James Dewees

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James Dewees
Birth name James Dewees
Born March 13, 1976
Origin Liberty, Missouri
Genre(s) Alternative rock, Indie rock, Emo, Hardcore punk, Pop, Power pop
Instrument(s) Vocals, Piano, Drums
Years active 1995-Present
Label(s) Vagrant Records
Associated acts The Get Up Kids
Reggie and the Full Effect
New Found Glory
Coalesce
My Chemical Romance
Website The Get Up Kids

James Dewees (born March 13, 1976) is an American Musician who has been involved in many musical projects including The Get Up Kids, Reggie and the Full Effect, and Coalesce.

Contents

[edit] Early Life and Coalesce

Dewees graduated from Liberty High School in Liberty, MO in 1994. He has a degree in music composition from the University of Missouri. In 1995, he was asked to replace Sean Ingram as vocalist for the Kansas City hardcore band Coalesce. This angered Ingram, and caused a fight that eventually broke the band up. However, in the summer of 1996, the band decided to re-form, but this time with James Dewees as a drummer. With them, he recorded the band's first two full-length albums Give Them Rope and Functioning on Impatience.

[edit] The Get Up Kids

In 1997, Coalesce played a music festival with another Kansas City band, The Get Up Kids. They had just released their first album Four Minute Mile on Doghouse Records. At the end of Coalesce's set, they began smashing all of their equipment, and James picked up his Floor tom and threw it into the audience, hitting a girl on the head. Someone picked it up and tried to steal it, so James began chasing him, along with The Get Up Kids' guitarist Jim Suptic. They started talking, and Suptic invited James to hang out with the rest of the band.[1] Eventually, they asked if he would like to join the band. After recording keyboard for their Red Letter Day EP, he became a full-time member in time to record their second album Something to Write Home About, released in 1999 on Vagrant Records. He remained with the band until they broke up after one final tour in the summer of 2005, having released two more studio albums, and a live album.

[edit] Reggie and the Full Effect

After playing with The Get Up Kids for a while, James began to write some of his own songs. However, he didn't feel as though they fit with the distinct style of The Get Up Kids, so with the assistance of bandmate Matt Pryor, he recorded Greatest Hits 1984-1987, releasing it on Vagrant Records in 1998 under the name Reggie and the Full Effect.[2] He continued to write songs, finally releasing his second album Promotional Copy two years later.
In 2003, he released a third album entitled Under the Tray. After this album released, his marriage to his first wife Megan began to break down. He was soon involved in a bitter divorce, much of which inspired his fourth album Songs Not to Get Married To, which he was writing and recording during the divorce.[3] After The Get Up Kids split up in the summer of 2005, James began touring with bands like New Found Glory and My Chemical Romance as their touring keyboardist. Slowly, this started to take more time away from Reggie and the Full Effect.
However, on April 8, 2008, Alternative Press announced that they had received details on the new album from Reggie and the Full Effect. The 12 song album, Last Stop: Crappy Town was produced by Sean Beavan and will be released on June 17, 2008 through Vagrant Records[4]

[edit] Personalities

On the various Reggie albums, James has created a series of different personas that appear as "guests" on the album. One of these personalities is "Klaus", the frontman for the fictional Finnish metal band Common Denominator. There have been three Common Denominator songs on Reggie and the Full Effect albums; "Dwarf Invasion" on Promotional Copy, "Linkin' Verbs" on Under the Tray, and "Deathnotronic" on Songs Not to Get Married To. The other personality present on many of his albums is "Fluxuation", a British techno-pop star. His credits include "Gloves" on Promotional Copy, "Mood 4 LUV" on Under the Tray, and "Love Reality" on Songs Not to Get Married To.

[edit] Other Bands

  • After The Get Up Kids separated in 2005, James became the touring keyboardist for New Found Glory. He had previously helped write and record keyboard parts for their 2004 album Catalyst.
  • In 2007, he became the touring keyboardist for My Chemical Romance. In 2007, My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way married his fiancee Alicia Simmons. James had been ordained a priest in order to perform the ceremony.

[edit] Discography

[edit] With Coalesce

[edit] With The Get Up Kids

[edit] With Reggie and the Full Effect

[edit] With New Found Glory

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kelley, Trevor "Say Goodnight, But Mean Goodbye; An Oral History of The Get Up Kids" Alternative Press Magazine, July 2005
  2. ^ Reggie And The Full Effect | Vagrant Records
  3. ^ Reggie & The Full Effect | Music Artist | Videos, News, Photos & Ringtones | MTV
  4. ^ Reggie and the Full Effect Album Details - News Article - AbsolutePunk.net
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The Get Up Kids
Matthew Pryor – Jim Suptic – Rob Pope – Ryan Pope – James Dewees
Studio Albums
EPs
Compilation Albums
Live Albums
Singles
Labels
Side Projects
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