Experimental Products were an electronic group. Founded in 1982 by Mark Wil… Read Full Bio ↴Experimental Products were an electronic group. Founded in 1982 by Mark Wilde and Michael Gross, they were a Philadelphia-based group. They self-produced the album Prototype in 1982. While it would be their only full album, they released 2 EPs- Glowing In The Dark in 1984, and Experiment! in 1987. "Glowing" proved irresistible to DJs and became a 1985 dance club chart breakthrough. Today, many DJs and collectors consider it a "classic" synth record. Around the release of "Glowing in the Dark", Mike Simmons played live as a third keyboardist. He contributed songs played live that were never officially recorded. A very rare flexi-vinyl of Work the Beat (?) was included in Philadelphia's "Terminal" music scene newspaper, produced by EP's first manager, Steve Fritz. Mike Simmons's time with the band lasted a year around the "Glowing" era. He has operated MARS recording studio for over 25 years. He later played bass and wrote songs with DeSoto Rust, who charted on the #1 on European Americana charts around 2010. He is currently (2019-20) playing bass in a Buzzcocks cover band, "Singles Going Steady", performing in the Philadelphia-DC areas. A rough cut video for Glowing in the Dark was shot at the Kennel Club, and can be found on YouTube. An entire show at City Gardens was videotaped with a single locked camera (just to document), but has an audio hum. A "hand-synched" video with Wilde, Gross, and Mutschler on electric trumpet, an early version of "Work the Beat", was recorded as a video course project of Bill's. "Visualist" for the band, Bill Mutschler, created elaborate live slide shows. His work with the band was summarized in a video, "All We Can Not See We Call Invisible" (a lyric from the Buggles), and was awarded a Bronze Medal at the 1985 International Film and TV Festival - NYC. He left EP around '85-'86. He had received an invitation from Al Jourgenson to tour with a Ministry supergroup with Luk van Acker, Jah Jobble, and Einstürzende Neubauten that did not come to fruition. The group grew to 4-6 members after co-founder Mark Wilde died in 1987 from pneumonia. Gross carried on with different members, selling out the 2000 capacity Pulsations Philadelphia area nightclub, in one of their occasional live performances.
In 1990, Gross and Mutschler formed a short lived performance duo "Experimental Cafe", which played in Philadelphia clubs. Gross had new instrumental material and adaptations of original EP material. Mutschler utilized early Macintosh video capabilities mixed with found and treated video edits - including color and image distorted lesbian bondage scenes. These caused an upset with then Macromedia software, offended by the content and not comprehending the intentional color manipulations. Glowing in the Dark had re-releases and re-mixes affiliated with DJ Hell in Germany throughout the early 2000s. After Wilde's Death they have no further releases, although 2 compilation albums have been released by Vinyl On Demand. Vinyl On Demand also reissued the album Prototype as a double LP with bonus tracks in 2008. Bill provided some of the live and other bonus live and rehearsal tapes, including an early version of "Glowing". The original version of the album currently was selling for as much at $500, having had a very limited print run. Different color variations of a circuit board design on the cover were personally silk screened by Michael Gross. Michael Gross passed away in 2016, some time after relocating to Washington state. Related: Mutschler produced Patrick Moraz's live "PM in Princeton" video/DVD and CD in 1995. It has been re-released by VoicePrint UK, on iTunes, and is scheduled for another by Cherry Red Records. He started recording music as "Northern Lights eXperience" in 2005, releasing "Advance to Peak" at the tropical storm soaked 18" of mud "first" final Phish concert in Coventry, Vermont. "Atmosphere" was released in 2012. Patrick Moraz (Yes, Moody Blues, solo) noted it as "high quality sounds. Interesting, different, original", and Ryche Chlanda (Fireballet, solo, Renaissance, once and present Nektar) commented "Listening to it every day in my car in long form over and over. I really like it". Bill released "Fields" as NL-X in December, 2019, on major internet outlets Apple/iTunes, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify and others. It can also be listened to at nl-x.hearnow.com. Mike Simmons provided a sounding board and "advice from a friend". Bill is presently working on his fourth CD, working title "Asylym", or possibly an earlier EP of dance songs, "Moment". He intends to release an updated "Glowing in the Dark" in the future, and perhaps one or more other Wilde-Gross compositions. One of the post Mark Wilde singers wanted to put some type of tribute together in 2016-17. The result is unknown.