Masters of the Hemisphere

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Masters of the Hemisphere
Above: Finch, Griggs, Rawls, Mead
Origin	Athens, Georgia, U.S.A.
Years active	1996-2002
Genres	Indie Pop
Labels	Kindercore Records
Past members	Sean Rawls Bren Mead Adrian Finch Ryan Lewis (1996) Jeff Griggs (1996-2002)

Masters of the Hemisphere were an American indie pop group, founded by Bren Mead and Sean Rawls. The two moved to Athens, Georgia, to attend college in 1996. There they met Ryan Lewis, co-founder of Kindercore Records, who played drums at the first Masters of the Hemisphere show. Jeff Griggs (also of The Mendoza Line) soon replaced Lewis. In 1997 Kindercore releasd their debut seven-inch ep, Going on a Trek to Iceland. The group then recorded their first full length album, the eponymous Masters of the Hemisphere, which was released on Kindercore Records in 1998. The band soon expanded to a four-piece, adding multi-instrumentalist Adrian Finch. Several singles and compilation appearances followed, including a release on the Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records singles club, before the band released their second full length, the concept album, I Am Not a Freemdoom, also on Kindercore. The record garnered mixed reviews, which in part was likely due to the album's rather complicated concept, regarding an island of reservoir-dwelling creatures being enslaved by an evil dog. The Permanent Stranger ep followed in 2002, on the dcBaltimore2012 label. Their next album, 2002's well received Protest a Dark Anniversary, was their third and final. The band split up in the November of the same year, as Rawls was moving to San Francisco, and their last release was the posthumous The Last Show Ever, a live recording of their final show at Athens, Georgia's 40 Watt Club.

Rawls subsequently joined Je Suis France and formed Still Flyin' in San Francisco. Mead's solo project Vetran is scheduled to release an album on I Eat Records in 2006. Finch released an album under the name Dances With Wolves on dcBaltimore2012 in 2002. Griggs currently plays in Je Suis France, Murder Beach, Shitaake Knights (aka REN, aka Transmitter), and any number of other bands.

In 2006 the Masters of the Hemisphere briefly reunited to play shows in Athens, Georgia; Lexington, Kentucky; and San Francisco.

"Local Government", a song from Protest A Dark Anniversary, is prominently heard in an environmental PSA that debuted on Mtv on August 31, 2006.