Deerhunter is an American five-piece indie rock group originating from Atlanta, Georgia.
The band, consisting of Bradford Cox, Moses Archuleta, Frankie Broyles, Josh McKay and
Lockett Pundt, have described themselves as "ambient punk," though they incorporate a
wide range of genres, including noise rock, garage rock, art rock, shoegaze, and post-punk,
as well as significant pop elements. The band has gone through several line-up changes and
the death of a member.
History 2001-2005: Formation and Turn It Up Faggot
The band was co-founded in 2001 by vocalist Bradford Cox and drummer/keyboardist Moses
Archuleta. The name Deerhunter came from the band's interest in the Deer Hunter series
of arcade games. The band was joined by Colin Mee, whom Cox met while Mee was living at
the Atlanta label Die Slaughterhaus Records with members of Black Lips. In 2004 the group's
first bassist, Justin Bosworth, died of head injuries suffered in a skateboarding accident.
He appeared on only one Deerhunter release, the Deerhunter/Alphabets Split, issued before
their debut album. Joshua Fauver, of Atlanta punk band Electrosleep International, then
took up the position as bassist. Bosworth's death influenced the sound of Deerhunter's
first album, Turn It Up Faggot, which was "the result of a lot of negativity". After
the band finished the album, in an indication of how difficult it was to record in the wake
of his bandmate's death, Cox said "I don't ever want to make this album again". The album's
liner notes are dedicated to Bosworth. After the release of Turn It Up Faggot, Cox asked
his best friend from high school, Lockett Pundt, to join the band.
2005-2007: Cryptograms and Fluorescent Grey EP
The band, now featuring Pundt's reverb-saturated guitar sound, went on tour, playing shows
with the likes of Lightning Bolt and Gang Gang Dance. This tour culminated in a recording
session engineered by acclaimed folk musician Samara Lubelski at Rare Book Room, New York.
This session failed to produce anything that could be used, due to Cox’s mental and physical
state at the time, as well as disagreements that emerged with Lubelski. Cox has kept a
copy of the sessions on "a scratched CD-R under my bed" and has stated that "nobody
will ever hear them". In spite of Cox's claim excerpts from those sessions were later posted
as a free download on the band's blog. The band returned to the same studio where they
recorded their first album outside Athens, Georgia and decided to give recording their
second album another attempt. This was partly due to advice received from the band Liars,
who encouraged them to re-record it. It took only two days in November 2005 for
the band to record their second album, entitled Cryptograms. In 2006, before its release,
Pitchfork Media added "Spring Hall Convert", a song from the record, to its "Infinite Mix
Tape series". The album was released by Kranky in January 2007. The album revealed a more
subdued and introverted sound for the band. As with their first album, Cryptograms also
had a dedication inside the album's liner notes, this time to a friend of Cox's, Bradley
Ira Harris, a heroin addict who died in 2005. On May 8, 2007, the group released the Fluorescent
Grey EP, which was recorded in July 2006. In the same month, the band released the Whirlyball
7" single, which was only available at Criminal Records, a record shop in Atlanta. The single
also acted as a ticket to a show. On August 29, 2007, the group became a quartet
with the loss of guitarist Colin Mee. Mee departed because he "...couldn't make it to
a couple of shows we had booked next weekend and that was unacceptable to certain bandmates".
Mee rejoined the band after their autumn 2007 European tour.
2007-2009: Microcastle and hiatus Deerhunter contributed the song "After Class"
to Living Bridge, a compilation put together by Rare Book Room Records. The song was recorded
in the same place where they attempted to record their second album. They returned to
Rare Book Room studios in April 2008 to record "Oh, It's Such A Shame," a Jay Reatard cover
that would be released as a split single with Reatard himself covering the Fluorescent Grey
title track. In the same month they recorded their next album, Microcastle. Prior to the
announced release date for the LP, the band continued to tour, with one date opening for
The Smashing Pumpkins and a select of fall shows opening for Nine Inch Nails.
The quartet's third offering, Microcastle, was set to be released on October 27, 2008
although it became available through peer-to peer networks in late May. In an attempt to
reward fans who awaited for the street date, the group reconvened to record a new album
of material, Weird Era Cont., which later leaked before its street date also. However,
Microcastle did manage to debut at No. 123 on the Billboard 200, a first for Deerhunter.
Colin Mee again left the band, to be replaced by former cheerleader and high school friend
of Cox's, Whitney Petty. While touring the Microcastle album in the
UK, Cox booked an evening in a studio and recorded what would become the On Platts Eyott
cassette. This was released in two batches of 100 copies each; an edition of pink cassettes
was given out to competition winners by his record label and orange cassettes were sold
at a special Halloween concert in Atlanta on the 31st of October 2008. In a comment
left on the Deerhunter blog on February 28, Cox announced that Whitney Petty was no longer
a member of the band, stating: While on tour, the band managed to release
Rainwater Cassette Exchange, an EP of songs written during the Microcastle sessions, and
"Vox Celeste 5," a Sub Pop single of songs from Weird Era Cont. and Microcastle. To promote
the releases, they embarked on a short summer trek with No Age and Dan Deacon as the "No
Deachunter Tour." Later during a performance at All Tomorrow's Parties 2009 Music Festival
in September, Bradford Cox announced that the band will be going on hiatus to "devote
time to some other things," calling the show their last "for a long time." During the hiatus,
Bradford Cox continued with Atlas Sound and released his second album Logos, Josh Fauver
resumed work with his record label Army of Bad Luck, Moses Archuleta enrolled in culinary
school, and Lockett Pundt performed some shows in celebration of The Floodlight Collective,
his debut album as Lotus Plaza released in March of that year.
2010: Halcyon Digest In early January, it was revealed that the
group would serve as openers on the upcoming Spoon tour to promote their album Transference.
Along with the Spoon tour, the group also announced some shows of their own, including
stops at the 2010 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and All Tomorrow's Parties
During these shows, the band began to debut some new material, including the songs "Helicopter,"
"Primitive 3D," "Fountain Stairs" and "Revival," all of which would end up being recorded for
their next studio session to follow. In June, Deerhunter took a short break from
touring to record Halcyon Digest. Initial news of the album became public when music
industry firm, Milk Money, posted a message on their Twitter account that the band had
been mixing the new record with Ben Allen A week later the band launched a new website
where they announced the title and release date of the LP, along with a guerilla style
marketing campaign. The first single "Revival," was made available to fans who had assisted
the band with promotion for the new album through a link via official email. In the
same month, director John Albrecht posted a trailer for an upcoming live video on his
Vimeo page set to be released later in the year.
It has been recently announced that Deerhunter will be providing an original score to the
The Curve of Forgotten Things, a short film by the fashion line Rodarte starring Elle
Fanning. 2013-present: Monomania
On March 22, 2013, Deerhunter announced their sixth studio album would be released on May
7, 2013. The album, entitled Monomania, was recorded in New York with frequent collaborator
and producer Nicolas Vernhes at his Rare Book Room Studio. For Monomania, former bassist
Josh Fauver was replaced by Josh McKay, and Atlanta native Frankie Broyles was brought
in to play guitar. Deerhunter's press release describes the record as "NOCTURNAL GARAGE"
and “avant garde(?) but only in context not form / before logic: FOG MACHINE / LEATHER
/ NEON.” On April 2, 2013 the band performed the song "Monomania" on Late Night with Jimmy
Fallon. Current plans
It has been announced they will headline and curate the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival
held at Pontins holiday camp in Camber Sands, England from the 21–23 June 2013. At the
event they will perform the Cryptograms, Microcastle & Halcyon Digest albums in full, with Atlas
Sound also performing. Deerhunter was announced as a headliner at Austin Psych Fest, the 6th
annual festival held April 26–28, 2013, Heineken Primavera Sound, Optimus Primavera
Sound, and will perform live at Dancity Festival along with FYF fest in Los Angeles, this summer.
Deerhunter have also been asked to play at the Meredith Music Festival this December
in Victoria, Australia. Influences
The band has revealed many artists and genres that contribute to Deerhunter's sound. A New
York times concert review mentioned "the Breeders, Stereolab, disco rhythm, krautrock, Sonic
Youth’s noise breakdowns, girl-group pop, the picked eighth-note bass lines of 1980s
indie rock", as influences. The song "Coronado" from Halcyon Digest features saxophone sounds
inspired by the Rolling Stones' album Exile On Main Street. Cox recalled, "I wanted that
sax on there because I was listening to the Stones' Exile On Main Street reissue a lot...I
began to see a pattern forming. Saxophones are becoming this thing. That's why we did
it early. Next year everyone's gonna have a saxophone on their record because saxophones
are just cool." Members
Bradford Cox - lead vocals, guitar, percussion, keyboards, electronics
Lockett Pundt - guitar, occasional lead vocals, keyboards
Moses Archuleta - drums, percussion, electronics Frankie Broyles - guitar
Josh McKay - bass guitar, organ Discography
Studio albums Turn It Up Faggot
Cryptograms Microcastle
Weird Era Cont. Halcyon Digest
Monomania Touring
During live shows, Cox has worn sundresses and has performed with fake blood smeared
over his face and hands, their live show being "much more savage" than their albums. In his
explanation of the sundresses Cox has said, "I don't like the idea of going around stage
in just jeans and a t-shirt. It seems anticlimactic." Deerhunter have supported many bands on tour,
including Nine Inch Nails, TV on the Radio, Project Pat, Liars, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Spoon,
The Smashing Pumpkins, The Fiery Furnaces, Lower Dens, Ex-Models and Battles.
See also Atlas Sound - Bradford Cox's solo project
Lotus Plaza - Lockett Pundt's solo project References
External links Official website
Deerhunter on Myspace Official Halcyon Digest Website
Written Interview - at Press Play and Record