The Presidents of the United States of America (band)

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For other uses, see Presidents of the United States of America.

The Presidents of the United States of America
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Background information
Origin	Seattle, Washington, USA
Genre(s)	Alternative rock Indie rock Grunge
Years active	1993–1998, 2000–present
Label(s)	PopLlama (1994) Columbia (1994–1998) MUSICBLITZ (2000–2002) PUSA Inc. (2004–present)
Website	http://www.presidentsrock.com/
Members
Chris Ballew Dave Dederer Jason Finn Andrew McKeag

The Presidents of the United States of America are a Seattle post grunge band.

1 Biography
2 Instruments
3 Members
4 Trivia
5 Discography
6 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years and rise to fame (1993-1998)

The band was formed in late 1993 by Chris Ballew (basitar and lead vocals) and Dave Dederer (guitbass and backup vocals). Initially a drummerless duo, Ballew and Dederer performed a half-dozen or so shows in 1993 as "The Lo-Fis"," "The Dynamic Duo," and "Pure Frosting." Ballew eventually came upon the name "The Presidents of the United States of America" while playing music high on marijuana with a few of his friends in a North Seattle basement. Of the names he made up on the spot that night, "The Presidents" got the biggest rise out of the eleven stoners who happened to be listening. Shortly after settling on their name, Ballew and Dederer added drummer Jason Finn; the band played their first show as a trio at Seattle's Romper Room in early December 1993. At the time, Finn was also the drummer in a "real" band, Love Battery, who had recently changed record labels from Sub Pop to Atlas Records, an A&M subsidiary.

The Presidents recorded a 10-song cassette, Froggystyle, in early 1994 in one day at Laundry Room Studios. The band sold the cassette at shows in 1994. Finn also sold the cassette from behind the bar of Seattle's legendary Comet Tavern, where he bartended.

In 1994, the Presidents signed with the tiny Seattle label PopLlama Records and released their self-titled debut in the following year. Columbia Records signed the band shortly thereafter and re-released the album in late July 1995. Driven by the singles "Lump," "Peaches," and "Kitty," their debut album proved to be a smash. Critics praised the Presidents' catchy, humorous, and self-deprecating songs, which were a major departure from the grunge/post-grunge sound. The album received Grammy nominations in 1996 and 1997.

In 1996, "Weird Al" Yankovic, created a parody of the Presidents' "Lump", entitled "Gump". This song was released on Yankovic's album Bad Hair Day.

A follow-up album, II, received similar praise, but did not match the explosive commercial success that the Presidents' debut album had. A worldwide tour to support the album followed, and the Presidents played venues in Europe, Australia, and Japan. They were so popular in Japan that Sony Records released a compilation of B-sides and demos entitled Rarities that was only available in Japan.

The Presidents broke up in January 1998 as Ballew quit to spend more time with his young family and explore other musical terrain. Pure Frosting, a final album composed of new songs, covers, and demos, was released in 1998. The CD also contained videos for "Lump," "Peaches," "Mach 5," and "Dune Buggy."

Pure Frosting featured two songs that had previously been used in a movie and as a television show theme. "Video Killed the Radio Star" was included on the soundtrack for The Wedding Singer, while "Cleveland Rocks" was chosen as the theme song for The Drew Carey Show. The Presidents also wrote the theme song for the 1998 TV movie My Date with the President's Daughter. (The band had also covered the theme song for the 1997 film adaptation of George of the Jungle at around this time, however, it was not included in any of The Presidents' albums.)

[edit] Indefinite break (1998-2000)

Following the breakup, each band member devoted time to his own solo projects. Ballew was the most prolific of the three, releasing albums with The Giraffes and The Tycoons, two of his side projects. Dederer collaborated with former Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan as The Gentlemen, and Finn played drums for several bands, including The Nevada Bachelors and Love Battery, his original band.

The Presidents also collaborated with Sir Mix-A-Lot as Subset, a short-lived rock and hip-hop band. They had a brief tour and recorded several songs, but never released an album. The band broke up because Sir Mix-A-Lot wanted to take the band in a harder, more electronic direction, but Finn and Dederer were not interested. [1]

In 1998, Columbia Records released Lump, a discount greatest hits compilation, without the band's approval or collaboration.

[edit] Reformation (2000-present)

Presidents of the United States of America in 2005

The Presidents reunited in 2000 to release a new single, "Jupiter," on MUSICBLITZ Records. Because of the single's popularity, the label convinced the band to release a new album. Freaked Out & Small was released that year to critical praise, but it sold fewer than 25,000 copies. Dederer blamed MUSICBLITZ, which later went bankrupt, for being unable to handle the demand for the album.

For the next four years, the band members worked on their own solo projects. Ballew continued to produce and record his own work and collaborated with Tad Hutchison of The Young Fresh Fellows as The Chris and Tad Show.

The Presidents formed their own record label, PUSA Inc., in 2004 and released their latest album, Love Everybody. As with their previous albums, it received praise from many critics. Two singles from the album have been released through the Apple iTunes store. In late 2004, the rights to the debut album were returned to the band, who have since reissued the album through PUSA Inc. twice: once as a Ten Year Anniversary edition with extra tracks, and again in the spring of 2006 in a low-price edition.

Andrew McKeag, Seattle guitarist (formerly of Uncle Joe's Big Ol' Driver, Shuggie, The Black Panties and others), joined PUSA on guitbass in late 2004, as an occasional live-performance stand-in for Dave Dederer, who had expressed an interest in spending more time with his family. As of late 2006, however, Andrew has been touring full-time with the band for over two years, which has given rise to speculation in various music publications that he has replaced Dave for all practical purposes. Although such rumors have been repeatedly denied by the group and their management, the band's official website does prominently feature McKeag in many of its more prominent photo layouts.

Despite their chosen name, The Presidents' music has remained largely apolitical, although the band did perform for President Bill Clinton at a 1994 Democratic Party fundraiser in Seattle. The band also supported John Kerry in the 2004 U.S. presidential election.

[edit] Instruments

Ballew and Dederer respectively play a basitar and guitbass, which are regular, six-string guitars modified to use two strings (for bass) or three strings (for guitar). The original idea came from Morphine frontman Mark Sandman, with whom Ballew had previously worked.

The modified guitars use heavy-gauge strings for a heavier sound and are normally tuned in Drop D, though the Presidents play half a step lower in C#. Because of the wider strings, the saddles at the bridge and headstock may need to be filed to accommodate the strings. For a basitar, the strings are placed in the D and A positions; on a guitbass, the strings are placed in the A, D, and G positions.

[edit] Members

Chris Ballew in 2005

Dave Dederer in 2005

Chris Ballew – vocals, basitar
Dave Dederer – guitbass, vocals
Jason Finn – drums, vocals (1993–present)
Andrew McKeag – guitbass, vocals (2004–present)

[edit] Trivia

Two of the original presidents, Dave and Chris, went to the Bush School in Seattle. Jason went to the Northwest School.

[edit] Discography

Albums

Year	Title	Label	Other information
1993	Froggystyle	N/A	Demo tape sold at concerts. Fewer than 500 copies are believed to exist.
1995	The Presidents of the United States of America	PopLlama/Columbia	Debut album.
1996	II	Columbia	Second studio album.
1997	Rarities	Sony	Collection of demos and B-sides that was only released in Japan.
1998	Pure Frosting	Columbia	Collection of new songs, unreleased songs, live songs, and covers.
2000	Lump	Sony	Greatest hits compilation.
2000	Freaked Out and Small	MUSICBLITZ	Third studio album. Sold fewer than 25,000 copies because of distribution problems.
2001	Freaked Out and Small Live DVD and Tab Book	MUSICBLITZ/Firebrand	Live performance of FOAS studio album.
2004	Love Everybody	PUSA Music	Fourth studio album.

Singles & EP's

Year	Title	Label	Other information
1994	"Fuck California"	C/Z Records	Limited to 1,000 copies.
1994	"Naked and Famous"	Che Orrore Records	The original release was pulled because of copyright issues and was re-released. Both releases were limited to 1,000 copies.
1995	"Kitty"	Columbia	(The Presidents of the United States of America)
1995	"Lump"	Columbia	(The Presidents of the United States of America)
1995	"Peaches"	Columbia	(The Presidents of the United States of America) Live songs listed on the French release are actually the studio versions.
1995	"Ça Plane Pour Moi"	Columbia	Plastic Bertrand cover, bundled with the French release of their self-titled debut.
1996	Peaches & Live (EP)	Sony	(The Presidents of the United States of America) Japan-only release.
1996	"Dune Buggy"	Columbia	(The Presidents of the United States of America)
1996	"Mach 5"	Geffen	(II)
1996	"Supersonics"	Columbia	Promotional CD released to coincide with the Seattle Supersonics' appearance in the 1996 NBA Finals.
1997	"Volcano"	Columbia	(II)
1997	"Tiki God"	Columbia	(II)
1998	"Video Killed the Radio Star"	Columbia	(Pure Frosting) The Buggles cover.
2000	"Jupiter"	MUSICBLITZ	(Freaked Out & Small) Download-only track offered on MUSICBLITZ's website.
2000	"Tiny Explosions"	MUSICBLITZ	(Freaked Out & Small)
2001	"Last Girl on Earth"	MUSICBLITZ	(Freaked Out & Small)
2004	"Some Postman"	PUSA Inc.	(Love Everybody) Released through Apple's iTunes store.
2005	"Zero Friction"	PUSA Inc.	(Love Everybody) Released through Apple's iTunes store.
2005	Munky River (EP)	PUSA Inc.	A collection of several versions of the song recorded from 1991 through 2005.