Try to find out about ETAOIN SHRDLU and you'd learn more about the history of linotype printing than you ever intended to, and nothing about the band. Evan Dickson did his best to shine the burning sun of journalism into ETAOIN SHRDLU'S black mystery. If he had waited a week he could have just typed http://myspace.com/etaoinshrdlu.

ETAOIN SHRDLU is brand new. Why don't you introduce yourselves to The World? Who plays guitar and who plays the fool?

Hello World. The guitars are played by Alex and Damian, both of whom play in I Can Put My Arm Back On You Can't, although Damian plays drums in that band. He also used to play guitar in a band called The Ivy League. Gus plays drums and used to play the same in Rockets Red Glare, and currently plays percussion in Feuermusik. The rhythm section is filled out by Samir, who used to play bass in Weights and Measures and Kepler, and also has started another new band called Tusks.

What can fans of your previous bands expect from ETAOIN SHRDLU?

Not telling. It's going to be a surprise, although it's not hard to guess.

The name ETAOIN SHRDLU is an interesting reference - why don't you let the kids in on it?

Citing the corresponding Wikipedia entry: "ETAOIN SHRDLU is the approximate order of frequency of the twelve most commonly used letters in the English language, best known as a nonsense phrase that sometimes appeared in print in the days of "hot type" publishing due to a custom of Linotype machine operators. Because the letters on Linotype keyboards were arrayed by letter frequency, ETAOIN SHRDLU were the first two vertical columns on the left side of the keyboard. Linotype operators who had made a typing error could not go back to delete it, and had to finish the line before they could eject the slug and re-type a new one. Since the line with the error would be discarded and hence its contents didn't matter, the quickest way to enter enough letters to finish it was to run a finger down the keys, creating this nonsense phrase. If the slug with the error made it as far as the compositors, the distinctive set of letters also served to quickly identify it for removal. Occasionally, however, the phrase would be overlooked and get printed erroneously."

And how is your name a metaphor for your band (as if it's not)?

It's not exactly a metaphor. Elements of it that interested us are it's relative contemporary obscurity, while at one point in time it was a very prominent element in pop culture. This is a similar feeling we have for the music we are making. There are also a number of plays and novels written in the early 20th century that feature characters named Etaoin Shrdlu, some of whom were robots or machines that gained sentience. We like the idea of precision craftsmanship building its own intelligence. And that the phrase originates from error, which is ultimately the source of all innovation. There are a lot of ways to read into it.

How will you indelibly mark your Wavelength audience?

Don't people get their hand stamped at the door? Maybe a little ringing in the ears if they don't bring ear plugs. The odd riff stuck in their head.

By Evan Dickson