Heatmiser

This article is about the alternative rock band. For the character from The Year Without a Santa Claus, see Heat Miser.
Heatmiser
Background information
Origin Portland, Oregon, United States
Genres Indie rock, alternative rock
Years active 1991–1996
Labels Cavity Search, Frontier, Virgin, Caroline
Associated acts No. 2
Quasi
Past members Elliott Smith
Neil Gust
Tony Lash
Sam Coomes
Brandt Peterson

Heatmiser was an American alternative rock band, formed in Portland, Oregon in October 1991. Consisting of Elliott Smith (guitar and vocals), Neil Gust (guitar and vocals), Brandt Peterson (bass; later to be replaced by Sam Coomes, frontman of Quasi) and Tony Lash (drums), they were known for their well-crafted lyrics and songs often featuring the juxtaposition of melancholic and cheery words and melodies. The pop-oriented songs of Neil Gust were a contrast to the darker songs of Elliott Smith, while both Smith and Gust's songs touched on subjects such as anger, alienation, loneliness and despair.

History

Pre-Heatmiser early years (1987–1990)

In 1987, while both of them were attending classes at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, Neil Gust and Elliott Smith met and formed a band. In addition to covers of songs by Ringo Starr and Elvis Costello, the pair performed original songs in clubs in nearby Northampton.[1]

Heatmiser early years: Dead Air and Cop and Speeder (1991–1993)

Following their graduation from Hampshire College, Gust and Smith returned to Portland, Oregon, where they reconfigured the band into the line-up it is known for today. Brandt Peterson played bass on the albums Dead Air and Cop and Speeder, the EP Yellow No. 5 and several singles.

Later years: line-up changes and Mic City Sons (1994–1996)

Peterson left the band in August 1994 and was replaced by Sam Coomes, a friend of Smith's. Coomes played on Heatmiser's last album, Mic City Sons, and on tour. Tony Lash went to high school with Elliott Smith and played flute in the school band and drums in Smith's band Stranger Than Fiction. He left Heatmiser in late 1996, prior to what would be their final tour. John Moen (later of The Decemberists) was brought in to play drums.

Disbandment

The band broke up in the fall of 1996, prior to the release of their third and last album, Mic City Sons.

Gust went on to play in the band No. 2. Coomes carried on as half of Quasi, as well as playing as a guest musician for Built to Spill and Sleater-Kinney. Lash currently keeps himself busy as a producer. He produced the first two albums by The Dandy Warhols and he helped with the production of Death Cab for Cutie's first two studio albums (Something About Airplanes and We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes). Peterson teaches anthropology at Michigan State University.[2] Smith went on to a successful solo career before his death on October 21, 2003.

Artistry

Musical style

Heatmiser was labeled as a "homocore" or "queercore" band by the mainstream press, because of the themes espoused in the songs of the openly gay Gust.[1] It was also speculated that Gust and Smith were lovers. Elliott Smith repeatedly denied this in interviews or that he was even gay. In one interview Smith said he "would probably be a lot happier if [he] was gay." Smith also said that Gust's being gay was "not a big deal, [nor] anyone's business".

Elliott Smith later dismissed the group's music as "loud", and his own singing on their first album as "an embarrassment". Smith also bemoaned that being in Heatmiser changed the songs he was writing at the time into "loud rock songs with no dynamic."[1] Heatmiser also frustrated the members of the band. In an interview, Smith recalled:

“ I was being a total actor, acting out a role I didn't even like. I couldn't come out and show where I was coming from. I was always disguised in this loud rock band. [In the beginning] we all got together, everyone wanted to play in a band and it was fun, then after a couple of years we realized that none of us really liked this kind of music, and that we didn't have to play this way. You didn't have to turn all these songs you wrote into these loud... things. [...] It was kinda weird – people that came to our shows, a majority of them were people I couldn't relate to at all. Why aren't there more people like me coming to our shows? Well, it's because I'm not even playing the kind of music that I really like.[1] ”

Performance style

Brendan Benson was the opening act for Heatmiser on that tour. Reporter Jeff Stark's article about a date on that tour, a December 1, 1996 show at San Francisco's Bottom of the Hill club, recalled Smith as "part charismatic rock star, part bar-band regular, oozing nonchalant confidence".

Heatmiser also had a less serious side:

“ Somewhere in the middle of the set the band started goofing off; Gust pushed Smith down in the middle of a song. Later, Heatmiser tossed self-effacing cracks at the audience, perhaps to parody Smith's reputation for despondence. Between songs, bassist Coomes proclaimed, 'We've got Søren Kierkegaard on guitar.' To which Smith jokingly announced, 'This one's called Fear and Trembling. I suppose I should have known that any band named after the claymation villain in the dated The Year Without a Santa Claus would have a sense of humor.[3] ”

Legacy

Later in his career, Smith believed that his blatant dismissal of the band in interviews for his solo albums hurt Neil Gust and led to discontent between them. The success of Roman Candle and Elliott Smith caused tensions in the band, especially between Smith and Gust, and led to the band's break-up.[4]

Discography

Studio albums
EPs
Singles
Appears on
Various-artist compilations
Soundtracks

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Schutt, S. R. "Sweet Adeline | Biography – Page 5". Sweet Adeline. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  2. ↑ "07faclty.vp – 07faclty.pdf". reg.msu.edu. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  3. ↑ Stark, Jeff (December 11, 1996). "Anti-Depressants". SF Weekly. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  4. ↑ Kagler, Marcus (March 20, 2003). "Elliott Smith: Better Off Than Dead | Under the Radar". Under the Radar. Retrieved June 26, 2013.