Chicago's TRS-80 was formed in 1997 by Jay Rajeck and Kent Rayhill, two friends who had been writing music and performing together since high school. The two began to explore the growing electronic and jungle scene of the mid-90's, and wanted to capture the raw sound they heard on these recordings and translate it into an equally compelling and energetic live show. Soon they added Deb Schimmel to the mix and began a song writing frenzy that incorporated their multiple influences including hip hop, dub, ambient, experimental, rock and electronic. They Began assembling their own studio, and composed almost 50 songs in the first few months. TRS-80 quickly caught the eye of local clubs and performed their first gig in 1998, opening for Death in Vegas. The band's reputation began to grow beyond Chicago as they spent several weeks at number one on Epitonic.com with over 70,000 downloads.
Over the next two years, TRS-80 developed a solid performance reputation playing with Solex, Bedhead, Jim O' Rourke, Oval, Sonic Boom, and Laika among others. The band began to land bigger shows, opening for The Creatures to a sold out show at Chicago's premier live venue The Metro and The Sisters of Mercy at the 2,500 seat Riviera Theater. During this time, TRS-80 self-released two albums, Radiograbadora and Industry Needs Electronic Skills.
After signing with Invisible Records in 2000, TRS-80 released The Manhattan Love Machine. The band continued to write and perform and began receiving invitations to appear on several compilations. In 2001, Invisible asked them to put together a collection of unreleased and remixed material titled Backup : 01. In 2002 the band was asked to contribute to compilations including those derived in Canada, France, Japan, and by Germany's Digital Hardcore, and alongside artists like Fischerspooner, The Orb, Atari Teenage Riot, N.E.R.D., Coldcut, Alec Empire, Meat Beat Manifesto, Khan and EC8OR.
In 2003 the band signed with the newly transplanted File 13 record label and released Shake Hands with Danger, their most accomplished album to date. The album received critical acclaim and debuted in the top 5 on emusic.com. The band remained in the top ten for several weeks holding their own with artists like 50 cent, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash and the Pixies. They also created custom scores for the critically acclaimed National Public Radio show This American Life and a NIke promotional film titled �Les Jumelles� by New York�s renowned design firm KDLab.
On February 12 of 2005 Kent and Deb performed their last show, retiring from the stage forever to pursue other non-musical interests. Jay Rajeck decided after listening back to his recordings in progress that the music was still TRS-80 and to continue on under the same moniker. On March 10 TRS-80 performed with two new members, Mike Barron and Fred de Albuquerque. Both have added a new dimension to the music and made a seemless transition for the band. TRS-80 will be touring Canada and the East Coast starting July 21st and have and new album and DVD coming out in the Fall.
