Meg & Dia

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Meg and Dia
Meg (right) and Dia (left) on Nov. 5, 2007.
Background information
Origin	Draper, Utah, United States
Genre(s)	Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Acoustic
Years active	2004–present
Label(s)	Doghouse (2005-2007) Warner Bros. Records (2007-Present)
Associated acts	The Yellow Butterfly Project
Website	Official website
Members
Dia Frampton Meg Frampton Nicholas Price Carlo Gimenez Jonathan Snyder

Meg & Dia is an American Indie Rock band formed in 2004. It was founded by sisters Meg and Dia Frampton, and is now a five-piece act with additional members Nicholas Price, Jonathan Snyder and Carlo Gimenez.

Meg & Dia (also then known as The Meg & Dia Band) released its first album, Our Home Is Gone, in 2005. At the time, the band consisted of just the two Frampton sisters, and the album's tracks were mostly acoustic songs. Meg played guitar and provided back-up vocals while Dia sang. A year later, they released their second album, Something Real, which was their first album released under Doghouse Records.

Meg & Dia are generally considered an Indie rock band, while many of their songs are classified as Indie pop or acoustic.

Contents 1 History 1.1 The Frampton sisters 1.2 The Meg & Dia Band 1.3 Our Home Is Gone 1.4 Something Real 1.5 Promotion through MySpace 1.6 2007 and the present 2 Give It A Name 2008 3 Members 3.1 Dia Frampton 3.2 Meg Frampton 3.3 Nicholas Price 3.4 Jonathan Snyder 3.5 Carlo Gimenez 4 Personnel and former members 5 Influences 6 Live covers 7 Side projects 7.1 The Yellow Butterfly Project 7.2 MEGaTOm 8 Discography 8.1 Albums 8.2 EPs 8.3 Singles 8.4 Music Videos 9 References 10 External links

[edit] History

[edit] The Frampton sisters

Meg and Dia were raised in Santa Clara, Utah, and are the founding members of the band. When they were children, Meg received a karaoke machine and Dia received a guitar as Christmas gifts. They later realized that Dia was the more natural singer and Meg the guitar player. Dia began singing at local county fairs and retirement centers while Meg taught herself to play songs that were on the radio.^[1] Their father was a DJ in Korea,^[2] and the girls often listened to his extensive record collection.^[3]

[edit] The Meg & Dia Band

“For Christmas when we were kids, ironically Dia got the guitar and I got the karaoke machine. We quickly learned, however, what we were natural at and destined to become. She became really focused on her voice and began singing little country ditties at local county fairs and retirement centers. I started out playing whatever was on the radio or whatever happened to be in my buddies' CD player. My dad was a DJ in his early twenties so he had quite an extensive record collection that I listened to occasionally. After I experienced my first heartbreak and I thought the world was going to end, the natural way to console my tattered heart was to write a song. Of course my parents, being the supportive and loving caretakers they are, showered me with much undeserved praise and encouraged me to keep writing. My sister and I heeded their advice and began writing and playing original songs together." – Meg^[4]

[edit] Our Home Is Gone

Meg & Dia self-released their debut album, Our Home Is Gone, in 2005. Only 1,000 copies were ever produced. The album featured a mostly acoustic style of music, as it was only Meg and Dia in the band. They toured extensively in support of it, sharing stages with such national acts as Limbeck, The Format, Melee, An Angle, Koufax, and Steel Train.

After a few acoustic shows playing the songs from their debut album, they decided they needed a bigger sound. They recruited drummer Nicholas Price, and later guitarist Kenji Chan in 2005. Nick was Meg's car mechanic after she was involved in a minor car accident.^[3] After Nick joined, Meg and Dia found bassist Ryan Groskreuetz.

[edit] Something Real

In January 2006 recorded a second album, Something Real, with producer Stacy Jones of American Hi-Fi. As a teaser for the album, Meg & Dia released an EP titled What Is It? A Fender Bender, on both iTunes and the Tower Records website in July of 2006. What Is It? A Fender Bender featured Monster and Indiana, and would also be part of their upcoming album. That album was soon-after released on August 08, 2006. Something Real is made up both new works and revamped versions of acoustic songs from Our Home is Gone. The songs "Indiana", "Masterpiece", and "Nineteen Stars" were rerecorded with a full band, while parts of "Timmy" were incorporated into the song "Roses".

In September 2006, it was announced on the Meg & Dia MySpace page that guitarist Kenji Chan was leaving the band to focus on his solo career. His departure was on amicable terms. The band found a replacement in Canadian guitarist Carlo Gimenez via YouTube,^[5][6] and the band was once again a five-piece act.

[edit] Promotion through MySpace

The band gained popularity through self-promotion via MySpace; they were selected as the official MySpace band on the Warped Tour 2006. Being selected as the official MySpace band came about in a peculiar way; technical staff were supposed to shut down Meg & Dia's official MySpace due to a virus script posted by a fan. However, the technical difficulties resulted in the band gaining the attention of Tom Anderson, co-founder of MySpace, who then entered them into a contest to become the official MySpace band at Warped Tour; Meg & Dia won.^[7] Meg & Dia played at Warped Tour 2006 in the MySpace tent, which had a dirt floor in lieu of a stage.^[8]

Meg & Dia returned the following year, playing the Hurley.com stage in the 2007 Warped Tour.^[9] The band continued touring and played alongside Anberlin, Jonezetta, and Bayside on a national tour in early 2007, and with Say Anything and Saves The Day in Spring 2007.

[edit] 2007 and the present

On February 19, 2007 it was confirmed that Meg & Dia have signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records. The song "Roses" was featured on the soundtrack for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In September, Meg and Dia provided back-up vocals for The Rocket Summer for their "Yahoo! Who's Next?" debut.^[10] The video for "Monster" was nominated for the MTVU Viral Woodie Award in 2007. It advanced past the first round, but lost in the final round to We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands by The Academy Is....^[11] Meg & Dia finished the year on tour with The Spill Canvas, PlayRadioPlay!, and Treaty of Paris. The band is currently on tour with Angels & Airwaves.^[12] On their MySpace blog, the band announced that it will be their last tour until they finish a new album for 2008, slated to be released in August or September.

Meg & Dia are also involved in To Write Love on Her Arms and peta2. The band appeared in an anti-fur ad^[13] and also sponsored a fashion contest on the peta2 website.^[14]

Their song, "The Mighty R-E-A-L", is the official anthem for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer. ^[15]

On March 17th, 2008, the band headed into the studio to begin recording for their new album, set to be released in August or September of 2008.

The band has recently announced an upcoming headlining tour with friends Jonezetta and Danger Radio as well as Dropping Daylight in August and September of 2008.

[edit] Give It A Name 2008

Meg & Dia appeared on the second stage of the annual Give It A Name festival in 2008, playing in London on 10th May and Sheffield on 11th May. This was the first time the band had played in the UK. After this the band commenced a spin-off tour of England, Scotland and Wales, aptly named 'Give it a Name Introduces', with fellow Americans Four Year Strong, Mayday Parade and The Color Fred, playing in ten venues around the country.

[edit] Members

[edit] Dia Frampton

Dia Frampton (born October 2, 1987) is the lead singer of the band. She attended Shadow Ridge High School in Las Vegas, Nevada; she graduated in 2005 then moved to Salt Lake City with her sister to further their music career. She cites as influences Rufus Wainwright, Steel Train, Joni Mitchell, The Mars Volta, Rocky Votolato, Ben Folds, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, The Cranberries, and Cursive.^[16] During live performances, Dia plays percussion instruments, such as the cowbell and tambourine, and occasionally a Casio Privia keyboard. She is also known for appearing on stage barefoot.

[edit] Meg Frampton

Meg Frampton (born April 3, 1985) plays guitar and does back-up vocals for the band. She attended Dixie High School in St. George, Utah and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. She enjoys reading 18th century British literature. She lists East of Eden, Atlas Shrugged, Forever Amber, Frannie and Zooey, The Great Gatsby, Indiana, Lolita, Nine Stories, Pride and Prejudice and works by Ernest Hemingway as some of her favorites, and gets lots of inspiration from the books she reads. She also writes most of the songs in the albums, and finds comfort in her novels.^[17] On stage, she alternates between a Vintage White Fender Telecaster and a Gibson Hollowbody in sunburst, though she has also played a black Gibson Les Paul Studio in the past. For acoustic songs, she plays a Taylor acoustic. Meg often performs wearing cap sleeve dresses. Meg provides the lead vocals and plays keyboard for the song "Rebecca".

[edit] Nicholas Price

Nicholas Price (born May 27, 1984) is the drummer for the band. He was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah and began playing drums at the age of 14. He was also in the 2004 University of Utah's Drumline. Drumming influences: John Bonham, Chad Smith, Jose Pasillas, Jimmy Chamberlin, Dave Grohl, Joe Morello, Stewart Copeland. Nick plays a custom Destructive Drums birch kit. He used a Yamaha Absolute Maple kit before his endorsement with Destructive Drums.

[edit] Jonathan Snyder

Jonathan Snyder (born July 29, 1986) is the bassist of the band. He was born and raised in Bergen County, NJ. He began playing bass at age 13 in a local pop punk band Duckhunt. After some member changes and heavy life experiences, Duckhunt became Madison based in Dumont, NJ. The band toured for the better part of four years, including Hellogoodbye's first East Coast stint, until they amicably broke up in September 2006. Meg & Dia found Jonathan through Aric Phillips who worked for Doghouse Records, their label, at the time. Nick contacted him through Myspace and he became a member of the band.^[6] On stage, Jonathan plays a Fender Jazz Bass through an Ampeg amplifier.

[edit] Carlo Gimenez

Carlo Gimenez (born September 1, 1982) is the lead guitarist for the band. He was born to Filipino parents and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He began playing guitar at the age of 9. He states influences as Paul Gilbert, Joe Satriani and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Carlo was found by the band through YouTube, by Nick browsing videos. Carlo had several videos of himself playing, which impressed Nick, who sent him messages asking him to join.^[6] On stage, Carlo usually plays a black Gibson SG, though he has also played a White Fender Telecaster. He is a fan of the Back to the Future trilogy, often referencing the line "You guys probably weren't ready for that...but your kids are gonna love it!" after warming up with a solo.

[edit] Personnel and former members

Personnel

• Mike Kaminsky - Management
• Mo Powers - Tour Manager
• Dave Shapiro - Booking
• Nikki Herceg - Press
• Keren Poznansky - Press^[3]

Former band members

• Ryan Groskreutz - Bass
• Kenji Chan - Guitar
• Aaron McMurray - Bass
• Andrew Grosse - Bass (Warped Tour 2006)

[edit] Influences

Meg and Dia have stated in interviews that many of their songs are influenced by literature, and that it has had a big influence on their lives.^[5][18] Many of their songs are based on books: "Monster" was based on the Cathy Ames character in East of Eden by John Steinbeck; "Indiana" was based on Indiana by George Sand; and "Rebecca" was based on Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. "Tell Mary" was based on Mary by Vladimir Nabokov.^[17][18] "Courage Robert" was influenced by and written about Robert Schumann, a famous pianist and composer.^[6]

[edit] Live covers

Meg & Dia often play cover songs live. Among their preferred is "When You Were Young" by The Killers and "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" by Jet. During the 2007 Warped Tour, the band alternated between covers of "Maneater" by Hall & Oates and "No Rain" by Blind Melon. When the band opened for The Spill Canvas in 2007, they added "New Shoes" by Paolo Nutini to their set list. And for their current tour, they transition from their song "Masterpiece" into the solo and second half of "Santeria" by Sublime.

[edit] Side projects

[edit] The Yellow Butterfly Project

In July of 2005, Dia's friend Ian Shane Tyler decided to spend time with her one last time just before she left town. Dia went to Ian's house and recorded a song named "Yellow Butterfly". After recording the song, Dia and Ian dubbed their project "The Yellow Butterfly Project", alternatively known as Dia & Ian. To date, the side project has only produced the one song.^[19] Dia sometimes starts shows with a solo keyboard rendition of "Yellow Butterfly".

[edit] MEGaTOm

MEGaTOm was the name of a 2006 collaboration between Meg Frampton and her then boyfriend Tom Oakes, former guitarist/vocalist of The Higher. The only publicly released song from the project was "The Fireworks Started."

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• Our Home Is Gone
• Something Real
• Here, Here, Here (Sep 2008)

[edit] EPs

• What Is It? A Fender Bender
• Warped Tour Sessions
• If You're Poor, Find Something to Sue Somebody For

[edit] Singles

• Masterpiece
• Monster
• Roses

[edit] Music Videos

• Monster^[20]
• Roses^[21]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Meg & Dia Official Website
• Meg & Dia at Myspace
• Meg & Dia at PureVolume
• Meg & Dia at Last.fm
• MegandDia.org - The Unofficial Meg & Dia Site
• Doghouse Records

Meg & Dia
Dia Frampton | Meg Frampton | Nicholas Price | Carlo Gimenez | Jonathan Snyder
Discography
Studio albums: Our Home Is Gone | Something Real
EPs: What Is It? A Fender Bender | Warped Tour Sessions | If You're Poor Find Something to Sue Somebody For
Singles
“Masterpiece” | “Monster” | “Roses”
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