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Dredg (stylized as dredg) is an American
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band formed in 1993 in
Los Gatos, California Los Gatos (; ; ) is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in the San Franc ...
. The band's lineup consists of vocalist Gavin Hayes, guitarist Mark Engles, bassist Drew Roulette and drummer and pianist Dino Campanella. Originally starting out as an
alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...
outfit, Dredg established themselves in the indie scene with their debut album ''
Leitmotif A leitmotif or () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is a partial angliciz ...
'' (1999), which showed the band stylistically moving into
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
and
art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...
; the album's local success landed them a deal with
Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...
in 2001, who re-released the album later in the year. Dredg's major label debut, '' El Cielo'' (2002), was lauded by critics and helped establish a wider
cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...
for the band. The band experienced mainstream success with '' Catch Without Arms'' (2005), which became the band's first album to chart in the United States, and the band received exposure on
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
with the single "Bug Eyes". Following their departure from Interscope in 2009, Dredg independently released '' The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion'', which saw the band reach their highest charting positions yet. The band's fifth album, '' Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy'' (2011), was a stylistic departure for the band and received a negative response from the band's fanbase. Following the conclusion of the album's promotional tour in May 2014, the band went on an "extended hiatus". In January 2018, the band announced that they had reunited and have since been writing material for their sixth studio album; they are planning to record the album in the winter of 2022.


History


Early years (1993–1998)

While attending middle school in Los Gatos, Engles and Campanella started playing together. After they graduated to Los Gatos High School, older friends Hayes and Roulette joined the group. In a 2005 interview, when asked about the origin of the band's name, Campanella said, "It was so long ago that we named it I can't even remember. Honestly, we don't even like the name anymore. We mostly don't like the way it sounds. It doesn't roll off the tongue well." In 1996, Dredg recorded and released their first demos of original material, the Conscious EP, garnering them exposure as far away as Boston. Currently, very little information has ever been released about these demos. In 1997, they released what would become the early stages of their musical transition, the '' Orph EP''. It includes the group's first instrumental track, "Orph". Additionally, the track "Kayasuma" shares its title with the name of the shaman in ''
Leitmotif A leitmotif or () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is a partial angliciz ...
s liner notes for "Lechium". With the release, Dredg slowly built a name for themselves in the
Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...
, as well as on the East Coast, such as in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
and
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
.


''Leitmotif'' (1999–2001)

In May 1999, Dredg independently released their first full-length, ''
Leitmotif A leitmotif or () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is a partial angliciz ...
'', a concept album about a man traveling the world to cure his moral disease. The story was included in the liner notes, in lieu of the actual lyrics. Written by Roulette, the band had planned to release a movie of the story; however, upon the death of the lead actor, the project was scrapped. Over the next two years, Dredg toured mostly within California, slowly expanding their fan base. The band began sending out a demo tape to several labels with four new songs intended for their next album, "Of the Room", "Redrawing the Island Map", "Running Through Propellers" and "The Papal Insignia". In January 2001, Dredg was offered a deal by
Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...
, and the band signed to the label in February 2001. As part of the deal, ''
Leitmotif A leitmotif or () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is a partial angliciz ...
'' was re-released by Interscope on September 11, 2001. With the re-release of ''Leitmotif'', Dredg toured nationally and internationally in support of the record with bands such as
Alien Ant Farm Alien Ant Farm is an American rock band that formed in Riverside, California in 1996. They have released six studio albums and sold over 5 million units worldwide. The band's cover of Michael Jackson's " Smooth Criminal" topped the ''Billboard ...
, Pressure 4-5, the Apex Theory,
Taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproot ...
, Deadsy and Onesidezero.


''El Cielo'' (2002–2004)

After signing to Interscope Records, the band began work on their major label debut, '' El Cielo''. Like its predecessor, ''El Cielo'' was a concept album. Initially intended to revolve around
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...
's '' Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bumblebee around a Pomegranate One Second Before Awakening'', the band expanded the focus to include
sleep paralysis Sleep paralysis is a state, during waking up or falling asleep, in which a person is conscious but in a complete state of full-body paralysis. During an episode, the person may hallucinate (hear, feel, or see things that are not there), wh ...
after learning of Dalí's own influences. As they had done with the liner notes of ''Leitmotif'', Dredg chose not to include the lyrics; instead, they printed letters sent to them by people suffering from sleep paralysis. Several songs on the album even included lyrics taken directly from the letters. When the band began writing material for the new album, they secluded themselves in the deserts around Palm Desert. The majority of the album was recorded at Skywalker Ranch. The band used three producers,
Ron Saint Germain Ron Saint Germain (alternate spellings Ron St. Germain, Ron Saint-Germaine and similar) is an American record producer, audio engineer, and mixer born in post-war Frankfurt, Germany, into a career Air Force family. Prior to his career in music ...
, Tim Palmer and Jim Scott, on the record, adding another layer of diversity to the album. Completed in May 2002, the album was widely available on the internet before being released on October 8, 2002. Dredg made music videos for two of the album's tracks, "Same Ol' Road" and "Of The Room". Upon releasing the album, the band once again returned to their hectic touring schedule, including their first national headline tour with Codeseven, a then-unsigned
Strata In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...
and either STUN or Woven supporting. They also toured with acts such as Ozomatli,
Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and tu ...
, Chevelle, Hoobastank and
Phantom Planet Phantom Planet is an American Rock music, rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1994. The band consists of Alex Greenwald (vocals, rhythm guitar), Darren Robinson (lead guitar), Sam Farrar (bass guitar) and Jeff Conrad (drums). The band is bes ...
, as well as earning a spot on the Sno-Core Tour with
Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...
, Glassjaw and
Hot Water Music Hot Water Music is an American punk rock band formed in October 1994 and based in Gainesville, Florida. Since their formation, the group has consisted of Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard on shared lead vocals and guitars, bass guitarist Jason B ...
.


''Catch Without Arms'' (2005–2006)

While touring in support of ''El Cielo'', Dredg began work on their third album, '' Catch Without Arms'', spending 8 months writing material before taking another 10 months to record and mix the album. Like their previous albums, ''Catch Without Arms'' was a concept album; however, differing from the concrete stories and events surrounding their earlier releases, ''Catch Without Arms'' was about opposites, mainly focused on positives and negatives. Produced by Terry Date, ''Catch Without Arms'' was Dredg's most successful album, debuting at 123 on the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' album charts, selling over 9,000 copies, and eventually reaching the top of the Heatseekers chart. The only single on the album, " Bug Eyes", was made into a music video directed by Philip Andelman. With the release of ''Catch Without Arms'', Dredg began a treasure hunt based around the Bay Area. The three winners each received a painting from ''Catch Without Arms'', as well as the opportunity to name a song for the next album, "Vague Clues and Long Days". Dredg headlined several tours in support of ''Catch Without Arms'', playing with bands such as
Circa Survive Circa Survive was an American rock music, rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that formed in 2004. Founded by singer Anthony Green (musician), Anthony Green and guitarist Colin Frangicetto, the band consisted of former members from This ...
, Day One Symphony, Delta Activity, Vedera, Ours and
Ambulette An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...
. They played the Taste of Chaos tour in 2006 with
Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and tu ...
, Atreyu, Thrice and Story of the Year, as well as shows with
Coheed and Cambria Coheed and Cambria is an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York, formed in 1995. It consists of Claudio Sanchez (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Travis Stever (guitars, vocals), Josh Eppard (drums, keyboards, backing vocals), and Za ...
, the Blood Brothers and
MewithoutYou MewithoutYou, usually stylized as mewithoutYou, was an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band consisted of Aaron Weiss (vocals), Michael Weiss and Brandon Beaver (guitars), Greg Jehanian (bass guitar), and Rickie Mazzott ...
. Engles and Campanella also took some time to record the soundtrack for the 2005
independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...
,
Waterborne
'. On May 11, 2006, Dredg recorded their concert in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
for a live CD entitled '' Live at the Fillmore''. Released on November 7, 2006, ''Live at the Fillmore'' contained songs from all three studio albums, as well as a new song titled "The Warbler". A remix of "Sang Real" by
Dan the Automator Daniel M. Nakamura (born August 29, 1966), better known by his stage name Dan the Automator, is an American record producer. He is the founder of the publishing company Sharkman Music and the record label 75 Ark. Early life Daniel M. Nakamura wa ...
was released with purchase of the album on
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
. On September 14 and 15, 2006, Dredg played two special shows at the Catalyst in
Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...
, playing ''Leitmotif'' and ''El Cielo'' in their entirety on separate nights. During these shows the band played songs from ''Catch Without Arms'' before diving into the full album of the night. Of note, each night they played a very early version of "It's Not Worth It" (a song that did not make it into the final album) at about the midpoint of each album. On the second night, as a segue into ''El Cielo'', they performed an early instrumental version of "Wonderous Miracle" (another song that did not make it into the final album).


Exit from Interscope and ''The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion'' (2007–2009)

On February 14, 2007, Dredg issued an update indicating production had begun on their next album and released several new song titles as part of the update. Gavin Hayes posted a Myspace blog on July 8, 2007, with new information that the band had 12-15 songs that might or might not make the final cut. Of the songs previously written, only a few were being worked on from prior updates. Hayes stated that on December 21, 2007, the writing process for their new album was almost done, and they planned to enter the studio in early 2008 to start recording. This would be followed by extensive touring in the spring. The songs that were played at live shows during the writing process but were not released on the album include: "Wondrous Miracle", "It's Not Worth It", "Push Away", "Holding a Remedy Potion", "Hurricane Felix", "Pieces of Gold", "Fleeing to Mexico", "2001", "MacGuffin" and "Fucking Smile Pt. 2". The band played at the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colora ...
in California on April 26, 2008, during their tour to introduce the new tracks to their fans, with the exception of a few past hits and some tracks already performed such as "Long Days and Vague Clues". After Coachella, Dredg released demos for songs rumored to be on their upcoming album up to February 2009. They also added a song entitled "entire new album", which was a track consisting of every song played simultaneously. Also on February 23, 2009, Dredg announced their exit from Interscope Records as well their new record's title, '' The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion''. They confirmed joining with Independent Label Group (ILG, which is a part of Warner Music Group), and Ohlone Recordings. The album was released on June 9, 2009, with a Limited Edition release with alternate artwork (as well as a Vinyl recording) made available to the public. Music videos have been made for "Information" and "I Don't Know". The album reached number 71 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 7,492 copies in its first week. The album was inspired by the essay
Imagine There Is No Heaven
A Letter to the Six Billionth Citizen". The essay was written by British-Indian novelist
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...
, who found controversy in 1988 over one of his books gaining him a religious fatwa for Rushdie's death from Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...
which ultimately resulted in United Kingdom and Iran breaking diplomatic ties to each other a year later. In consideration of the essay, the album has common themes in
agnosticism Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer t ...
and the questioning of beliefs and society. Album and liner notes artwork resembled an Air Mail letter (addressed to "SEVEN BILLIONTH") and was done by Rohner Segnitz of the band Division Day. Segue tracks on the album are called "Stamps of Origin", and unlike prior albums a few of these segue tracks contain lyrics.


''Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy'' (2010–2014)

Dredg suggested on their
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
account that they began recording their fifth album on June 23, 201

On August 17, 2010, Dredg announced via their official website that they had begun the process of recording a new album. Unlike the long gaps between their last two efforts, the band expected an early 2011 release. The announcement was posted in the news section and reads as follows: "Yesterday, we began working on our fifth record with musician/producer
Dan the Automator Daniel M. Nakamura (born August 29, 1966), better known by his stage name Dan the Automator, is an American record producer. He is the founder of the publishing company Sharkman Music and the record label 75 Ark. Early life Daniel M. Nakamura wa ...
. We will be writing and recording it in San Francisco for the next month and a half and are hoping for an early 2011 release. Stay tuned as there will be more updates and studio footage in the coming months." On February 18, 2011, Dredg announced via Twitter that their fifth studio album, '' Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy'', was to be released on May 3, 2011, in the United States and April 29 everywhere else. The album received a negative response from the band's fans, many who derided the album's production and sound. In February 2014, Dredg released a non-album track, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco", in conjunction with a stop-motion music video touring the city.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
Touring in support of the album took place from 2011, until May 2014.


Hiatus and side projects (2014–2017)

After the release of ''Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy'', Dino Campanella stated in an interview in 2014 that Dredg was taking an indefinite hiatus: Mark Engles joined the band Black Map during the hiatus.


Return (2018–present)

On January 27, 2018, it was announced that the band was working on their first release since '' Chuckles And Mr. Squeezy''. In March 2019, vocalist-guitarist Gavin Hayes confirmed in an interview they were working on a new album originally planned to be released in 2019. In a late 2021 interview, Hayes said that work on new material had been delayed by the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. He went on to note that they had "probably two albums worth" of new material to work through, and that their goal was to release an album in 2022. In June 2022, the band stated that they were now aiming to start recording the album in the winter of 2022.


Musical style

Dredg's early music in 1990s is rooted in
alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...
styles. Nevertheless, the band eschewed the nu metal style of the early EPs in favor of a
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
and
art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...
sound. The band was also labeled as
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
and
experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, wit ...
.


Members

;Current members *Gavin Hayes – vocals, slide guitar, guitar *Drew Roulette – bass, synthesizer *Mark Engles – guitar, backing vocals *Dino Campanella – drums, piano, organ


Discography


Studio albums


Live albums

*'' Live at the Fillmore'', 2006


Soundtracks

*'' Waterborne'' soundtrack, 2005


EPs

*''Conscious EP'', 1996 *'' Orph'', 1997 *'' Extended Play for the Eastern Hemisphere'', 2001 * "Sony Connect Sets", 2005 * "Napster Sessions", 2007


Singles and Music Videos

* "Same Ol' Road" - '' El Cielo'', 2002 * "Of The Room" - '' El Cielo'', 2003 * "Bug Eyes" - '' Catch Without Arms'', 2005 * "Information" - '' The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion'', 2009 * "I Don't Know" - '' The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion'', 2009 * "Upon Returning" - '' Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy'', 2011 * "The Thought Of Losing You" - '' Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy'', 2011


Other releases

*'' El Cielo Blueprints'', 2000–2002 *'' Industry Demos, 2001 *''Coquette Demo'', 2004


DVDs

*''
Crickets Crickets are orthopteran insects which are related to bush crickets and more distantly, to grasshoppers. In older literature, such as Imms,Imms AD, rev. Richards OW & Davies RG (1970) ''A General Textbook of Entomology'' 9th Ed. Methuen 886 ...
'', 2003 *'' Live from the Henry Fonda Theater'', 2005


References


External links


dredg.com
* *
Official dredg forum: TraversingGavin Hayes interview at Silent UproarDrew Roulette interview at nolivelost.com

Interview with Submerge Magazine "Think for Yourself" August, 2009
{{Authority control Alternative rock groups from California Rock music groups from California American art rock groups Musical groups from the San Francisco Bay Area Musical groups established in 1993 1993 establishments in California Superball Music artists Interscope Records artists Equal Vision Records artists