Provision (musical group)

Provision is an electronic musical group based in Houston, Texas. Provision was founded in November 2000 by Breye 7x (Formerly of U-N-I and Bamboo Crisis) and Leslie Hyman (Formerly of U-N-I and Wraith).

With 10 years of experience in former electronic acts under their belt, Leslie and Breye chose to infuse elements of classic electronic dance (Hi-NRG, Italo Disco), industrial dance (EBM) and synthpop; to create what can only be called "The Provision Sound". Truly a unique formula of their own.

Provision shows combine live synthesizers and electronic percussion, non-stop energy, an incredible intelligent lighting show, and powerful vocals filled with lyrics that tug at the heart.

Provision quickly drew comparisons to Red Flag, Anything Box, Celebrate The Nun, and Moskwa T.V. when their debut album Evaporate was released in 2002. As Provision began to attract the attention of fans and DJ's worldwide, Evaporate drew critical acclaim with the club hits "Breathe", "My Only Question" & "December Morning".

Evaporate was released on May 31st 2002, the day before Provision performed in Los Angeles at Synthcon 2002; where just 2 days later they won "Best New U.S. Artist" in the American Synthpop Awards; thus solidifying their name and sound in the Synthpop world.

The initial pressing of Evaporate sold out in early 2004, and was re-issued in a 2nd pressing for Provision's U.S. Visualize Tour in late 2004 / early 2005 where it again sold out. Provision's relentless self promotion and performances during their Liberation (Regional) and Evaporate U.S. Tours, quickly gained the attention of electronic record labels in the U.S. and abroad; and they proudly signed with U.S. label A Different Drum in late 2003.

For 6 years straight (2001 - 2006) Provision was widely known in the U.S. for delivering live shows with incredible energy, frequency, and winning new fans wherever they performed. During this time Provision released 3 albums, 4 E.P.'s, appeared on numerous compilations; and produced remixes for other electronic artists. Provision toured the U.S. twice for the albums "Evaporate" and "Visualize", and continued to gain exposure for their numerous regional tours in support of their 2 limited edition E.P.'s.

Provision also established themselves as a credible and perfessional support act in the U.S. electronic music scene having shared the stage with Red Flag, Anything Box, The Human League, When In Rome, Cause & Effect, Imperative Reaction, Icon of Coil, System Syn, Assemblage 23, Cesium_137, The Hunger, Christopher Anton (Information Society), The Cruxshadows, and CTRL among others...

Provision also performed live at many electronic music festivals including Gothcon II, Synthcon 2002, ADD2K4, ADD2K5, ADD2K6, SiNthetik Sk13s II, III & IV, Electro-Nexus, Summer Synthpop Festival 2003, Synthfest 2004, and as a vendor for A Different Drum at Convergence 10 in Chicago.

In late 2007, after almost 6 years of non-stop performing, writing and recording; the line up of Breye 7x, Jen Foxx, Carlos Covarrubias, and Randon Harris amicably disbanded as Provision. The decision was made so the individual members could focus on solo endeavors and spend time with their families.

2008 - 2009
In August 2008 Joel 313 of Asmodeus X approached Breye during a CTRL show at Elysium in Austin, TX with regard to working together on new music.

After 3 months of toying with the idea of doing new music and performing live again, Breye held 2 private meetings at Red Square Digital with Joel 313 of Asmodeus X and Matt Willis of Splendor Projekt regarding the formation of a new band.

On January 5 2009 - Breye, Joel, and Matt held their first official rehearsal, and decided unanimously against moving forward as a new band, and to proceed forward as Provision.

Provision performed their comeback show on August 1st 2009 @ Scout Bar in Houston, TX with When In Rome. 4 more shows followed as the band continued work on writing their 4th album for release in 2010.

2010
On January 16th 2010, Joel Schafer stated that he was "calling it quits" and officially left Provision. As there was no falling out or warnings of his impending departure, remaining members Breye 7x and Matt Willis could only assume by his exact wording; that Joel will no longer be pursuing music in his life.

On January 26th 2010, former Provision member Jen Kiser rejoined Provision. Having already written lyrics for half of the new songs being performed by Provision when they re-formed in 2009, her return as a full time member was imminent.

Provision performed numerous shows in the spring and summer of 2010, including high profile shows with Angels on Acid, Assemblage 23, Anything Box, and Christopher Anton (Information Society). Provision entered their studio Red Square Digital in Houston, Texas on August 25th 2010 to begin recording their upcoming 4th album "Paradigm Shift" which was released worldwide on 11-20-2010.

Current

 * Breye 7x: Lead vocals, lyric and music composition. Breye founded Provision with Leslie Hyman in 2000, and is the only remaining original member.
 * Jen Kiser: Synthesizers, electronic percussion, lead and backing vocals, lyric and music composition. Jen was a hired gun for the Visualize tour of 2004 (at first under the pseudonym first name Varien), and joined as a permanent member after the tour ended in 2005 as Jen Foxx. Jen has contributed lyrically and musically to Provision since 2005. Jen and Breye were married in 2007, hence her name change from Foxx to Kiser.
 * Matt Willis: Synthesizers, electronic percussion, backing vocals, lyric and music composition. Matt is the keyboardist, programmer, and lyricist of Splendor Projekt which he formed in 2004. Matt joined Provision in January of 2009, and in March of 2010 became part of the official writing team along with Jen and Breye.

Previous members
Joel played in all of the 2009 shows that Provision performed. Joel left the band in 2010 deciding not to pursue music anymore.
 * Matt Coker: Vocals, synthesizers, and lyrics on Provision's first album "Evaporate."
 * Carlos Covarrubias: Live bass guitar, studio engineering, occasional vocal arrangement. Carlos was a band member at different times during the Visualize and Consequence eras. Carlos is currently working on a debut album with his band Straynge.
 * Randon Harris: Synthesizers and electronic percussion. In hiring Jen for the Visualize U.S. Tour, Breye got Randon Harris as part of the package. (Jen and Randon were working on their own project at the time.) Randon toured the U.S. during the first half of the Visualize tour using the stage name Charles M. He rejoined the band in 2006 using his real name. Randon continues work on his project P for Flamingo's which he created long before joining Provision.
 * Leslie Hyman: Synthesizers, electronic percussion, and programming. Leslie founded Provision with Breye, and hired Matt Coker to complete the original line up. Leslie played lead synthesizers in Breye's former band Underground Netwerk Intelligence and was influential in shaping the early Provision sound. Leslie left Provision in September of 2005 in order to pursure a full time medical career.
 * Katie McKinney: Live Synths for 3 shows in 2002 after Matt Coker left, during the Evaporate Era.
 * Joel Schafer: Electronic percussion, backing vocals, sampling. Joel convinced Breye to reform the band in August of 2008.
 * Kelly Wilkins: Live mixing and lighting control from summer 2002 to early 2003, during the Evaporate Era and on the Liberation Winter Tour 2002/2003.
 * Alex Virlios: Live co-lead vocals and synths during the Liberation, Evaporate U.S., and Devotional Tours before Visualize was recorded. Alex joined the band CTRL after leaving Provision, and has released 3 albums with them. He is now the frontman for CTRL. Since 2004, Alex continues to make occasional guest vocal appearances with Provision at live shows. In April of 2010, Alex joined Provison on stage at the "Oblivion" event in Houston featuring Anything Box to perform the songs "In Love" and "Neverending." These songs hadn't been played live since 2003 when Alex was last in the group.

Discography
(First release 2002; second "Limited Edition" release 2004)
 * Innocence (E.P.) (2002) Limited to 100 Copies.
 * Evaporate Provision's 1st Album.
 * Devotion (E.P.) (2003) Limited to 100 Copies.
 * Visualize Provision's 2nd Album. ("Limited Edition" release from A Different Drum 2004; "Regular Edition" release 2005)
 * Could've Had It All (E.P.) (2004) Single from Visualize.
 * The Consequence (2006) Provision's 3rd Album.
 * Ideal Warfare (E.P.) (2006) Dual-single from The Consequence, combining remixes of two songs from that album, "Ideal" and "Perversions Of Conventional Warfare".
 * Paradigm Shift (2010) Provision's 4th album. Released worldwide on 11-20-2010.

Other Provision tracks have appeared on various synthpop and industrial compilation releases. Provision has also produced numerous remixes, and recorded various cover songs.

Links

 * Official Provision Website
 * Official Provision Facebook Page
 * Bandcamp - Provision's complete physical and digital discography
 * Provision Myspace, Official Provision Myspace Page
 * Section 44 Records, U.S. record label co-owned by Breye that released The Consequence and Ideal Warfare
 * A Different Drum, U.S. record label under which Visualize and Could've Had It All were released
 * T3I Myspace, Official T3I Myspace Page
 * P for Flamingos Myspace, Official P for Flamingos Myspace Page