Mocket - Biography
By Eric Brightwell
Audrey Marrs grew up in Olympia where she studied studio art at the Evergreen State College where she made several short films. She later received her MA in curatorial practice from San Francisco’s California College of the Arts. She teamed up with fellow musician Matthew Steinke for the electro-punk duo which the two christened Mocket.
In 1995, they released their first single, the riot grrrage stormer, “Pearl Drop” b/w “Halo” and “Spark Plug” on Seattle’s Up Records. A re-recorded version of the single appeared on the duo’s debut, Bionic Parts (1996-Punk in My Vitamins), a bricolage of sci-fi-inflected new wave, electro, punk and garage. After its release, Steinke’s other band, Satisfact, released their debut, The Unwanted Sounds Of.
One-time Hole drummer Carolyn Rue replaced Danny Sasaki’s position for Mocket’s impressive follow-up, the ambitious Fanfare (1997-K). After its release, Mocket teamed with The Need’s Radio Sloan and Rachel Carns. The described their next album as “rock electronic opera…somewhere between Tommy and Nina Hagen.” The resulting Pro Forma (1999-Kill Rock Stars) was a truly momentous and varied masterpiece – far better than Carns’s description would suggest. It received considerable and unanimously positive press. That year, Mocket played with the somewhat like-minded Atari Teenage Riot and the Add N to (X). Mocket looked poised for bigger things with a planned tour of Europe. However, after Steinke received a $60 parking ticket on the eve of their tour, he had a meltdown and quit the band.
After Mocket’s implosion, Steinke teamed with Tassany Zimmerman in the similarly-styled Octant, who released two albums before Steinke joined The Five Pieces. Marrs went on to play with Bratmobile and Gene Defcon. In 2007, Marrs produced the Iraq documentary No End in Sight, which was nominated for an Oscar.
