Fluke
A three-piece combo who managed to make inspired music during the 1990s while blazing a path through most of the popular electronic styles of the decade, Fluke was formed by occasional vocalist Jon Fugler, Mike Tournier and Mike Bryant after the three had spent several years living in the same combination house and recording studio.
At first an eclectic, widely inspired house-pop act, the three later moved into trip-hop (and the British charts) during the mid-'90s before another leap into big-beat video-game soundtracks by the end of the decade.
The band are noted for their diverse range of electronic styles spanning the house, techno, ambient and blues genres. Many listeners know of Fluke only through the inclusion of their music in many blockbuster film soundtracks, most notably The Matrix Reloaded and Sin City as well as featuring prominently on the soundtracks to the Need For Speed and Wipeout video game series.
To date Fluke have produced five original studio albums, two "best of" compilations and two live albums. Throughout their career they have made several changes to their line-up with credited appearances attributed to Neil Davenport playing guitars, Robin Goodridge on drums and Hugh Bryder as a DJ. Bitten by the acid-house bug in 1988, Fugler, Tournier and Bryant began recording with two singles informed by more-than-competent guitar work, soaring techno-funk and plenty of pop inspiration as well.. By 1995, Fluke had even hit the British charts (with the singles "Bullet" and "Tosh") and their third LP OTO marked a bit of a departure for the trio, a downbeat, jazzy path just beginning to be name-checked as trip-hop.
When Fluke were touring for Risotto they were joined on stage by Rachel Stewart who acted as a personification of the band's official mascot, a character from the Wipeout video games series named Ariel Tetsuo.. Hitting the charts in an even bigger way during their 1997 return, the trio released "Atom Bomb," a high-energy number recorded for the Virgin video-game soundtrack Wipeout 2097. Stewart continued as lead female vocalist and as a dancer for all of Fluke's live performances between 1997 and 1999 Risotto, Fluke's fourth LP, fit in nicely with the growing fanaticism surrounding big-beat techno, though the trio held on to their trance and trip-hop inclinations as well.
