The Brain is a musical collaboration between Paul Fox and Tommy Grenas, who first played music together when Paul joined the band Pressurehed in the early 1990's.

In 1993, Paul and Tommy began recordings of improvised electronic performances, at first under the name "Mandra Oleka". They later changed the name of the group to "The Brain", partly out of reverence for a German record label that had released many of the records they had been listening to, but mainly due to the fact that the sounds they were creating came from deep within the mysterious regions of the mind, taking the listener on an extended, electro-psychedelic brain-trip.

Aside from the creations of Tommy and Paul, many other musical friends have contributed along the way.

After three years of amassing a library of strange and beautiful recordings, including the release of their early demo collection on cassette, Lo Fi, and their debut CD, Access and Amplify, the duo were presented with an opportunity to help put together the first United States tour of the German electronic music pioneers, Cluster. Already seasoned touring musicians, Tommy and Paul were able to assist in the effort, along with Russ Curry of Curious Music. As if the idea of traveling with Cluster wasn't exciting enough, guitar master Bond Bergland (Factrix/The Saqqara Dogs) was introduced to The Brain at a pre-tour concert they played together in San Francisco, and they all hit it off so well Bond decided to join the tour.

After the tour, The Brain continued to perform live around Los Angeles. Notable performances include an evening at Spaceland with Holger Czukay (Can) and Dr. Walker (Air Liquide), live at Gemini Manor in Hollywood with Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth (Gong), and another show at Spaceland with friend Marina Rosenfeld.

Paul and Tommy have continued to get together for regular recording sessions, laying down tracks and tracks of analog warmth. These sessions grew less and less common as Paul's completion of a formal education in music technology began to take the forefront (leading to a very successful career in sound design for computer games), and Tommy's other musical endeavors (Farflung, Anubian Lights) saw more activity and success. However, the body of work created by this pair continues to grow, and future releases will become a reality.

Alternative Press (4/97, pp.64-65) - 4 (out of 5) -
"...ACCESS AND AMPLIFY goes for vintage psychedelic organ-grind, with sputtery ol' synthesizer shivers propelled through long subterranean corridors by cheap, high-end- heavy drum machines and rippled ricochet."