Nine Tons of Blood by Healamonster

One afternoon, after little league practice, Tomlinson heard Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" on the car radio. From that moment, his affection for computer music began. He played snare drum in his elementary school band, and would get frequent visions of how to electrify the snare to get that breakdance sound. In his New Jersey high school, he had access to an Ensoniq electronic keyboard sampler and a Roland drum machine, where he taught himself how to record samples and sequence sounds. As a teenager, he was most inspired by the progressive sound art of 808 State, Primal Scream and Aphex Twin. Healamonster moved to San Francisco in 1994 where he bought his first Kurzweill K2000 sampling keyboard and played in several underground bands (Pazzo, Humunculous, and Avocado). In 1998, he released his first solo experimental electronic album, "Underwater Hunter" (out of print). Gavin Magazine said of the release, "Fans of dark, sparse beats take note....this features eerie noises that click and gurgle...essential for tripped out headphone adventures... college stations will eat it up." "Underwater Hunter" went on to sell over 500 copies from indie-retail giant, Amoeba Music in San Francisco. In 2000, Healamonster moved to New York and began writing with musician/vocalist, Tarsier. Healamonster & Tarsier recorded and released their debut EP, "00:00:01" in 2003 through their own imprint, 17 Ft Jellyfish. The duo actively played shows in Manhattan and Brooklyn from underground parties to industry festivals (CMJ New Artist Series). While opening for the Sneaker Pimps at Brooklyn venue, Southpaw, the duo were approached by tv/film composer, Mitch Osias who offered to help them record and co-produce some new songs at his studio. Six tracks from those sessions, were released on the duo's EP, "The heart of a blue whale is the size of a small car" which fused more acoustic instrumentation (guitar, cello, xylophone) with their electronic-ambient pop sound. The EP enjoyed a year long residency on Amoeba Music's Top Electronic Sellers List during 2006 . The song, "Cotton Candy (Moonbunny Remix)" garnered critical acclaim,grabbing the attention of KCRW DJs Nic Harcourt of Morning Becomes Eclectic and Jason Bentley. Bentley frequently spun the track on his Los Angeles radio shows, Metropolis (KCRW) and Afterhours (KROQ).

While Tarsier began to write for a side project ("Brookland/Oaklyn") with Alias of Oakland's collectively-owned label, Anticon, Healamonster went on to produce tracks for a future solo album, and also remixed the first Alias & Tarsier single, "Dr. C" (anticon, 2006). He toured the United States with the Alias & Tarsier band, moved to Los Angeles and released his second solo full-length album, "Nine Tons of Blood" (17ftjellyfish, 2007). The album title references the immense quantity of blood that is pumped through the heart of a blue whale. The LP best showcases Tomlinson's adventures in spontaneous songcraft, Mid to downtempo breakbeats guide deep-seated synths, They immerse the listener into an ever changing, found-sound atmosphere of horse races, intelligent baby chatter, ghost stories, and cats rubbing up against condenser microphones. Tracks with vocal elements include singing by both Healamonster & Tarsier, and freestyling by General Judd.

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