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Biography
about|the indie-rock band Deerhunter|the Boston-based progressive rock band|The Dear Hunter|the film|The Deer Hunter|the hunting simulation video game |Deer Hunter (series)|Infobox musical artist| name = Deerhunter| image = Deerhunter at Coachella.jpg| caption = Deerhunter at the Coachella Festival|2010 Coachella Festival | landscape = yes| background = group_or_band| origin = Atlanta , Georgia (U.S. State)|Georgia , United States|USA | genre = Noise rock , ambient music|Ambient , Shoegaze , Post-punk revival , Indie rock | years_active = 2001–present| label = Kranky Records|Kranky , Stickfigure Records|Stickfigure , 4AD | associated_acts = Atlas Sound , Ghetto Cross , The Wet Dreams (Bradford Cox) Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (Josh Fauver) Lotus Plaza (Lockett Pundt) Hollow Stars (Colin Mee)| website = http://deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/ Band-Maintained Blog| current_members = Bradford Cox Moses Archuleta Josh Fauver Lotus Plaza|Lockett Pundt | past_members = Justin Bosworth (deceased, 1980–2004) Dan Walton Adam Bruneau Colin Mee Whitney Petty Deerhunter is an American four-piece indie rock group originating from Atlanta , Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia . The band, consisting of Atlas Sound|Bradford Cox , Moses Archuleta, Josh Fauver, and Lotus Plaza|Lockett Pundt , have described themselves as " Ambient music|ambient punk rock|punk ," though they incorporate a wide range of genres, including noise rock , art rock , shoegaze , and post-punk , as well as significant pop music|pop elements. The band has gone through several line-up changes and the death of a member.
History
Formation and Turn It Up Faggot (2001–2005)
The band was co-founded in 2001 by vocalist Bradford Cox and drummer/keyboardist Moses Archuleta.cite web|title=Don't Quit Your Day Job|accessdate=2007-06-20|work=Stereogum|url= http://www.stereogum.com/archives/quit-your-day-job/quit-your-day-job-deerhunter.html The name Deerhunter came from the band's first drummer, Dan Walton, who was asked to leave the band early in its career.cite web|title=Deerhunter Images|accessdate=2007-12-08|work=Stereogum|url= http://www.dieslaughterhausrecords.com/deerhunter/pic7.html |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070927051525/ http://www.dieslaughterhausrecords.com/deerhunter/pic7.html |archivedate = 2007-09-27 The band were 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 skateboard ing 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".cite web|title=Youth Gone Wild: Deerhunter's young punks try to fight off adulthood|accessdate=2007-06-10|work=Creative Loafing|url= http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content? oid=oid%3A57335 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.
Cryptograms and Fluorescent Grey EP (2005–2007)
The band, now featuring Pundt's reverb -saturated guitar sound, went on tour, playing shows with the likes of Lightning Bolt (band)|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 .cite web|title=Interview: Deerhunter|accessdate=2007-06-25|work=Pitchfork Media|url= http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/43085-interview-deerhunter 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 Lubleski.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|Athens , Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia and decided to give recording their second album another attempt. This was partly due to advice received from the band Liars (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 (album)|Cryptograms . In 2006, before its release, Pitchfork Media added "Spring Hall Convert", a song from the record, to its "Infinite Mix Tape series".cite web|title=Infinite Mixtape #51: Deerhunter: "Spring Hall Convert"|accessdate=2007-07-10|work=Pitchfork Media|url= http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/39308-infinite-mixtape-51-deerhunter-spring-hall-convert The album was released by Kranky Records|Kranky in January 2007. The album revealed a more subdued and introvertedcite web|title=Interview: Deerhunter|accessdate=2007-10-30|work=Stylus Magazine |url= http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/interview/deerhunter.htm 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 music concert|show .cite web|title=Deerhunter Whirlyball 7" Single|accessdate=2007-06-10|work=Chunklet|url= http://www.chunklet.com/store/index.cfm? fuseaction=product.display& product_id=51
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".cite web|title=stereogum: Colin Mee Leaves Deerhunter|accessdate=2007-09-01|work=Stereogum|url= http://www.stereogum.com/archives/colin-mee-leaves-deerhunter.html Mee rejoined the band after their autumn 2007 Europe an tour.
Microcastle and hiatus (2007–2009)
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 Fluorescent Grey/Oh, It's Such A Shame|"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 EP|Fluorescent Grey title track. http://www.discogs.com/Jay-Reatard-Deerhunter-Split/release/1400559 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 . http://www.expressnightout.com/content/2008/11/micro_giants_deerhunter.php
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 #123 on the Billboard 200,cite web|title=Artist Chart History - Deerhunter|accessdate=2008-11-06|work=Billboard|url= http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do? model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums& model.vnuArtistId=686930& model.vnuAlbumId=1181119 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 United Kingdom|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:cite web|title=A|accessdate=2009-03-28|work=Deerhunter Blog|url= http://deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-post_11.html cquote|We will be a four-piece again for now. Whitney is what you would call a 'free spirit.' She's also a great friend. Deerhunter is the four of us. We might have people come and go and that's just how we keep things interesting for ourselves. 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." http://pitchfork.com/news/35202-no-age-deerhunter-and-dan-deacon-to-tour-together-this-summer/ Later during a performance at All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)|All Tomorrow's Parties 2009 Music Festival in September (curated by The Flaming Lips ), http://www.atpfestival.com/events/atpnewyork2009.php 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." http://www.spinner.com/2009/09/13/deerhunter-announce-hiatus-at-atp-festival/ During the hiatus, Bradford Cox continued with Atlas Sound and released his second album Logos (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.
Halcyon Digest (2010)
In early January, it was revealed that the group would serve as openers on the upcoming Spoon (band)|Spoon tour to promote their album Transference (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 Festival lineups#UK 2010 curated by Matt Groening|All Tomorrow's Parties (curated by Simpsons creator, Matt Groening .) http://www.atpfestival.com/events/mattgroening.php During these shows, the band began to debut some new material, including the songs "Helicopter," "Primitive 3D," "Fountain Stairs" and "Revival," http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/deerhunter/2010/coachella-festival-indio-ca-1bd4f194.html 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 (who also worked on Animal Collective|Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion (album)|Merriweather Post Pavilion and Fall Be Kind|Fall Be Kind EP .) http://pitchfork.com/news/39323-deerhunter-working-with-animal-collective-collaborator-ben-allen/ A week later the band launched a http://halcyondigest.com/ new website where they announced the title and release date of the LP, along with a Guerrilla marketing|guerilla style marketing campaign. http://halcyondigest.com/flyer/ The first single " Revival (Deerhunter song)|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. http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx? csid1=115& csid2=844& fid1=48291
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 . http://fashionetc.com/news/fashion/475-elle-fanning-rodarte-film
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.cite news| url= http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/magazine/the-gen-x-nostalgia-boom.html? pagewanted | work=New York Times | title= http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/arts/music/10deer.html | date=2008-10-09 | accessdate=2011-11-05 | first1=Ben | last1=Ratlif 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."Interview with Cam Lindsay, Exclaim& #33; October Issue. url= http://exclaim.ca/articles/coverstory.aspx? csid1=148 {accessed September 29, 2010}
Discography
main|Deerhunter discography
Studio albums
Turn It Up Faggot (2005)
Cryptograms (album)|Cryptograms (2007)
Microcastle (2008)
Weird Era Cont. (2008)
Halcyon Digest (2010)
EPs
Fluorescent Grey EP|Fluorescent Grey (2007)
Rainwater Cassette Exchange (2009)
iTunes Live from SoHo (2011)
Other Recordings
Carve Your Initials Into The Wall of the Night (2005)
Touring
Deerhunter have garnered a reputation for their intense live shows.Citation needed|date=February 2009Cox has worn sundress es and has performed with fake blood smeared over his face and hands, their live show being "much more savage" than their albums.cite news|title=Hazy Clouds of Sound, Halfway Intelligible Vocals|accessdate=2007-06-10|work=The New York Times|url= http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/28/arts/music/28deer.html? p...=& ei=5088& en=9183e07ac588390e& ex=1335412800& pagewanted=all | first=Kelefa | last=Sanneh | date=2007-04-28 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."cite web|title=Deerhunter's Cox Talks LP3, Atlas Sound, Dresses|accessdate=2007-06-09|work=Pitchfork Media|url= http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/42945-deerhunters-cox-talks-lp3-atlas-sound-dresses
