The Emergency Broadcast Network was a multimedia project formed in 1991 by Rhode Island School of Design grads Joshua Pearson, Gardner Post, and Brian Kane. The EBN created music videos out of remixed video footage, usually sourced from television or file footage, with added instrumental accompaniment. Formed in response to the Persian Gulf War, EBN's videos were politically charged, often railing against the US military-industrial complex in videos such as "Weapons
," though they also dealt with the manipulative effects of American mass media, such as in "Comply".
EBN's first project was a remix of footage from the Gulf War, which was an underground hit, largely via bootleg copies passed around by fans. The group gave out tapes at Lollapalooza in 1991, which further increased their underground popularity. The group ultimately released two full albums, Commercial Entertainment Product in 1992, and Telecommunication Breakdown in 1995. They were also hired for their video effects work on several occasions in the '90s, including collaborations with U2 and the MTV Video Music Awards. Though the group was largely inactive after the turn of the millennium, they maintain a YouTube channel archiving their past work.
One constant of EBN's career was about pushing the boundaries of technology in media. While not the first commercial use of digital video editing methods, the technology was still in its infancy at the time, and the EBN is possibly the first to use the technology in a subversive manner. The method of splicing different audio clips together to say something entirely different is regarded as a sort of Ur-Example of YouTube Poop. Telecommunication Breakdown was also one of the first works ever released on the Enhanced CD format, which provided both audio and video data on the same disc.
Tropes:
- Broken Record: Repeating a clip over and over is common in their songs, notably "Psychoactive Drugs," which does so with its mantra "Try psychoactive drugs," and again at the end of the song where it repeats "Why?"
- Capitalism Is Bad: Specifically targeted at the military-industrial complex in songs like "Weapons."
- Government Drug Enforcement: In "Comply":"The CIA is ordering the White House to conduct broadcast TV radiation LSD experiments on Americans."
- Manipulative Editing: The basis of EBN's music.
- Protest Song: Most of their discography is lambasting the Government, war, mass media, or some combination of the three.
- War Is Hell: A common theme, particularly in reference to the military-industrial complex and its hellish weapons of destruction. Front and center in "Weapons" and both parts of "GW1."
