Criteria is an indie rock band from Omaha, Nebraska, formed in 2003 when ex-

Cursive Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionalit ...

founding member

Steve Pedersen Steve Pederson is an American guitarist from maha,Nebraska. He left Cursive in 1998 to attend law school at Duke University in North Carolina, after graduating from Creighton University with a degree in political science. At Duke, he started the ...

returned to his hometown after graduating from the Duke University School of Law. He spent six months in a friend's basement where he wrote all ten songs for his new project's debut album. He recruited the help of some old friends, A.J. Mogis (of

Presto! Recording Studios Presto! Recording Studios is located in Lincoln, Nebraska, and run by brothers Mike Mogis and A.J. Mogis. The studio began in the brothers' North Platte, Nebraska basement and around 1995 moved to the basement of a Lincoln home. First known as W ...

and

Lullaby for the Working Class Lullaby for the Working Class was an indie folk rock band from Lincoln, Nebraska, active from the mid-to-late 1990s. Fronted by Omaha, Nebraska singer-songwriter Ted Stevens (of the bands Mayday and Cursive), the group also featured multi-instrume ...

) on bass guitar, Aaron Druery on guitar, and Mike Sweeney of Beep Beep on drums. Their first album, ''En Garde'', was released on his previous band's label, Initial Records.

worked as a lawyer, making it hard for the band to promote their album. Initial Records went bankrupt about a year after, leaving Criteria without a label. Saddle Creek Records took their longtime friend in and put out three releases in 2005. The first was a re-release of the LP ''En Garde'', their new single, "Prevent the World," and their second full-length, ''When We Break''. After signing with

Saddle Creek Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. Started as a college class project on entrepreneurship, the label was founded by Mike Mogis and Justin Oberst in 1993 (as Lumberjack Records). Mogis soon turned over his ...

, Pedersen quit his day job to spend full-time making music and touring. Criteria has performed with bands such as

The Fall of Troy The Fall of Troy is an American rock band from Mukilteo, Washington. The band is a trio consisting of Thomas Erak (guitars, vocals, keyboards), Andrew Forsman (drums, percussion) and Tim Ward (bass, screamed vocals) who was later replaced by Fra ...

Thunderbirds Are Now! Thunderbirds are Now! were an American, Livonia, Michigan-based post-punk revival band, whose sound used a mix of traditional post-punk, new wave and noise rock. The band was heavily influenced by 1980s new wave and other post-punk revival ...

Statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...

Poison the Well Poisoning the well (or to poison the well) is a logical fallacy. Poisoning the well may also refer to: *Well poisoning, the literal meaning of the phrase *"Poisoning the Well", a ''Stargate Atlantis'' episode *Poison the Well (band), a hardcore pu ...

Rahim (band) Rahim (''Raḥīm'' , also anglicized as Raheem) is one of the names of Allah in Islam, meaning "Merciful", from the root '' R-Ḥ-M''. It is also used as a personal male name, short for Abdu r-Raḥīm "Servant of the Merciful". Spellings include ...

, and Minus the Bear. The band performed at the Maha Musical Festival on August 17, 2013 in Omaha, Nebraska. Criteria's most recent performance took place on December 12, 2013 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha, during which Pedersen mentioned the band was working on a new album.

Band members

- vocals, guitar * A.J. Mogis - backup vocals, bass guitar * Aaron Druery - backup vocals, guitar *Mike Sweeney - drums

Discography

Albums

* ''En Garde'' (2003 ·

Initial Records Initial Records was an independent record label in Louisville, Kentucky, that was founded in 1992. The label released music by Falling Forward, Boysetsfire and Ink & Dagger, and created the annual weekend long music festival, Krazy Fest. Hist ...

) re-released 2005 on Saddle Creek Records *''

When We Break ''When We Break'' is the second release by indie-rock band Criteria. It was released August 23, 2005 on Saddle Creek Records. The CD-release party was held in Omaha, Nebraska on August 20, 2005 at the Sokol Underground. Facing New York and loc ...

'' (2005 · Saddle Creek Records) *
Years
' (2020 �
15 Passenger

Singles and EPs

Prevent the World Prevention may refer to: Health and medicine * Preventive healthcare, measures to prevent diseases or injuries rather than curing them or treating their symptoms General safety * Crime prevention, the attempt to reduce deter crime and crimi ...

" single (2005 · Saddle Creek Records)

Compilations

* ''Lagniappe: A Saddle Creek Benefit for Hurricane Katrina'' (2005 · Saddle Creek Records) ::song: "Booketa"

Videography

" (2 versions, August 2005, directed by Jason Kulbel) *"Good Luck" (March 2006), directed by Shafei and Levitz *"Kiss the Wake" (March 2006, directed by Jaime O’Bradovich
Saddle Creek Music Video Competition at the Hot Shops Film Festival
winner, runners-up: Luke Rustermier and Michael McClendon)

References

External links

15 PassengerCriteria official website (site now down)
*
Criteria on MySpaceSaddle Creek RecordsVideo Interview with Steve Pedersen of CriteriaInterview from ''Alternative Press'' 184
(2003)
Interview from ''Alternative Press'' 207
(2005)
Soundcrank Podcast Hosted by Criteria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Criteria Indie rock musical groups from Nebraska Musical groups from Omaha, Nebraska Musical groups established in 2003 Saddle Creek Records artists