Kim Deal - (vocals/guitar) Nathan Farley - (guitar) Luis Lerma - (bass) Jim Macpherson - (drums)
The Amps were formed in 1995 after Kim Deal broke up The Breeders for a year claiming that they had had it with global touring and Lollapalooza. While The Breeders were on hiatus, Kim needed an outlet to release some creative energy. She started working on a solo LP, but this changed when Breeders skin-man Jim Macpherson and other Dayton musician friends, Nathan Farley and Luis Lerma, were drafted in for gigs. The band then started touring as Tammy and the Amps with Kim on vocals and guitar, Nathan on guitar, Luis on bass, and Jim on drums. Soon after, the name was changed to The Amps because Kim claimed that "Tammy was beginning to get on my tits." The band played a number of small American venues as well as some European venues. While on tour the band periodically stopped in the studio to record songs for an album. Recording for their debut album Pacer, began in February 1995 in Memphis, continued in March in Chicago with producer Steve Albini, and Dreamland and Woodstock in New York in April. The Amps also recorded in Dayton, Dublin, Ireland, and in Los Angeles at Conway Studios. Pacer was released October 31, 1995. The band continued touring America and Europe periodically until the summer of 1996 when Kim cancelled a series of high profile European dates including several festivals "to concentrate on working with the original outfit [The Breeders]."
