The Dismemberment Plan

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The Dismemberment Plan

Background information
Origin Washington D.C
Genre(s) Indie rock
Years active 1993 - 2003, 2007
Label(s) Interscope
DeSoto Records
Associated acts Maritime, Statehood, Travis Morrison Hellfighters
Website www.dismembermentplan.com
Former members
Eric Axelson
Jason Caddell
Joe Easley
Travis Morrison
Steve Cummings

The Dismemberment Plan was a Washington D.C. based indie rock band formed on January 1, 1993. Also known as D-Plan or The Plan, the name comes from a stray phrase uttered by insurance salesman Ned Ryerson in the popular comedy Groundhog Day.[1] The band members included Eric Axelson (bass), Jason Caddell (guitar), Joe Easley (drums) and Travis Morrison (vocals and guitar). Axelson, Caddell, Morrison and original drummer Steve Cummings formed the band while attending various Northern Virginia high schools (Axelson, Cummings, and Morrison attended Lake Braddock Secondary School together in Burke, Virginia). Cummings left the band after the recording of the Plan's debut album ! and was replaced by Easley, who had attended Woodson High School. That cemented the band's lineup for the rest of its existence.

Contents

[edit] Band history

Aside from a brief interlude in 1998 and 1999 when they were signed by Interscope Records, the band recorded for local label DeSoto Records. Their breakthrough album, Emergency & I, was actually created during their time at Interscope. However, they were dropped from the label shortly after its completion, and thus took it back with them to DeSoto, where it wound up being released. The EP for "The Ice of Boston" is the only item of theirs Interscope actually released during their tenure there. The band somehow managed to avoid being in debt to the label, effectively being able to record on a major label budget with no consequence. The band referred to their situation in a later interview as "slipping through the cracks".

Following the massive underground success of Emergency & I, the band received an even higher profile after being invited to open for the European leg of Pearl Jam's 2000 tour. A co-headlining tour in 2002 with Death Cab for Cutie (cheekily called the "Death and Dismemberment Tour") also worked well to raise both bands' profiles and cross-pollinate their fanbases, as well as forge creative ties between several members. Later that summer and fall the Dismemberment Plan started to debut songs for their follow-up to 2001's Change. In 2002 the band put all the music tracks from their last two albums on their website, encouraging fans to remix the songs. The result was 2003's A People's History of the Dismemberment Plan. On January 19, 2003, however, the band announced on their website that they had decided to break up after a few tours that year. A final show was planned for July 28, 2003 in Washington D.C.'s famous outdoor show space, Fort Reno Park. However come show-time a heavy rain threatened to damage their electronic equipment and drove off all but the most devoted fans, leading the band to add one more final show. On September 1, 2003, they closed out their career with a sold-out show at the renowned 9:30 Club, dubbed the "one last slice" show. Morrison took the post-Change songs with him for further work, and released many of them on his first album, Travistan, released in 2004. Eric Axelson started a band called Maritime with former members of The Promise Ring. They released two albums: Glass Floor in 2004 and We, the Vehicles in 2006.

On March 1, 2007, the band announced they would be playing a one-and-off reunion show on Saturday, April 28, 2007 at Washington D.C.'s venerable Black Cat nightclub. The event was a charity concert benefitting Callum Robbins son of J. Robbins frontman for DeSoto Records labelmate Jawbox. Fan reaction to the decision was overwhelmingly positive, and tickets to the concert sold out within minutes of being offered online. In response to the high demand for tickets, a second show was announced for April 27. Travis Morrison has stated that the band probably won't be getting back together, "except to drink beer". (http://www.travismorrison.com)

[edit] Musical style

The Dismemberment Plan performing at the Bowery Ballroom.
The Dismemberment Plan performing at the Bowery Ballroom.

While drawing heavily from previous Washington-based art-punk acts such as Fugazi and Jawbox, the Dismemberment Plan were significant for incorporating R&B (in stage banter, Morrison often talked of his obsession with Gladys Knight) and hip-hop influences to their sound. Influential indie rock criticism website Pitchfork Media has called them the fathers of the late-1990s/early-2000s dance-punk movement, which in turn fostered the current New Wave revival. Ironic humor was also a major component of the band's aesthetic, as displayed in songs such as "The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich" (Dismemberment Plan/Juno) and "The Ice of Boston" (...Is Terrified).

[edit] Performances

The Dismemberment Plan's live shows were generally high-energy affairs, with Morrison frequently inviting audience members to dance on stage during "The Ice of Boston". One of the band's most iconic songs, "Do the Standing Still", mocked indie rock fans for their reluctance to move during even the band's most frenetic performances, though Morrison himself would occasionally discourage fans from moshing.

The band toured Japan three times and Europe twice, along with many tours of North America.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Members

  • Eric Axelson (as of 10/11/06) Recently ended a two-year stint playing bass in Maritime, which featured with Davey and Dan from The Promise Ring. Justin Klug will take over his bass duties, although he appears on the band's second album We, the Vehicles. Axelson currently lives in Washington D.C. and in mid-2006 joined a band with Easley called Statehood.
  • Jason Caddell (as of 2/10/06) After a brief stint writing and performing short instrumental pieces for use in small-time films, Caddell has settled as an in-studio producer, mixer and engineer. He is currently working on the new Pash record (www.pashband.com) at Inner Ear Studios and Silver Sonya Studios in Arlington, VA. More info can be found at www.jasoncaddell.com
  • Joe Easley (as of 04/11/07) is currently playing in a new D.C.-based band with Axelson called Statehood.
  • Travis Morrison (as of 2/10/06) Playing shows with Travis Morrison and the Hellfighters and prepping a second post-Plan album, to be titled All Y'all. His career status can be found at travismorrison.com. Travis has also launched his new career as a producer, starting with Virginia band Cataract Camp. Tracks from this session can be found on the Cataract Camp MySpace account.
  • Steve Cummings (as of 04/16/07) is married to Eric's sister and is the father of three girls - they live in Richmond, Va. Steve works for a PR firm and writes and directs videos for various organizations.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hearon, Liza. An Interview with Travis Morrison of The Dismemberment Plan Retrieved on 2006-10-06.

[edit] External links

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