Happy The Clown are a prime example of a band that makes a little equipment go a long way. Their trance-inducing gothic style comes out of creative simplicity; they don't use a lot of high tech gear in their live shows, just guitar and bass played through effects over a drum machine.

Al Nahabedian and Steve Muccini started up Happy the Clown in 1988. "We used to just jam out with a drum machine, and we thought maybe we'd work out some tunes," explains Al. The duo started working on some material and enlisted the aid of a vocalist. That didn't work out, so they got another singer, played out a few times, and then ended up parting ways again. Ultimately, they decided to just work as a duo and use films to supplement the live show.

Happy The Clown strive to make hypnotic music that they describe as "free-formed freak out." Many of the songs are deliberately repetitive, and neither member sees themselves as a front person, making the films important in adapting the groups vision to the live setting.

"Most of songs, even our recent ones, basically it's like three or four chords, our drum beat stays the same throughout," explains Steve. "Mainly we just want to create a certain mood and atmosphere; a sound track."

Although they would like to get into video when they can afford to invest in a large projection screen, the group still uses the Super 8 format for their accompanying films, and it actually works to their advantage because it has a different look. The duo will film things around their apartment and shoot images of the television set to splice together. So far, they have put together four films that they rotate around for the shows.

Happy The Clown take their name from a toy clown that Al won in a carnival several years ago which hangs in his apartment. "One day, we were trying to think of a name and there was Happy The Clown staring down at us with his usual expression of joy, so we thought we'd name it after Happy!" he explains. Happy has made appearances in the films and may someday appear in the live show.

Most of the vocals are handled by Steve, who will usually start off the songwriting process with a lyrical idea. Then the duo will find a drum beat that they like, Steve will come up with a basic bass line and then "it's free for all." Al says that when the band is just informally composing into a tape recorder the songs "just keep going on and on and on"; the concept of jamming is important to the band, although this is not really evident in the live shows.

One thing that the group has received criticism about is that fact that they do not use a live drummer. "Some people have complained to us about the drums, they're like 'get a real drummer' but that's the way we like it," says Al, explaining that the drum machine enables the band to do things that they would not be able to do with a real drummer. Also, keeping the band small and not needing a full drum set makes it easier to rehearse and work within the band.

Having an unusual sound has given the group some difficulty getting exposure, as they don't really fit into a particular category. They use guitars and bass, but they're not really rock; they use a drum machine but are not industrial.

"We're not really a rock type club band that people go out and drink beers and rock out to," says Al. "The club owners always say we need to get other bands like you to get that type of crowd in there, which could be an excuse that they just don't like us."

But one band that Bunratty's repeatedly booked Happy the Clown with, Red Crescent Sect, got the group a slot on a CD compilation. Steve and Al became friends with guitarist Luke Warm, and when he started up Wet Orange Records, Happy The Clown were asked to appear on the WORSHIP Volume One CD. Two of the group's tracks were used-- ""Alone" and "Dreams."

Happy The Clown have also used keyboards in their music, but they have never taken them on stage yet. They do eventually want to get into sampling and sequences, but for the time being they see a simple set up as an advantage because it doesn't create as many potential problems.

"Our technology is very primal, it's very simple," says Steve. "And I think a lot of people follow it because it's simple."