Death from Above 1979

Death from Above 1979 are a Canadian rock duo from Toronto, Ontario.^[1] The duo consists of Sebastien Grainger (vocals, drums, percussion) and Jesse F. Keeler (bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals). Their first full-length album, You're a Woman, I'm a Machine, was released in late 2004 on Last Gang Records. The band broke up in 2006, but announced a reunion in 2011. Their second album, The Physical World, was released in September 2014.

History

Early career

Death from Above 1979 consists of Jesse F. Keeler on bass, synths, and backing vocals, and Sebastien Grainger on vocals and drums. They were signed to Last Gang Records for the world with license arrangements with Vice Recordings in the U.S., 679 Recordings in the UK, and JVC in Japan. Although they reportedly met at a Sonic Youth concert, they sometimes jokingly claimed to have met in prison, on a pirate ship, or in a gay bar, leading some journalists and fans to believe these stories. They also claimed to have once lived in a funeral home.

In 2005, the video for "Blood On Our Hands" won a VideoFACT award at the MuchMusic Video Awards. They played "Romantic Rights" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, with Grainger drumming for the first half of the performance and Late Night's Max Weinberg on the same drum set for the second. The band was originally named "Death from Above", a name which appears on their second recording, Romantic Rights. The duo changed their name after a legal dispute with dance music label DFA Records.

The reason for the seemingly arbitrary date 1979 comes from Grainger's birth date. He responded to being asked why they chose it: "1979 is the year of my birth, 1979 is the year of Off the Wall, 1979 is the year of The Pleasure Principle, 1979 is the last year of the last cool decade, 1979 is scratched into my arm, 1979 is scratched into my arm, 1979 is scratched into my fucking arm." He also stated in an interview given to MTV: "I was born that year, and it's never going to be wrong."^[2]

It was speculated that the seemingly random year came from Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film Apocalypse Now, as the words "Death from Above" can be found on a logo on the Huey Helicopters that carry the main character and his crew in the Vietnam War. However, Grainger has asserted that this is simply a coincidence.^[3]

Break up

As of August 3, 2006, the band officially disbanded. Keeler posted the following message on the official Death from Above 1979 forum:

On MuchMusic's television program The New Music, Keeler further explained why the band split. He claimed it was due to disagreements with bandmate Grainger on many levels, including creative differences and musical style.

Reunion

On February 4, 2011, Grainger announced on the band's website that they were reforming.^[5] Along with this blog post, the band's official website was updated. They performed a new song while performing at EdgeFest on July 14, 2012 at Downsview Park in Toronto. On September 18, 2012, a Canadian tour was announced; the band revealed that they had written new songs, but needed to perform them live in order to "make them any good".^[6]

On October 28, 2012, the band's blog was updated in lieu of excitement for their string of shows around Canada. In the post, Grainger cited that they were "coming to share new material, and to work out the kinks". The band was originally scheduled to perform at Governors Ball Music Festival in June 2013, but later announced that they were having unexpected trouble while working on new music and cancelled their appearance. On July 11, 2013, the band confirmed that a new record is in the works on their Facebook page after cancelling European shows due to a "medical emergency". They did, however, perform at Wakestock Music Festival in August and Rifflandia in September.

On July 8, 2014, the band released a new single, "Trainwreck 1979", and announced more details of their upcoming studio album The Physical World. The album will include 11 songs and the band will tour extensively in support of it.^[7]

The documentary "Life After Death From Above 1979" was released on October 7, 2014, which chronicled the history of the band and their reunion. It was directed by Grainger's wife, Eva Michon.

On April 14, 2015, the band announced that they would be playing Glastonbury festival 2015.

Discography

Studio albums

• You're a Woman, I'm a Machine (October 26, 2004) (UK No. 84)
• The Physical World (September 9, 2014) (UK No. 37)

Remix album

• Romance Bloody Romance: Remixes & B-Sides (October 18, 2005)

EPs

• Heads Up (December 15, 2002)
• Romantic Rights EP (April 13, 2004)

Singles

• "Romantic Rights" (November 4, 2004) (UK No. 57)
• "Blood on Our Hands" (February 17, 2005) (UK No. 33)
• "Black History Month" (June 13, 2005) (UK No. 48)^[8]
• "Trainwreck 1979" (July 8, 2014) #14 Billboard Alternative Songs, #22 Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs
• "Crystal Ball" (2014)
• "Government Trash" (August 14, 2014)
• "Virgins" (July 10, 2015)

Videography

• "Romantic Rights"
• "Blood on Our Hands"
• "Black History Month"
• "Black History Month" (Sammy Danger Remix)
• "Pull Out"
• "Sexy Results" (MSTRKRFT Edition)
• "Trainwreck 1979"
• "Virgins"
• "White is Red"

Related bands and projects

MSTRKRFT

MSTRKRFT is an electronic duo made up by Jesse F. Keeler and Al-P. Two MSTRKRFT remixes can be found on Death from Above 1979's 2005 release Romance Bloody Romance. MSTRKRFT's debut album, The Looks, was released on July 18, 2006. Their second LP, Fist of God, was released March 17, 2009.

Bad Tits / Deserts

Bad Tits is Sebastien Grainger's band with Joshua Reichmann, formerly of Jewish Legend and Tangiers. The duo began playing shows in early 2010, with Grainger on drums and samplers, Reichmann on guitar and keyboards, and both singing. They released a debut vinyl 7" and digital EP titled Garbage Night on the label Hand Drawn Dracula. On February 26, 2012, Grainger announced on his Twitter account that Bad Tits had changed their name to Deserts.^[9] Desert's Twitter account posted about having been recording music shortly after.^[9]

Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains

Sebastien Grainger released an EP with The Mountains titled American Names, and later a self-titled LP, in 2008. The band toured for a year and a half, opening for such acts as Metric, Albert Hammond Jr, and Bloc Party in North America and Europe. They were signed with Saddle Creek Records in the U.S., Outside Music in Canada, and JVC in Japan.

Femme Fatale

Femme Fatale was a band that featured Jesse F. Keeler before Death from Above 1979. It is considered to have a more hardcore sound than Death from Above. Sebastien Grainger played drums for Femme Fatale in live shows; however, during recordings, Keeler played all the instruments, wrote all the songs, and sang all the vocals. Femme Fatale is no longer in the works, due to the live aspect of it being often too difficult, and other top-priority projects such as MSTRKRFT.

Black Cat No. 13

Black Cat No. 13 was a band that also featured Jesse F. Keeler, and lasted from 1998 to 2000, when the band split due to musical differences. The band released all vinyl releases which are very hard to find and are considered collector's items by Death from Above 1979 fans. Unlike Femme Fatale, Grainger had no role in Black Cat No. 13, though Al-P produced many of their releases.

Media

• Brazilian electro-rock band CSS released a single called "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above".
• "Romantic Rights" was used in the opening credits for the CBC show The Hour, the MTV show Human Giant, and the video game SSX on Tour.
• "Black History Month" is featured in the video game Project Gotham Racing 3.
• "Little Girl" is featured in the video game Major League Baseball 2K7 and Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.
• The Marczech Makuziak remix of "Romantic Rights" is featured in the video game Tourist Trophy.
• A remix of "Romantic Rights" is heard in a club on an episode of CSI: NY.
• "Sexy Results" was featured in the game Saint's Row 2, on one of the in-game radio stations.
• The MSTRKRFT version of "Sexy Results" was used in the commercial for the Motorola Q.
• Various songs were featured in the 2006 run of German television show Die Super Nanny.
• The Bloody Beetroots released a song called "Fucked From Above 1985" on their album Romborama.
• "Turn It Out" is featured in the film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
• Crystal Castles sampled "Dead Womb" in "Untrust Us", the first track off of their eponymous debut LP.
• "Romantic Rights" is played in the background of a scene in the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
• "Crystal Ball" is one of the songs on EA Sports FIFA 15 soundtrack.^[10]
• "Trainwreck 1979" is one of the songs on EA Sports NHL 15 soundtrack.
• "Romantic Rights" is one of the songs on the NBA 2K15 soundtrack.^[11]
• "Nothing Left" is one of the songs on the MLB 15: The Show soundtrack.
• "Trainwreck 1979" is one of the songs featured in the Season 4 finale of the 2011 TV series Teen Wolf, "Smoke and Mirrors"
• "Always On" is used in Episode 4 of Season 1 of Jessica Jones, "AKA 99 Friends"

Samples

• 	"Romantic Rights" Sample of "Romantic Rights", from You're a Woman, I'm a Machine. "Dead Womb" Sample of "Dead Womb", from Heads Up.
  Problems playing these files? See media help.

See also

• Music of Canada
• Canadian rock
• List of Canadian musicians
• List of bands from Canada
• Category:Canadian musical groups

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Death from Above 1979.

• Official website
• Death from Above 1979 on Facebook
• Death from Above 1979 discography at Discogs
• Life After Death From Above 1979