Dead Meadow
Encyclopedia
Dead Meadow is an American hard rock
band that formed in Washington, D.C.
in 1998. Currently comprising vocalist and guitarist Jason Simon, bassist Steve Kille
and drummer Mark Laughlin, the band has released five studio album
s and one live album
.
" and its immediate follow-up Colour. The band started as Jason Simon on vocals and guitar, Steve Kille
on bass, and Mark Laughlin on drums. They began to combine 70s hard rock
and 60s psychedelic rock
with themes from authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien
and H. P. Lovecraft
. The first album, Dead Meadow
, was released in 2000 on Tolotta Records
, a label run by Fugazi bassist Joe Lally
. The LP version was released by Planaria Records. This was quickly followed by 2001's Howls from the Hills
, also released on Tolotta Records. At the completion of "Howls from the Hills" John Peel asked Dead Meadow to record a Peel Session which was recorded in Fugazi's home studio, the first time a Peel Session was recorded outside the BBC
studios.
In Spring 2002, Laughlin parted ways with the band in order to pursue a career as a lawyer. He was replaced by long-time friend Stephen McCarty (previously with Canyon
, also of Gern Blandsten). A live album, Got Live If You Want It
, was released in mid-2002, which documented one of the last shows with drummer Mark and was produced by Anton Newcombe
of Brian Jonestown Massacre. In early 2003 the band signed with Matador Records
and released Shivering King and Others
. Along with the heavy song and blues-influenced songs as on the previous two records, the band continued in their psychedelic style, with acoustic elements and ballads. With the addition of second guitarist Cory Shane, Feathers
was released in 2005. Simon’s guitar virtuosity is as influenced by the droning modal character of Eastern music as by classic rock riffs.
Jason Simon is the nephew of The Wire
creator David Simon
. Dead Meadow's music was used briefly in both the season four
premiere "Boys of Summer and the season five
episode React Quotes
of The Wire
.
In 2007 the band has reverted back to a three piece, made an appearance at the 5th annual Green Man Festival
in Crickhowell
, Wales
and relocated from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, California
.
In the beginning of 2008, Dead Meadow released Old Growth on Matador Records. A collection of songs that brought the band back initially to the same farm that their second release Howls from the Hills
was created and eventually finished up at the legendary Sunset Sound studio in Los Angeles. As with the last three albums Old Growth was produced by bassist Steve Kille
.
Later in that same year a brief session with Andrew Stockdale
of Wolfmother
led to the reinterpretation of the Dead Meadow song "Everything's Goin' On" as a new song "Pilgrim" landing on the second release for Wolfmother
, "Cosmic Egg
".
In March 2010 the band released a feature length live film and soundtrack, "Three Kings", that spotlights their stage show along with psychedelic dream scenarios. The live footage and audio was captured at the bombastic final show of the five month "Old Growth" tour. The film premiered at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery
in Los Angeles, California and was released on the NYC label Xemu Records, co-run by Kille. The film was directed by Simon Chan & Joe Rubalcaba of Artificial Army.
In August 2010, a tour of Australia is announced with original drummer Mark Laughlin. The tour will include U.S. reunion shows and a headline run of Australia in October 2010. A new studio album is in the works. In January 2011, Mark Laughlin threw away a not-so-promising career in law to rejoin the band and tour Europe and the Pacific Northwest.
Jason Simon also announced his September release of his first solo "self-titled" acoustic album on TeePee Records.
The song "Sleepy Silver Door", "Greensky Greenlake" and "That Old Temple" were featured in the skate video "Emerica, Stay Gold."
Former members
Live albums
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band that formed in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in 1998. Currently comprising vocalist and guitarist Jason Simon, bassist Steve Kille
Steve Kille (musician)
Steve Kille is the bass player of the American rock group Dead Meadow. Producer of three Dead Meadow albums, "Shivering King and Others", "Feathers" and "Old Growth" as well as numerous independent band recordings....
and drummer Mark Laughlin, the band has released five studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
s and one live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
.
Biography
Dead Meadow formed in 1998 from the remnants of two young indie DC bands, The Impossible Five "Gern Blandsten RecordsGern Blandsten Records
Gern Blandsten Records is an independent record label based in River Edge, New Jersey.The label's acts have included The World/Inferno Friendship Society, Canyon, Chisel, the Van Pelt, Radio 4, The Flesh, and Rye Coalition...
" and its immediate follow-up Colour. The band started as Jason Simon on vocals and guitar, Steve Kille
Steve Kille (musician)
Steve Kille is the bass player of the American rock group Dead Meadow. Producer of three Dead Meadow albums, "Shivering King and Others", "Feathers" and "Old Growth" as well as numerous independent band recordings....
on bass, and Mark Laughlin on drums. They began to combine 70s hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
and 60s psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
with themes from authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
and H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
. The first album, Dead Meadow
Dead Meadow (album)
Dead Meadow is the debut album of Washington, D.C. based band Dead Meadow. It was originally released in 2000 by Tolotta Records on CD and by Planaria Records on LP. It was re-issued with an untitled bonus track in 2006 by Xemu Records. This album was recorded for only a couple hundred dollars in...
, was released in 2000 on Tolotta Records
Tolotta Records
Tolotta Records was a record label run by Joe Lally of Fugazi. It was based in Arlington, Virginia and has released bands from Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area, such as Dead Meadow and Spirit Caravan. The label was founded in 1994 and came to an end in 2002 when Spirit Caravan broke up and...
, a label run by Fugazi bassist Joe Lally
Joe Lally
Joe Lally is a bass guitar player, vocalist and label owner, best known for his work with Fugazi.-Fugazi:...
. The LP version was released by Planaria Records. This was quickly followed by 2001's Howls from the Hills
Howls from the Hills
Howls from the Hills is the second album of Washington, D.C. based band Dead Meadow. It was released on CD and LP by Tolotta Records in 2001 and re-released on CD by Xemu Records on 2007.- Track listing :# "Drifting Down Streams" - 8:16...
, also released on Tolotta Records. At the completion of "Howls from the Hills" John Peel asked Dead Meadow to record a Peel Session which was recorded in Fugazi's home studio, the first time a Peel Session was recorded outside the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
studios.
In Spring 2002, Laughlin parted ways with the band in order to pursue a career as a lawyer. He was replaced by long-time friend Stephen McCarty (previously with Canyon
Canyon (band)
Canyon was a slowcore band from Washington, D.C., USA. Their style was heavily influenced by Americana, folk and country music.-History:The band was formed in 1999 after ex-Boys Life member Brandon Butler relocated from Kansas to the Washington, D.C. area and briefly fronted the band Farewell Bend...
, also of Gern Blandsten). A live album, Got Live If You Want It
Got Live If You Want It (Dead Meadow album)
Got Live If You Want It is the third album of Washington, D.C. based band Dead Meadow. It was recorded live at Maxwell's Hoboken, New Jersey, on February 17, 2002 and released seven months later on CD and orange vinyl LP by Anton Newcombe's label, The Committee to Keep Music Evil.- Track listing :#...
, was released in mid-2002, which documented one of the last shows with drummer Mark and was produced by Anton Newcombe
Anton Newcombe
Anton Alfred Newcombe is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and leader of the music group, The Brian Jonestown Massacre.-Music:...
of Brian Jonestown Massacre. In early 2003 the band signed with Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
and released Shivering King and Others
Shivering King and Others
Shivering King And Others is the fourth album of Washington, D.C. based band Dead Meadow. It was released on CD and double LP by Matador Records in 2003.- Track listing :# "I Love You Too" - 7:16# "Babbling Flower" - 4:48# "Everything's Going On" - 7:05...
. Along with the heavy song and blues-influenced songs as on the previous two records, the band continued in their psychedelic style, with acoustic elements and ballads. With the addition of second guitarist Cory Shane, Feathers
Feathers (Dead Meadow album)
Feathers is the fifth album by the Washington, D.C. based rock band Dead Meadow. It was released in 2005 by Matador Records on CD and LP.-Track listing:#"Let's Jump In" - 4:19#"Such Hawks Such Hounds" - 3:19#"Get Up on Down" - 5:27#"Heaven" - 6:05...
was released in 2005. Simon’s guitar virtuosity is as influenced by the droning modal character of Eastern music as by classic rock riffs.
Jason Simon is the nephew of The Wire
The WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
creator David Simon
David Simon
David Simon is an American author, journalist, and a writer/producer of television series. He worked for the Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years. He wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood with Ed Burns...
. Dead Meadow's music was used briefly in both the season four
The Wire (season 4)
The fourth season of the television series The Wire commenced airing in the United States on September 10, 2006, concluded on December 10, 2006, and contained 13 episodes...
premiere "Boys of Summer and the season five
The Wire (season 5)
The fifth season of the television series The Wire commenced airing in the United States on January 6, 2008, and concluded on March 9, 2008; it contained 10 episodes...
episode React Quotes
React Quotes
"React Quotes" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the HBO original series, The Wire. The episode was written by David Mills from a story by David Simon & David Mills and was directed by Agnieszka Holland...
of The Wire
The WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
.
In 2007 the band has reverted back to a three piece, made an appearance at the 5th annual Green Man Festival
Green Man Festival
The Green Man Festival is an independent music festival held annually in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. It has evolved from a one-day, 300 capacity event in 2003, to a three-day festival with live music including psych, folk, indie, dance and Americana across five stages, as well as DJs playing...
in Crickhowell
Crickhowell
Crickhowell is a small town in Powys, Mid Wales.-Location:The name Crickhowell is taken from that of the nearby Iron Age hill fort of Crug Hywel above the town, the Welsh language name being anglicised by map-makers and local English-speaking people...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and relocated from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
In the beginning of 2008, Dead Meadow released Old Growth on Matador Records. A collection of songs that brought the band back initially to the same farm that their second release Howls from the Hills
Howls from the Hills
Howls from the Hills is the second album of Washington, D.C. based band Dead Meadow. It was released on CD and LP by Tolotta Records in 2001 and re-released on CD by Xemu Records on 2007.- Track listing :# "Drifting Down Streams" - 8:16...
was created and eventually finished up at the legendary Sunset Sound studio in Los Angeles. As with the last three albums Old Growth was produced by bassist Steve Kille
Steve Kille (musician)
Steve Kille is the bass player of the American rock group Dead Meadow. Producer of three Dead Meadow albums, "Shivering King and Others", "Feathers" and "Old Growth" as well as numerous independent band recordings....
.
Later in that same year a brief session with Andrew Stockdale
Andrew Stockdale
Andrew James Stockdale is an Australian hard rock musician, he is the lead singer, lead guitarist and the only mainstay member of the rock band, Wolfmother which formed in 2000. In 2007, alongside his Wolfmother band mates, he won 'Songwriter of the Year' at the APRA Awards...
of Wolfmother
Wolfmother
Wolfmother is an Australian rock band from Erskineville, Sydney. Formed in 2000, the group was originally a trio composed of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett. Wolfmother released their self-titled debut album in October 2005,...
led to the reinterpretation of the Dead Meadow song "Everything's Goin' On" as a new song "Pilgrim" landing on the second release for Wolfmother
Wolfmother
Wolfmother is an Australian rock band from Erskineville, Sydney. Formed in 2000, the group was originally a trio composed of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett. Wolfmother released their self-titled debut album in October 2005,...
, "Cosmic Egg
Cosmic Egg
Cosmic Egg is the second studio album by Australian rock band Wolfmother, released on 23 October 2009. It is the first album by the second lineup of the band, featuring vocalist, songwriter and lead guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Ian Peres, rhythm guitarist Aidan Nemeth and...
".
In March 2010 the band released a feature length live film and soundtrack, "Three Kings", that spotlights their stage show along with psychedelic dream scenarios. The live footage and audio was captured at the bombastic final show of the five month "Old Growth" tour. The film premiered at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Hollywood Forever Cemetery, originally called Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angeles, California. It is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood...
in Los Angeles, California and was released on the NYC label Xemu Records, co-run by Kille. The film was directed by Simon Chan & Joe Rubalcaba of Artificial Army.
In August 2010, a tour of Australia is announced with original drummer Mark Laughlin. The tour will include U.S. reunion shows and a headline run of Australia in October 2010. A new studio album is in the works. In January 2011, Mark Laughlin threw away a not-so-promising career in law to rejoin the band and tour Europe and the Pacific Northwest.
Jason Simon also announced his September release of his first solo "self-titled" acoustic album on TeePee Records.
The song "Sleepy Silver Door", "Greensky Greenlake" and "That Old Temple" were featured in the skate video "Emerica, Stay Gold."
Band members
Current members- Jason Simon – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Steve KilleSteve Kille (musician)Steve Kille is the bass player of the American rock group Dead Meadow. Producer of three Dead Meadow albums, "Shivering King and Others", "Feathers" and "Old Growth" as well as numerous independent band recordings....
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, sitarSitarThe 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages... - Mark Laughlin – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Former members
- Stephen McCarty – drums
- Cory Shane – guitar
Discography
Studio albums- Dead MeadowDead Meadow (album)Dead Meadow is the debut album of Washington, D.C. based band Dead Meadow. It was originally released in 2000 by Tolotta Records on CD and by Planaria Records on LP. It was re-issued with an untitled bonus track in 2006 by Xemu Records. This album was recorded for only a couple hundred dollars in...
(2000) - Howls from the HillsHowls from the HillsHowls from the Hills is the second album of Washington, D.C. based band Dead Meadow. It was released on CD and LP by Tolotta Records in 2001 and re-released on CD by Xemu Records on 2007.- Track listing :# "Drifting Down Streams" - 8:16...
(2001) - Shivering King and OthersShivering King and OthersShivering King And Others is the fourth album of Washington, D.C. based band Dead Meadow. It was released on CD and double LP by Matador Records in 2003.- Track listing :# "I Love You Too" - 7:16# "Babbling Flower" - 4:48# "Everything's Going On" - 7:05...
(2003) - FeathersFeathers (Dead Meadow album)Feathers is the fifth album by the Washington, D.C. based rock band Dead Meadow. It was released in 2005 by Matador Records on CD and LP.-Track listing:#"Let's Jump In" - 4:19#"Such Hawks Such Hounds" - 3:19#"Get Up on Down" - 5:27#"Heaven" - 6:05...
(2005) - Old GrowthOld Growth (Dead Meadow album)Old Growth is the sixth album by the Washington, D.C. based rock band Dead Meadow. It was released in 2008 by Matador Records on CD and LP.-Track listing:#"Ain't Got Nothing " - 6:58#"Between Me and the Ground" - 3:15...
(2008) - Three Kings (2010)
Live albums
- Got Live If You Want It (2002)