| Michael Melchiondo, Jr. | |
|---|---|
Dean Ween performing with Ween at Flames Central in Calgary, Alberta on November 16th, 2007. |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Dean Ween |
| Born | September 25, 1970 New Hope, Pennsylvania United States |
| Genres | Alternative rock, experimental rock, neo-psychedelia, hard rock, lo-fi |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Associated acts | Ween, Moistboyz |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Stratocaster[1] | |
Dean Ween (also Deaner, b. 25 September 1970) is the stage name of Michael "Mickey" Melchiondo, Jr., American guitarist and half of the alternative rock group Ween.
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Growing up, Melchiondo listened to a variety of music from The Beatles to Parliament/Funkadelic, to Leonard Cohen to Prince, to The Ramones to Laurie Anderson. He has a very wide range of musical influences.
Dean later met Aaron Freeman (Gene Ween) in a junior high school typing class in their hometown of New Hope, Pennsylvania, and although the two did not get along at first, they soon found they were soul brothers and thus adopted the common surname. The Ween brothers were soon spending all of their time in Melchiondo's bedroom, Melchiondo banging out songs on guitars tuned to open chords and Freeman wailing out the "good word" of the Boognish (a demon god that first appeared outside of their classroom at school and offered them the scepters of wealth and power for their "services") into a cheap microphone. Within a few years, the two found themselves opening for the likes of underground favorites such as the Butthole Surfers and Henry Rollins.
In the wake of Ween's new success with Elektra Records after releasing the albums Pure Guava and Chocolate & Cheese, Melchiondo started up another band with his friend Guy Heller (who had a guest appearance on Pure Guava) called the Moistboyz. This was his introduction to Ipecac Recordings and also the source of his alternative title, "Mickey Moist" (Heller taking the name "Dickie Moist" in typical surname fashion). The Moistboyz' music was, for the most part, a clash of heavy metal and punk rock accompanied by lyrics focused on overtly offensive humor blended with a strange form of social commentary.
After having recorded 12 Golden Country Greats, an album of ten country tunes Ween had written over the years with the help of Charlie McCoy, Buddy Harman, Bobby Ogdin and many other legendary session players in Nashville, he married longtime girlfriend Ellen Schmit (whom he met when she pulled up in her pickup truck at his job pumping gas at a Mobil Station). The couple had a baby boy in December 2000. The family currently resides in New Jersey.
Dean made significant contributions to two projects by his friend Josh Homme: The Desert Sessions and Queens of the Stone Age. On the critically successful 2002 Queens of the Stone Age album Songs for the Deaf, Dean played guitar on "Mosquito Song", "Gonna Leave You", and "Six Shooter".
In 2009 Mickey Melchiondo received his captain's license and regularly leads fishing trips off the Jersey shore as Mickey's Guide Service.[2][3][4]
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