His music under the BBD moniker is equally influenced by hook-heavy '80s new wave and synthesizer-driven film soundtracks. The project began when Mellowdrone decided to take an extended break in 2010 after a decade of recording and touring, and Bates found himself questioning whether life in a band was for him after all. As well as briefly playing in M83 on tour, Bates worked as delivery man and sound technician, before his friend and former Nine Inch Nails member Alessandro Cortini introduced him to the benefits of creating music on a laptop. Bates became engrossed and it was during an intense period of creativity that Big Black Delta was born. Harnessing guitars and warped electronics to create a wall of sound, Big Black Delta -- also the term used to describe a man-made UFO -- released a free EP titled BBDEP1 in 2010. He also collaborated with War Widow on a cover of Cheap Trick's "He's a Whore." Debut full-length BBDLP1 appeared on Coming Home Records in 2011. During the same year, Big Black Delta remixed M83's hit single "Midnight City," and the two acts teamed up to remix "Fall" from Daft Punk's Tron: Legacy soundtrack. Singles If***ingloveyou and Betamax followed in 2012 through Bates' own Master of Bates label, which issued a reconfigured, self-titled version of Big Black Delta's debut album in the spring of 2013. BBD kept busy working on new material, as well as remixing songs by Puscifer, Jaga Jazzist, and Phases. In 2015, Big Black Delta released new singles "It's OK" and "RCVR," the latter featuring '80s teen pop star Debbie Gibson. The full-length Trágame Tierra followed in 2016. ~ Daniel Clancy