Screaming Trees
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available. (May 2008) |
| Screaming Trees | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Ellensburg, Washington, USA |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock Neo-Psychedelia Grunge |
| Years active | 1985–2000 |
| Label(s) | Velvetone Records SST Records Sub Pop Epic Records |
| Associated acts | Queens of the Stone Age Purple Outside Solomon Grundy Dinosaur Jr. Gardener VALIS Musk Ox Truly The Dark Fantastic Mark Pickerel And His Praying Hands Skin Yard The Jury Mad Season Tuatara R.E.M. |
| Members | |
| Mark Lanegan Gary Lee Conner Van Conner Barrett Martin |
|
| Former members | |
| Mark Pickerel | |
Screaming Trees was a musical group considered part of the grunge music movement of the early 1990s. Founded in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985, their sound was a mixture of arty '60s psychedelia and west-coast punk rock. Though highly regarded among critics, they never achieved the superstardom of other grunge acts such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains or Pearl Jam. They disbanded after touring for their last record, Dust, released in 1996.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] 1985-1986: Formation
Brothers Van Conner and Gary Lee Conner formed Screaming Trees with Mark Lanegan in 1985. Lanegan and the Conners grew up in Ellensburg, Washington, a small college town some 90 miles from Seattle.
The trio believed themselves to be the only people in their high school who listened to punk, garage rock, and independent music, so they gravitated toward each other. After falling out with the Conners before either completed school, Lanegan contacted Van Conner several years later. By that point, Van had a band with a singer named Mark Pickerel; the pair had recently kicked Lee Conner out of the band, so they invited Lanegan to sit in on drums. Eventually, Lee rejoined the group and they settled on a lineup that featured Lee on guitar, Van on bass, Lanegan on vocals, and Pickerel on drums.
Taking their name from a guitar distortion pedal, Screaming Trees recorded their first demo tape in 1985, just a few months after their formation. Their producer, Steve Fisk, was able to convince the head of Creative Fire Studios to release an album by the band. The result, Clairvoyance, appeared on Velvetone Records in 1986.
[edit] 1986-1990: Early Releases
With Clairvoyance in hand, Fisk was able to secure Screaming Trees a contract with Greg Ginn's SST Records, who had already been releasing albums by Fisk. The band's first SST album, Even If and Especially When, was released in 1987 and the Trees began working the American indie circuit, playing shows across the country. The following year, SST reissued the band's demo tape under the title Other Worlds as well as their third album, Invisible Lantern. Following the release of Buzz Factory in 1989, the group's contract with SST expired and they made the Change Has Come EP for Sub Pop early the following year. By that time, tensions in the band had grown somewhat, and the group spent most of 1990 working on side projects. Mark Lanegan recorded a solo album, The Winding Sheet, which featured support from Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic; the album appeared on Sub Pop. Both of the Conners formed new bands and released albums on the SST subsidiary New Alliance. Van's band was called Solomon Grundy; Lee's was Purple Outside.
[edit] 1990-1996: Major Label Debut
By the end of 1990, the band had signed a major-label contract with Epic Records. Screaming Trees reconvened to record their Epic debut, Uncle Anesthesia, with Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Terry Date as producers. Uncle Anesthesia appeared in early 1991 and, although it sold better than their previous efforts, the band remained a cult act. For much of the year, in fact, Van Conner was on hiatus from the band, choosing to tour as bassist with Dinosaur Jr. instead, with Donna Dresch filling in for him during shows. Late in 1991, Nirvana's Nevermind became an unexpected commercial success, opening the gates for the rest of the Seattle scene. Where many of their peers were able to capitalize on that success, Screaming Trees suffered more setbacks than the rest. Before they began work on their follow-up to Uncle Anesthesia, Pickerel left the group and was replaced by Barrett Martin. Once Martin joined, the band finished "Nearly Lost You," their contribution to the Singles soundtrack, and their 1992 album Sweet Oblivion. "Nearly Lost You" became an MTV and alternative radio hit in the fall of 1992, thanks to the momentum of the Singles soundtrack. The single carried Sweet Oblivion -- which had received more press attention than any previous Screaming Trees album -- to the group's strongest sales, peaking at over 300,000 copies. The band supported Sweet Oblivion with a year-long tour, during which they fought frequently. After the tour was finished, the group decided to take an extended hiatus. During that time, Lanegan recorded his second solo album, Whiskey for the Holy Ghost, which was released in 1994.
That same year, Martin drummed in the Layne Staley and Mike McCready side project Mad Season, (which also featured Lanegan on vocals on two songs, both of which he received a writing credit for) which released its only album in the spring of 1995. In early 1995, Screaming Trees toured Australia for the only time as part of the Big Day Out festival, before beginning work on their follow-up to Sweet Oblivion. Following one still-born attempt at the album, the band hired George Drakoulias, who had previously worked with the Black Crowes and the Jayhawks, as producer. The resulting album, Dust, was released in the summer of 1996, nearly four years after its predecessor. Dust was greeted with positive reviews, and its first single, "All I Know," became a moderate hit on modern rock radio. Still, the album didn't sell particularly well, even though the band supported the record by touring with 1996's Lollapalooza. During this time, from 1996 to 1998, the band included guitarist Josh Homme, a former member of the band Kyuss.
[edit] 1998-2000 breakup
Following the Dust tour, Screaming Trees took another hiatus, with Lanegan beginning work on his third solo album, Scraps At Midnight, which was released in 1998. The Screaming Trees headed back into the studio in 1999 and recorded several songs including "Ash Grey Sunday" and shopped them around to labels but nobody was interested. They played a few surprise shows in early 2000 to attempt again to catch a label's interest but they were unsuccessful and following a June 25, 2000, concert to celebrate the opening of Seattle's Experience Music Project, the group unsurprisingly announced their official breakup.
[edit] 2000-Present: Post-breakup
All members have moved on to other musical projects. Lanegan has released several highly acclaimed solo recordings, and was a part-time member of Queens of the Stone Age. Lanegan released Bubblegum, his latest solo album in August of 2004, and is working with former The Afghan Whigs leader Greg Dulli in a new project named The Gutter Twins as well as on-going collaborations under the Twilight Singers name. In 2006, he released a collaboration with former Belle & Sebastian cellist Isobel Campbell entitled Ballad Of The Broken Seas to great critical acclaim.
Van Conner formed the band VALIS in 1998 with Dan Peters (of Mudhoney), Patrick Conner and Kurt Danielson. The group is currently on Small Stone Records and has released 4 albums. VALIS/Kitty Kitty, Vast Active Living Intelligence System, Head Full of Pills and 2005's Champions of Magic. After Dan and Kurt left the group they were replaced with Sean Hollister, Wes Weresch and Adrian Makins.
[edit] Band Members
- Mark Lanegan - vocals
- Gary Lee Conner - guitar, backing vocals
- Van Conner - bass, backing vocals
- Barrett Martin - drums (1991-2000)
[edit] Former members
- Mark Pickerel - drums (1985-1991)
[edit] Touring members
- Donna Dresch - bass (1988, 1991)
- Sean Hollister - drums (1991)
- Josh Homme - guitar (1996-1998)
- Dan Peters - drums (1991)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
| Date of Release | Title | Label |
| 1986 | Clairvoyance | Velvetone Records |
| 1987 | Even If and Especially When | SST Records |
| 1988 | Invisible Lantern | SST Records |
| 1989 | Buzz Factory | SST Records |
| 1991 | Uncle Anesthesia | Epic Records |
| 1992 | Sweet Oblivion | Epic Records |
| 1996 | Dust | Epic Records |
[edit] External links
- Screaming Trees' Official MySpace
- Van Conner's personal site
- Van Conner's band VALIS
- Time For Light: A Fansite
- Screaming Trees fan site
|
||||||||||||||||||||
