D.C. space-rock band Heavy Breathing descended from The Apes.

That is to say, the trio traces its roots to the late, iconoclastic rock band by the same name. Equal parts Vangelis and Deep Purple, The Apes were part of a small group of D.C. locals who, about 15 years ago, found inspiration in the not-too-distant future (see also: Trans Am).

But The Apes couldn’t hold onto a singer. So members Amanda Kleinman, Jeff Schmid and Erick Jackson went through three vocalists before they finally decided to invent their own.

The trio started using vocal samples, processing them to Max Headroom heights of electronic dissonance. The three musicians called the singerless lineup Heavy Breathing, and debuted in 2012 with Body Problems.

Heavy Breathing guitarist and bassist Erick Jackson says he scours the Internet to find vocal samples.

“I take anything that sounds decent and cut up the vocals into single words and syllables,” Jackson says. “I then pitch and tune the phrases till they sound musical. By this time there is no semblance to the source material.”

The result is often energetic but inhuman psych rock, whipped into a frenzy by a charismatic vocalist who doesn’t exist. Take Heavy Breathing’s latest single, “Night First” (stream it below). Over a propulsive organ riff, a robotic croon doles out vaguely meaningful sentence fragments: “I can’t believe,” “Yes, I’m feeling,” a garbled cadence that could very well be the title of the song.

“Basically, the vocals are another instrument that produces riffs and rhythms,” Jackson says. “The actual words are open to the listener’s interpretation.”

As novel as this process may sound, Jackson dates it back to The Apes.

“When we did Apes, we had a recurring mad computer character called the Rhythm Machine, who appeared on several albums,” Jackson says. “This mad robot was kidnapped to help us write songs. Years later with the progression of computer power, the vision became reality.”

“Night First” appears on Airtight, Heavy Breathing’s upcoming full-length on Electric Cowbell Records, out Nov. 13. The album’s cover features a planet-sized finger, the band’s name flying into a void à la Star Wars — and a naked guy.

“The ass on the cover we just call Steve,” Jackson says.

Jackson cites a range of influences for Airtight, including “the feeling and memories of late-night television shows,” SCTV, “our love of riffs,” humor, “abstract violence” and “a dash of spiritual mumbo-jumbo from the Master Computer in the sky.”

But overall, the artist says, Airtight “is supposed to be a good time.”

Heavy Breathing plays Nov. 19 at Black Cat with !!! and Stereolads.

Organized by ex-Tropicalia booker Jim Thomson, Capital Fringe’s music lineup threatens to be almost as out-there and eclectic as its theater slate. So… what to hear?

Tonight

Stop by Fringe’s famous Baldacchino Tent Bar tonight and you’ll catch “Transglobal Express,” a promising showcase featuring the locally based Malian griot Cheick Hamala Diabate. Pop sensualist, trombonist and nudity champion SMOOTA—recently interviewed by Bandwidth—rounds out the bill with New York’s Karikatura and D.C.’s Sol Power All-Star DJs. 7:30 p.m. Free.

Friday

Avant-rock trio Heavy Breathing evolved from one of the most thrilling live acts D.C. had in the early aughts: Apes. The trio—consisting of Apes members Amanda Kleinman, Erick Jackson and Jeff Schmid—seems to take seriously the art of a wild performance (not to mention insane music videos). Friday, the envelope-pushing ensemble plays the tent bar alongside silly cover act The Dangles and D.C.’s Mundy. 7 p.m. Free. Note: The Fringe website lists the wrong time. This show begins at 7 p.m. tonight, not 5 p.m.

Saturday

Saturday brings a fantastic-looking left-field electronic-music show called Cybertrax, which will host the New York-based “cosmic synth” outfit Forma in addition to two local acts: Rory O’Connor’s chillwave-esque Nitemoves and (my pals) Protect-U. 7:15 p.m. Free.

Thursday, July 17

For those put to sleep by folk music: Um, have you tried turbo folk? That’s the kind of mania peddled by Baltimore ensemble Orchester Praževica, which borrows its ideas from a handful of traditions, particularly Hungarian czárdás, Slovak folklore, gypsy swing, American jazz, and good ol’ fashioned drinking music. In the tent bar next week, the band plays a show billed simply “Turbofolk.” 9 p.m. Free. Note: The Fringe website lists the wrong time. This show begins at 9 p.m., not 7 p.m.

Saturday, July 26

D.C. “crime-rock” band Chain & the Gang, returned recently from a European tour, plays the Baldacchino Tent Bar the night before its show at Black Cat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen singer Ian Svenonius play a boring show—not in this band nor his previous ones I wasn’t too young to see—and the chance of a funny, spirited performance from the city’s most magnetic frontman seems about as inevitable as a swampy August in D.C. 8:30 p.m. Free.

See Capital Fringe’s complete music schedule at capitalfringe.org.

Trans Am and Heavy Breathing
Thursday, May 22 at the Black Cat Backstage, $10

Trans Am isn’t based in D.C. anymore, but it will always be a D.C. band: the Bethesda-born post-rock trio has been steadily releasing albums on Thrill Jockey since 1996 despite its members now being scattered across the country (guitarist Phil Manley is a recording engineer in San Francisco, and drummer Sebastian Thomson joined the progressive metal band Baroness last year). The group’s latest (and 10th overall), Volume X, continues the group’s heavy electro-rock tradition with a dash of thrash (!) and some bizarre vocoded vocals. Opening band Heavy Breathing will set the energy bar high, so come ready to move.

Ayman Fanous and Jason Kao Hwang, Jaimie Branch, Nine Strings
Thursday, May 22 at Back Alley Theater, $10

Get your experimental/improvisational fix here: This is the CD-release show for Egyptian guitarist/bouzouki player Ayman Fanous and violinist/violist Jason Kao Hwan, who have just released their first album together, Zilzal (the Arabic word for “earthquake”). Also performing is trumpeter Jaimie Branch and a double bass/cello duo called Nine Strings.

Fu Manchu, Electric Citizen, Borracho
Friday, May 23 at Rock & Roll Hotel, $15

Most of the area’s metalheads will be in Baltimore this weekend for Maryland Deathfest, but those who stay in town will find their way out to this heavy show, featuring SoCal stoner-rock band Fu Manchu. On its last two trips through D.C., the band played two of its older albums in their entirety, but since they’ve just released a new album (Gigantoid), this show will likely (finally!) feature some new Fu tunes. Opening the show will be Ohio’s Electric Citizen and local stoner band Borracho.

TEEN and The Sea Life (Update: This show has been canceled.)
Saturday, May 24 at the U Street Music Hall, $15

When Kristina Lieberson (aka “Teeny”) left the Brooklyn indie-rock band Here We Go Magic, she teamed up with her sisters Katherine (drums) and Lizzy (keys) and unrelated bass player Boshra AlSaadi to form the R&B-laced alterna-rock band TEEN. Not to be confused with that other four-letter band featuring sisters (the one with the bass face), TEEN’s new album The Way and Color is synth-driven and saturated with vocals from all four of the group’s members. Local indie-rock band The Sea Life will open.

Estonia in Concert: The Music of Arvo Pärt
Tuesday, May 27 at the Kennedy Center, free

This show is a rare opportunity to see legendary Estonian composer Arvo Pärt in person and hear some of his best works performed—for free. His intimate show at the Phillips Collection on May 29 has been sold out for months, but the Kennedy Center is hosting this Estonia In Concert event, featuring the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, with a repertoire hand-selected by Pärt scholars at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. The President of the Republic of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik, will also be in attendance. The performance is free, and tickets will be distributed at the Kennedy Center beginning at 4:30 p.m., so queue up early. If you’re interested in learning even more, there’s an Arvo Pärt panel discussion at George Washington University on Wednesday.

Wild Luck, ShowPony, Penguin Gentry
Wednesday, May 28 at DC9, $8

Wild Luck is a new D.C. post-rock instrumental band, very much in the vein of Explosions in the Sky or Drop Electric’s instrumental work. This will be their first live performance, following an EP that they released last December. They’ll be joined by math-rock group ShowPony and funk/rock/jam/fusion band Penguin Gentry.

 Also recommended this week:

The Sun Ra 100th Birthday Celebration at Bohemian Caverns (Thursday); Deleted Scenes, Celestial Shore, and Laughing Man at Rock & Roll Hotel (Thursday); Mobb Deep at Howard Theatre (Friday); The Great Noise Ensemble at Atlas Performing Arts Center (Friday); Oumar Konate at Tropicalia (Friday); The Caribbean, Nice Breeze, Marriage Blanc at Velvet Lounge (Saturday); The Flatmates, Foul Swoops, Expert Alterations, and DJ Archie Moore at Comet Ping Pong (Tuesday); Teen Mom, Minka at Black Cat Backstage (Wednesday).

These and other show listings can be found on ShowListDC.