View source for Engineering:The Trons

{{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2012}}
{{Infobox musical artist | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| name                = The Trons
| image               = Thetrons.jpg
| landscape           = yes
| caption             = The Trons, from left to right: Fifi, Swamp, Ham and Wiggy 
| background          = group_or_band
| origin              =
| genre               = Indie
| years_active        = 2000s
| label               = 
| associated_acts     = 
| website             = http://www.myspace.com/thtrons
| current_members     = Ham (vox and rhythm guitar)<br />Wiggy (lead guitar)<br />Swamp (drums)<br />Fifi (keyboard)
| past_members        = 
}}
'''The Trons''' are a [[Earth:New Zealand|New Zealand]] self-playing [[Engineering:Robot|robot]] band created by the musician Greg Locke. The band consists of four robots, created from scratch using a variety of spare parts and electronic equipment, and are based in Hamilton. The band is named for the city's nickname, "The Tron".

==History==
During the 1990s,<ref name="thepress">{{Cite news|last=Anderson|first=Vicki|title=They may be made of heavy metal, but they don't play it ...|newspaper=The Press|pages=C1|date=12 September 2008}}</ref> while a member of the New Zealand musical duo ''The Emersons'', Greg Locke toyed with the concept of developing a robotic drummer. This concept eventually grew into the idea of creating an entire band of robots.<ref name="stuff-wrbih">{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/4595294a4500.html|title=Waikato robot band an internet hit|publisher=Stuff|date=24 June 2008|accessdate=15 September 2008|archive-date=22 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922215320/http://www.stuff.co.nz/4595294a4500.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="3news-tronstakeflight">{{cite web|url=http://www.3news.co.nz/TheTronstakeflight/tabid/418/articleID/68535/cat/223/Default.aspx|title=The Trons take flight|last=Farrier|first=David|publisher=3 News|accessdate=15 September 2008|archive-date=21 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521013256/http://www.3news.co.nz/TheTronstakeflight/tabid/418/articleID/68535/cat/223/Default.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> The four robots took about nine months to build and were created from electronic components of decommissioned photocopy-card vending machines (which formed part of Locke's daytime career),<ref name="radionz">{{cite AV media|title=Robotic Pop&nbsp;— The Trons|url=http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ntn/ntn-20080613-0935-Robotic_Pop_-_The_Trons-048.mp3|accessdate=15 September 2008|publisher=Radio New Zealand}}</ref> various scavenged parts and some advanced equipment. The construction of the band was assisted with a grant by the Hamilton Community Arts Council.<ref name="stuff-wrbih" />

==About==
The band is managed by its creator, Greg Locke, a New Zealand musician and mechanical engineer who has played in garage bands including The Hollow Grinders.<ref name="Stuff.co.nz_502949">{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/502949 |title=Waikato robot band an internet hit |date=24 June 2008 |work=Waikato Times |accessdate=22 November 2011}}</ref> The band contains no human members, consisting only of four robots<ref name="stuff-wrbih" /> named ''Ham'', ''Wiggy'', ''Swamp'' and ''Fifi''.

''Ham'' plays the rhythm guitar<ref name="thepress" /> and does the vocals.<ref name="3news-tronstakeflight" /> The vocals are produced through bits of tape loop created on an old tape machine and looped.<ref name="radionz" />

''Wiggy'' plays lead guitar which is single-string. It is only possible for the robots to play four chords.<ref name="radionz" />

''Swamp'' performs on the drums, using a pie-plate as a [[Engineering:Snare drum|snare]]. ''Swamp'' was written several times on the drum set that Locke purchased for this robot (he guesses that it must have been the name of the band who had used it), thus the robot's name.<ref name="radionz" />

''Fifi'' plays the [[Engineering:Musical keyboard|keyboard]], using only one "hand". She originally played [[Engineering:Bass guitar|bass]] but performed poorly at it.<ref name="radionz" /><ref name="campbell">{{cite web|url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/CampbellLive/tabid/367/articleID/59922/cat/223/Default.aspx#video|title=Mechanical band hits the big time|date=18 June 2008|accessdate=20 September 2008|publisher=Campbell Live}}</ref>

The robots are made from a combination of scrap parts and more complex equipment and are controlled via a computer using a "top-secret" software package.<ref name="stuff-wrbih" /> The use of "flimsy material" makes the robots' actions similar to that of a human to create human-like music.<ref name="thepress" /><ref name="radionz" />

Despite being robots, the members of the Trons are often treated as human by fans<ref name="thepress" /> to the point where ''Swamp'' has received date requests. Locke explains this tendency to treat them as human arises from the "human element" required to create music.<ref name="thepress" />

== Critical reputation ==
The Trons' first dip into stardom came from their [[Company:YouTube|YouTube]]<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2JChnwv2Ws YouTube video]</ref> video, which received over 80,000 hits in two days,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amplifier.co.nz/article/39079/the_trons_sister_robot.html|title=The Trons&nbsp;— Sister Robot|publisher=Amplifier|accessdate=15 September 2008}}</ref> going on to amass almost a million hits in only a few months.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211210/00M3a9nYJi0 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160309093938/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00M3a9nYJi0 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00M3a9nYJi0| title = THE TRONS play live in Auckland, New Zealand | via=[[Company:YouTube|YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> They have received mostly positive critical acclaim, being described as "pure genius" and as being better than Grammy Award-winning British band Coldplay.<ref name="stuff-wrbih" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://gizmodo.com/5017023/robot-band-is-at-least-as-good-as-coldplay|title=Robot Band is at Least as Good as Coldplay|date=17 June 2008 |publisher=Gizmodo|accessdate=15 September 2008}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/502949 Waikato robot band an internet hit]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trons, The}}
[[Category:Robot musicians]]

{{Sourceattribution|The Trons}}