futurepop

"Assemblage 23" is a one-man futurepop/ebm project, whose sole member is musician Tom Shear, based in Seattle, Washington, USA. Prior to starting Assemblage 23, Shear experimented with music under the name "Man on a Stage", beginning in the early 1980s. Most of Shear's music at this point was instrumental, as he lacked the confidence to sing; the quality of the music itself was highly questionable by his own admission. Shear eventually began to add vocals to his music; at the same time, Shear was also playing bass in a punk band called the "Advocates".

In 1997 Andy LaPlegua established the project, "Icon of Coil", which was primarily a concept built around a logo, graphic design and music. Soon after the inception, the music turned out to be the most important part of the concept and LaPlegua invited Sebastian R. komor, who he had worked with before on the project "Sector 9", (now called "Moonitor") in 1996, to work with him on the project as a live member. After just a couple of gigs and the release of IoC’s first single, "Shallow Nation", Seb became a full-time member.