The Glaswegian trio, Bis, started out in the bedroom of Steven and John Clark, in Giffnock, Scotland. Their mom was a music teacher and encouraged them in their music, and bought them their first albums & instruments. At age 10, Steven and John starting writing their first songs. In 1994, at an average age of about 15, they were joined by a friend from school, Amanda MacKinnon, who became the third member of Bis (and Steven's girlfriend). The lineup was Manda on keyboards, Steven and John on guitar, lead vox provided by Steve and Manda, and of course the fourth member of the band was - the drum machine. Some of their first gigs were at Glasgow clubs like The 13th Note, and Nice-N-Sleazy. There they were discovered by a guy named Jesus from the Spanish record label, Acuarella, who signed them for their first 5-track EP, "Transmissions from the Teen-C-Tip". Their first release in the UK was the "Disco Nation" EP in 1995 on Glasgow's Chemikal Underground label. This earned Bis a number 9 spot on NME's end of year chart, and a Peel session in October.
With the release of their next EP, "The Secret Vampire Soundtrack", they got their big break: They became the first unsigned band to perform on Top Of The Pops, and "The Secret Vampire Soundtrack" sold over 30,000 copies, making them the most famous teenagers in the UK.
In 1996, Bis toured with Garbage, Bikini Kill, Ash, and Lush before releasing "Bis vs. the D.I.Y. Corps" on their own teen-c label. It sold about 20,000 copies in the UK. Bis signed with Wiiija Records in June and released "The Atom Powered Action". In April Bis released their debut album, The New Transistor Heroes, and got mixed reviews. Everyone had strong opinions, and either loved the band for their unique style or loathed them for their "kiddy" image. In 1997 the band signed onto Grand Royal Records, Mike D's record label, and became one of the UK's biggest imports. In 1998, they released the album of B-sides and rarities, Intendo, and their second full-length album Social Dancing in 1999. Their latest release is an EP of brand new material with a very different sound called Music For A Stranger World, which was released in June 2000 on Wiiija.
Bis is quite busy these days. Steven runs his own local recording label & has been dj-ing at clubs, Manda writes a monthly comic strip for the Japanese magazine, Buzz. (Bis are quite big in Japan, by the way.) And John has remixed songs for several bands. You might hear Bis on the Cartoon Network; they recorded the theme song for the hit cartoon, Powerpuff Girls. So that's a brief history of Bis, or at least part of it. Now us Bis fans are patiently awaiting the next full album, which is supposed to be out sometime around winter of 2000. Hope it's not too long of a wait. :)
