Lightning Bolt

Lightning Bolt is an experimental noise rock duo from Providence, Rhode Island. Formed in 1995, Lightning Bolt's initial line-up featured Hisham Bharoocha of Black Dice (vocals), Brian Chippendale

Lightning Bolt is an experimental noise rock duo from Providence, Rhode Island. Formed in 1995, Lightning Bolt's initial line-up featured Hisham Bharoocha of Black Dice (vocals), Brian Chippendale (drums) and Brian Gibson (bass guitar), before Bharoocha left, leaving Chippendale to take over singing duties. They formed at Fort Thunder, a disused warehouse space in the Olneyville district of Providence that housed a number of different artists and musicians, including Brian Ralph. Aside from the Talking Heads, Lightning Bolt is perhaps the most well known of the bands connected to Providence's RISD musical scene.

The band's music takes cues from canonical Japanese noise rock bands like Boredoms and Ruins although Sun Ra is a well-acknowledged influence. The band's heavily distorted sound consists of Brian Chippendale's unusual approach of eschewing a microphone stand and instead holding the microphone in his mouth, running the signal through an effects processor to further alter the sound, with Brian Gibson's oddly strung bass guitar (tuned to cello standard tuning (fifths) with a banjo string for the high A) going through several pedals, including two overdrive pedals, an octaver and a bass whammy pedal (pitch shifter). They have also been heard using a percussion synthisiser, triggered by the bass drum.