Big Empty Field formed on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1999. Originally conceived as a trio of two guitarists and a drummer, founding members Kiyoshi Najita and Kanoa Withington brought a wealth of both shared and contrasting musical influences together. Both sought to create an instrumental group with an emphasis on minimal, highly structured composition.

A founding member of New York's legendary Flower and Chicago's Anatomy of Hope, Najita heard the first recordings by Tortoise and the emerging post-rock scene. After years of writing lyric & vocal based rock songs, Najita felt drawn to instrumental music. Withington, a long time student of Indonesian classical gamelan and a former member of the infamous Survival Research Laboratories, was ironically seeking a more accessible venue for his music. Early rehearsals and recordings featured regular contributions from drummer and percussionist Greg Timmel, but his departure from the island resulted in a movement towards electronic, sampled and other unorthodox drum sources that the group continues to employ today.

The spare, clean texture of 2003's debut Line Over Bridge was in keeping with the possibility of recreating this sound live. However, with 2006's lofila, the potential of the studio environment became integral to the band's sound. The album features greatly expanded instrumentation and arrangement, as well as the band's first guest artist, Richard Baluyut, of the critically acclaimed Versus. Big Empty Field also enlarged its fan base by releasing both albums on itunes. Also at this time, DJ Sound and Fury, aka Tzvi Lichtenstein, a former bandmate of Najita's in Anatomy of Hope, created the first remixes of BEF songs.

Arteries and Intervals, the band's 2008 release, expanded the sonic palette still further with the performance of seven guest musicians, including concert violinist Ray Broggini, vocalist Devon Detweiler of Indira and a return visit from Richard Baluyut. The album is the group's most far reaching musically and saw the continued relationship with painter Charlotte Nairn, who provided the artwork for lofila as well.

The band's latest album, The Power Law, was released in June 2012. Featuring vocalist Maren Oom, the album included a second disc of remixes by The Inner Station, Tzvi Lichtenstein, James Baluyut of New York's Plus/Minus and DJ Morituri amongst others. While the album boasts Big Empty Field's most club-ready dance music of their long career, the band has kept their signature sound intact. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.