of December 2009, the current lineup includes Enthusiasm, Drinkwater, Robert John "Bananas" Foster and Christmas Disco-Marie Sagan. The band is named after the frozen snack, and the members describe their music as "sweet and cold and fruity and plastic-y".

Several of the band's songs have appeared in video games, including the Harmonix titles Frequency, Amplitude, Karaoke Revolution, Phase, the Guitar Hero series, and the Rock Band series. Their music has also been included in Downhill Domination and Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3. Freezepop songs continue to appear in certain Harmonix titles. Former member Kasson Crooker currently works as a senior producer at Harmonix.

The group is popular with college students in Boston and has become part of the US synthpop scene.

Background

Originally, their music was entirely composed on a small portable MIDI sequencer, a Yamaha QY70, which has often been mistaken for a Game Boy. On more recent albums, they have expanded their toolkit due to a lack of variety in the sounds the QY70 provided, but it still remains an important part of the composing process. The release of Future Future Future Perfect only features the QY70 in a single song, that being "Pop Music Is Not a Crime".

In addition to Freezepop, Kasson, who had previously been in fellow Boston band Splashdown, still records as a solo artist Symbion Project. Drinkwater is also a member of the bands Lifestyle and Karacter, and worked with the band Polystar on their debut album. Enthusiasm appears on the song "Boom Box Chic" by Los Angeles-based LeMans Electro.

In addition to dozens of remixes released over the years, Freezepop released a remix of their song "Shark Attack" done by chiptune band 8 Bit Weapon in October 2007. The remix was done with a Nintendo Entertainment System and a Commodore 64 computer. Robotkid also used a similar approach in his Lameboy mix of "Science Genius Girl" that featured the Game Boy audio software Little Sound DJ.

A recurring theme in Freezepop's music is references to science, technology, and mathematics. As examples, the "hi-phive" mix of "Science Genius Girl" features Enthusiasm reciting the first thirty digits of Phi. Additionally, the "Robotron 2002" "All Your Base Are Belong to Us" remix by DJ Nebula pays homage to the Internet meme All your base are belong to us.

Freezepop was arrested in Canada in November 2006 for trying to enter the country under false pretenses. Harmonix pokes fun at them for this in the loading screens for their songs, in Rock Band and Rock Band 2.

On June 4, 2009, it was announced on Freezepop's official website that founding member the Duke of Pannekoeken (originally the Duke of Candied Apples, as well as the Duke of Belgian Waffles, all three pseudonyms of Crooker) would be leaving the band. Crooker stated, "My responsibilities at Harmonix making games continue to increase which takes away from my time and energy to compose and go out on the road to play shows." He also added that he had plans to focus on his side endeavor Symbion Project while also doing Freezepop remixes in the future. His last show as a member of the band was at the Penny Arcade Expo 2009 in Seattle on September 5.

On November 25, 2009, the band announced the addition of two new members: Robert John "Bananas" Foster and Christmas Disco Marie Sagan.

Soundtrack appearances

Along with bands such as The Aquabats, Bad Credit, and Slowdraw the Hungry Eskimo, their music is featured in the comedy series Mega64, which also produced the music video for Freezepop's song "Brainpower".

Freezepop's song "Swimming Pool" was featured in the episode "Liquid Heat" in the fifth season of The L Word, originally aired March 2, 2008. In 2010, their song "Less Talk, More Rokk" was featured in The Fourth Panel, a web TV series from the webcomic Penny Arcade.

Critical reception

Freezepop won Best New Band at the 2002 American Synthpop Awards and were semifinalists on WBCN's Rumble competition. In early 2006, Freezepop's "Stakeout" won in the Dance/Electronica – Song category at The 5th Annual Independent Music Awards.

Discography

Studio albums

• Freezepop Forever (2000)
• Fancy Ultra•Fresh (2004)
• Future Future Future Perfect (2007)
• Imaginary Friends (2010)

EPs and remix albums

• The Orange EP (2000, EP, limited edition CD-R)
• The Purple EP (2000, EP, limited edition CD-R)
• Fashion Impression Function (2001, EP)
• Hi-Five My Remix (2003, remix)
• Mini Ultra•Fresh (2004, remix, promo only)
• Maxi Ultra•Fresh (2005, remix, out-of-print)
• Form Activity Motion (2008 online, 2009 hard copy, remix)
• The Sexy Sounds Of Freezepop (2008 Hard Copy EP)
• Doppelgänger EP (2012 online EP)
• The Covers EP (2015 online EP)
• Phantoms (2015 online EP)

Singles

• "Bike Thief" (2003, 12")
• "Dancy Ultra•Fresh" (2005, 12")
• "The Rokk Suite" (2006, CD single)

Remixes by Freezepop

• "Seven Boom Medley" (Multi-cover), "Boom Boom" by Paul Lekakis and "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!" by The Vengaboys, 2001

Remixes of Freezepop

• "Duct Tape My Heart" (Remix), Hyperbubble, 2005
• "Thought Balloon" (Ming & Ping Rethink), Ming and Ping, 2008

Compilations

• Ultra•Spectacular Bonanza (2014 USB Drive)

External links

• Official website
• Freezepop discography at MusicBrainz