Dianogah (pronounced Dye-ah-NO-gah) is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band formed in 1995, noted for their use of two

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

s. Members include Kip McCabe, Jay Ryan, and Jason Harvey.

History

Dianogah's debut album, '' As Seen from Above'', was recorded by

Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...

, who also produced their second full-length album, ''Battle Champions'', which was released on May 29, 2000. Dianogah named their band after the garbage compactor monster (the Dianoga) in the 1977 film '' Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope''. The group was one of about a half-dozen performers that contributed to the soundtrack for ''

Reach the Rock ''Reach the Rock'' is a 1998 American comedy drama film directed by William Ryan and starring William Sadler and Alessandro Nivola, and was the final film to be written and produced by John Hughes. Premise A small-town troublemaker (Alessandro ...

''. Producer

John McEntire John McEntire (born April 9, 1970) is an American recording engineer, producer, drummer, and multi-instrumentalist, based in Chicago, Illinois. He is a member of both Tortoise and the Sea and Cake. Early life McEntire was born on April 9, 1970 ...

managed the recording of the soundtrack, and later worked with the band on their third album, ''Millions of Brazilians''. This record, released on April 16, 2002, also featured Rachel Grimes (of

Rachel's Rachel's was an American chamber music group that formed in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1991. Former Rodan guitarist Jason Noble played music individually and referred to himself as Rachel's but then began collaborating with core members violist Ch ...

) and John Upchurch of

The Coctails The Coctails were a musical group from Chicago, who formed while its members were attending the Kansas City Art Institute. The band was active from about 1988 to 1995, with reunions in 2000 as the last band to play on stage at Lounge Ax before ...

. On January 15, 2000, the band joined M.O.T.O to serve as opening acts for the final show at the

Lounge Ax The Lounge Ax was a music venue in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, located across the street from Wax Trax. It was an important venue for live rock music, especially indie rock. The club was opened in 1987 by Jennifer Fischer and Julia Ad ...

, an event which had

reunite briefly to perform as headliners. Between 2000 and 2007, the band toured Europe three times (in 2000, 2002, and 2004), and play around the midwest and east coast. In 2007, the band returned to the studio with producer

to record their fourth album, '' Qhnnnl''. In 2008, the band released ''Qhnnnl'' and featured Stephanie Morris on some of the recorded tracks. She played keyboard and guitar live with band as well on their 2008 east coast summer tour, as well as a fall 2008 trip to Europe, and a spring 2009 trip to England for the All Tomorrow's Parties Festival. On June 1, 2009, Stephanie Morris died suddenly. In a statement on the band's web page, Morris had become an "integral part of our group, both musically and socially. Stephanie's passing took us all by surprise and has left a giant hole in the lives of many, especially her husband Nathan and her family." The band mentioned in the same note, they'd play a scheduled Pitchfork Music Fest set in July 2009 in her honor, but beyond that the band reported they were not sure what the future would hold for them. Dianogah performed at the 2014 PRF BBQ in Chicago. The band played two shows in 2017. Both were in their hometown of Chicago.

Discography

Albums

* '' As Seen from Above'' (vinyl on Actionboy Records w/bonus 7", CD on OhioGold) * '' Battle Champions'' CD/LP (Southern Records / 2000) * '' Millions of Brazilians'' CD/LP (Southern Records / 2002) * '' Qhnnnl'' CD/LP (Southern Records / 2008)

Singles

* "100% Tree" (Actionboy / 1995) * "Garden Airplane Trap" (Actionboy / 1995) * "Old Material New Format" CD/EP (originally released on Actionboy, reissued on My Pal God / 1996) * "Dianogah"/"Log Letters" Split 7 (Hi-Ball / 1998) * "Team Dianogah 2 Swedish" (Red Blue Yellow / 1998) * "Hannibal"/"A Bear Explains" (Southern Records / 2001)

Compilations and soundtracks

* What Is Your Landmass? ''Ground Rule Double'' compilation CD,2xLP (Actionboy /Divot / 1995) * Strongdar V/A Zum No. 2 comp (Zum / 1998) * Bad Houses/Lone Tree Point V/A My Ohio Action Pal, Boy Gold God 300 (My Pal God, Actionboy, OhioGold / 1998) * Dreams of Being King V/A Reach The Rock soundtrack (Hefty / 1999) * Good One Buck V/A When the cat returns, the mice are fucked (Southern / 2005)

References

External links

Official websiteSouthern Records Page
* {{Authority control Musical groups from Chicago My Pal God Records artists