Death from Above 1979
_band |
band_name = Death From Above 1979 |
image =
|
caption = Jesse (left), Sebastien (right) |
years_active =
2000 -
2006 | origin =
Toronto, Ontario, Canada| music_genre =
Indie RockSynth Rock | record_label =
Ache RecordsSound Virus RecordsLast Gang RecordsVice Records679 Recordings | current_members =
Jesse F. KeelerSebastien Grainger |}}
Death From Above 1979 was a
Toronto based
Canadian indie rock duo. The members were
Jesse F. Keeler on
bass/
synths and
Sebastien Grainger on
vocals/
drums. Refusing to employ a
lead guitarist, they played loud synth infused dance-noise on the drum and bass combination alone. They were signed to
Last Gang Records in Canada,
Vice Records in the U.S. and
679 Recordings in the U.K.
Although they reportedly met at a
Sonic Youth concert, Keeler and Grainger sometimes jokingly claimed to have met in prison, on a pirate ship, or in a gay bar, leading some journalists and fans to believe these hoaxes. They also claimed to have lived in a funeral home at one time. In
2005, the video for "Romantic Rights" won a
VideoFACT award at the
MuchMusic Video Music Awards. They played "Romantic Rights" on
Late Night with Conan O'Brien, with
Max Weinberg on drums for part of the performance.
On
3 August 2006 Keeler, via the band's official website, announced the duo's split.
The band was originally named simply "Death From Above", a name which appears on their first released recording,
Heads Up!. The duo changed their name after an unusually personal and acrimonious legal dispute with
New York City dance music label
Death From Above, with the members of DFA1979 denouncing Murphy in messages on their website. Death from Above had been a working name of
LCD Soundsystem's
James Murphy prior to the
September 11, 2001 attacks. The words "Death From Above" can also be seen on a helicopter in
Apocalypse Now, which was released in
1979.
The reason for the seemingly arbitrary date of
1979 comes from Sebastien Grainger's birth date. From Sebastien's perspective, this is what it stood for:"1979 is the year of my birth,1979 is the year of
Off the Wall,1979 is the year of
Pleasure Principle,1979 is the last year of the last cool decade,1979 is scratched into my arm,1979 is scratched into my arm,1979 is scratched into my f**king arm."He also stated in an interview given to MTV: "I was born that year, and it's never going to be wrong."[
1]
MSTRKRFT
MSTRKRFT, a net-hack pseudonym of derivative MasterKraft, is Jesse F. Keeler's electronic band along with producer
Al-P. MSTRKRFT is currently signed to Last Gang records, and works out of Toronto. Their debut album was released on July 18, 2006. Two of their remixes can be found on Death From Above's 2005 release Romance Bloody Romance.
Femme Fatale
Femme Fatale was a band that featured Jesse F. Keeler before Death From Above 1979. The name comes from a song by the band
The Velvet Underground. An EP, titled
From the Abundance of the Heart, the Mouth Speaks, is available off the DFA1979 merchandise website. It's considered a more hardcore sounding version of Death From Above, and also notes Sebastien playing drums on an early release titled
Fire Baptism. Sebastien Grainger played drums for Femme Fatale in live shows, as well.
Black Cat #13
Black Cat #13 was a band that also featured Jesse F. Keeler, and was started in 1998, lasting until 2000, when the band split due to musical differences. The band released all vinyl releases, and are very hard to find, as well as considered collector's items by DFA1979. Unlike Femme Fatale, Sebastien had no role in Black Cat #13, though Al-P produced many of their releases.
As of August 3, 2006 the band is officially dead. Jesse F. Keeler posted this on the official Death From Above 1979 forum:
"i know its been forever since i wrote anything on here. im sure by now most of you assume the band isnt happening anymore since there are no shows, no work on a new album, etc. well. i wanted to let you know that your assumptions are correct. we decided to stop doing the band... actually we decided that almost a year ago. we finished off our scheduled tour dates because there were good people working for us who relied on us to make a living and buy christmas presents and pay rent etc. we couldnt just cancel everything and leave them out to dry... plus i think we wanted to see if we would reconsider after being out on the road. our label was really hoping that we would change our minds, so they asked us to keep quiet about the decision for at first. well, its been quite awhile now and we are still very sure the band wont happen again, so i guess its time to say something. (...)"[
2]
Albums
*
2004 You're a Woman, I'm a Machine*
2005 Romance Bloody Romance (Remixes & B-sides)
EPs
*
2002 Heads Up!*
2004 Romantic RightsSingles
*
2004 Romantic Rights #37 UK
*
2005 Blood on Our Hands #34 UK
*
2005 Black History Month #48 UK
*
Official website*
*
Death From Above 1979 on
MySpace*
Extensive discography information*
Death From Above 1979 Lyrics*
Death From Above 1979 Fansite A fansite with MP3's, information, and pics
*
Fabchannel.com - Video stream of DFA concert in Amsterdam
