Lovedrug

Lovedrug
Background information
Origin	Canton, Ohio, USA
Genres	Indie rock
Years active	2001 – Present
Labels	The Militia Group
Members	Michael Shepard Jeremy Michael Gifford Thomas Bragg James Freshwater

Lovedrug is an indie rock band formed in Canton Ohio in 2001. The band’s name is something of a word play; singer Michael Shepard initially left music to attend film school but his first ‘love’ of the music medium ‘dragged’ him back (thus “Lovedrug”; the past participle of a verb, not an aphrodisiac).^[1]

History

Lovedrug released their first EP, the Lovedrug EP, with the follow-up EP, the Rocknroll EP, coming in mid-2004. After signing to The Militia Group, an indie-rock label, the band released their first full-length Pretend You're Alive on July 27, 2004. The album was produced by Tim Patalan, and featured dark, guitar-driven art rock. The album became the label's fastest selling debut ever, selling close to 20,000 copies in the first few months of release. The record and band were thus up-streamed to major label parent Columbia Records at the end of 2005,^[2][3] though the re-release of Pretend You're Alive, and accompanying radio single for "Spiders", were undercut by tremendous corporate purging that plagued Columbia Records throughout 2005 and 2006.

Lovedrug toured heavily from 2004 through early 2007, including support dates with The Killers, Robert Plant, Switchfoot, and Coheed & Cambria, Matchbook Romance and several headlining runs, establishing a sizable American following.^[2] By late 2006, Lovedrug had a new album’s worth of material and, to avoid continued upheaval at Columbia,^[4] returned to The Militia Group to release Everything Starts Where It Ends, again produced by Tim Patalan, on March 7, 2007. The album was well received, selling close to 30k albums in several months on the back of Japanese and North American touring, including two headline runs and tours with Sparta, Blue October, and The Plain White Ts.^[4] The video for “Ghost By Your Side” was added to regular rotation on MTV and the college/indie single “Happy Apple Poison” charted in the top 10.

The band's third album, The Sucker Punch Show, was made with iconic 90's rock producer Michael Beinhorn (Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mew) at the Red Bull Studios in Santa Monica, CA.^[5] Though the October 28, 2008 release coincided with the bankruptcy and collapse of The Militia Group in North America, the album was especially well received when re-released in Europe on June 2, 2009 with Make My Day Records, landing at No. 6 on the Visions summer chart, garnering broad radio play for the single “Only One”.^[6] The Euro version of The Sucker Punch Show included a full-length alternate version of the album entitled "Sucker Punched (Alt. LP)".^[7] The band toured Europe in June and July, playing a number of club shows and festivals with Kings of Leon, Nine Inch Nails, Silversun Pickups, and Eagles of Death Metal.^[8][9]

March 2010 saw EP - Part I, the first installment in a series of three EPs collectively logoed "+/-",^[10] coinciding with the band's appearances at the South By Southwest conference in Austin Texas and a number of surrounding touring dates including Bamboozle at Giants Stadium.^[11][12] EP - Part II followed on June 13, 2010, along with another 3-week headlining tour in the USA. In November the band announced I AM LOVEDRUG, a fan-driven campaign in partnership with PledgeMusic to fund the recording and setup of album No. 4,.^[13][14] The band reached its goal over the holiday, released the final EP PART III in January ’11, and head into the studio in March & April with producer Paul Moak in Nashville.^[15][16]

Wild Blood

The first two singles from the new album entitled "Wild Blood" were released together as the split-single Pink Champagne / Dinosaur on September 6, 2011.^[17] The music video for Dinosaur, written and directed by Shepard, was premiered by Filter (magazine) the following week.^[18] At a recent show in Chicago, the band played 3 new songs from the release: "Anodyne", "Revival", and "Wild Blood". The album was produced and engineered by Paul Moak at The Smoakstack and was released to stores on March 6, 2012.^[19] The band toured extensively before and after the album release, performing over 50 dates in North American from February through May 2012, and including direct support from The Last Royals, Kingsfoil, and others.

Track Listing:

Members

Current members

• Michael Shepard - Vocals, Guitar, Piano
• Jeremy M Gifford - Guitar, Piano
• Thomas Bragg - Bass
• James Freshwater - Drums

Former members

• Matt Bentley - Guitar, BGV
• Adam Ladd - Bass
• Matthew Putman - Drums
• Dave Owen - Guitar, BGV
• Greg Hooley-Flute, Accordion, Triangle, Zither, Fingersnaps

Past touring/studio players

• Joas Miller - Drums
• Matthew Depper - Bass
• Korey Jones - Bass
• Enoch Porch - Bass, Drums
• Joseph Melnyk - Drums

Discography

Full Length albums

• Pretend You're Alive (2004) The Militia Group / Columbia Records
• Everything Starts Where It Ends (2007) The Militia Group / Lovedrugmusic
• The Sucker Punch Show (2008/2009) The Militia Group / Make My Day Records
• Wild Blood (March 6, 2012) Lovedrugmusic
• Pretend Your Alive - rarities version 10 year edition (July 27, 2014) Lovedrugmusic

EPs

• Lovedrug EP (2002)^[20]
• Rocknroll EP (2004)
• Everything Starts... EP (October 24, 2006)
• This Is The End EP (2008 - digital bonus tracks with album pre-order))
• Sucker Punched (Alt. LP) (2009)
• Everything Starts Live Tour - bootleg (2010)
• EP - Part I (2010)^[21]
• EP - Part II (2010)^[21]
• EP - Part III (January 2011)^[22]
• Pink Champagne / Dinosaur - single (September 6, 2011)^[17]
• Sessions EP (September 6, 2012)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lovedrug.

• Official Website
• Facebook
• MySpace
• Official Lovedrug Purevolume