Peter Yanowitz (born September 13, 1967,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States), also known as Pedro Yanowitz, is an American musician, songwriter, and visual artist. Yanowitz was the original drummer of

The Wallflowers The Wallflowers are an American rock music, rock solo project of American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jakob Dylan. The Wallflowers were originally a roots rock band formed in Los Angeles by Dylan and guitarist Tobi Miller. It ha ...

, and for

Natalie Merchant Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter. She joined the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and was lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the group. She remained with the group for their first seven albums before ...

on her first three solo records '' Tigerlily'', ''

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. Due to Hamlet's actions, Ophelia ultima ...

'', and '' Live in Concert''. He also played drums for

Money Mark Mark Ramos Nishita (born February 10, 1960), known professionally as Money Mark, is an American producer and musician, best known for his collaborations with the Beastie Boys from 1992 until 2011. Early life Born in Detroit to a Japanese-Hawai ...

, the Black Sabbath tribute band Hand of Doom with

Melissa Auf der Maur Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur (; born March 17, 1972) is a Canadian musician. Auf der Maur began performing in 1993 after forming the indie rock band Tinker (band), Tinker while she was a student at Concordia University. She was recruited ...

, and with Nina Nastasia, on her album ''

Dogs The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers ...

''. Other artists Yanowitz has played drums with include:

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

, and

Wilco Wilco is an American Rock music, rock band based in Chicago. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo after singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently during its fir ...

. Yanowitz was also the bass player, songwriter, and producer for the band

Morningwood Morningwood was an alternative rock band from New York City. Founded in 2001, it primarily consisted of Pedro Yanowitz and Chantal Claret. Morningwood was signed to Capitol Records and released two albums. Claret went solo in 2012 and folded t ...

. Currently, Yanowitz is the drummer of Exclamation Pony with

Ryan Jarman Ryan James Jarman is a British musician who is the guitarist and one of the vocalists of the indie rock band The Cribs. The Cribs Jarman formed The Cribs in 2001 with his twin brother, Gary, and younger brother, Ross. The band has released ...

. Peter also performed as 'Schlatko', the drummer of The Angry Inch in the Tony award-winning Broadway musical ''

Hedwig and the Angry Inch Hedwig and the Angry Inch may refer to: * ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (musical), 1998 ** ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (soundtrack), 1999 * ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (film), 2001 {{disambig ...

'', starring

Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received List of awards and nominations ...

Andrew Rannells Andrew Scott Rannells (born August 23, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for originating the role of Elder Kevin Price in the 2011 Broadway musical ''The Book of Mormon (musical), The Book of Mormon'', for which he was nominated for th ...

Michael C. Hall Michael Carlyle Hall (born February 1, 1971) is an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Dexter Morgan, the titular character in the Showtime (TV network), Showtime series ''Dexter (TV series), Dexter'' and David Fisher (Six Feet ...

John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963) is an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch (film), Hedwig and t ...

Darren Criss Darren Everett Criss (born February 5, 1987) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He rose to fame starring on the television series ''Glee (TV series), Glee'' (2010–2015) and received a Primetime Emmy Awards, Primetime Emmy Award and ...

, and

Taye Diggs Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs (né Berry; born January 2, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the Broadway musicals '' Rent'' and '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'', the TV series '' Private Practice'' (2007–2013), '' Murder in ...

Early life

Yanowitz was born in Chicago's Hyde Park and was raised Jewish in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. His father, Frank Yanowitz is a jazz musician/composer and a cardiologist. Yanowitz began playing drums at the age of seven. He received an English major from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

in 1989.

The Wallflowers/Natalie Merchant/Morningwood

In 1990 Yanowitz moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and became one of the founding members and original drummer of the Wallflowers. Yanowitz co-produced 4 songs on the Wallflowers self-titled debut for

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

also co-writing on the song "After the Blackbird Sings". Yanowitz met Natalie Merchant in Los Angeles in 1994 and soon moved to New York to work closely with Merchant on what was to be her first solo record '' Tigerlily''. Featuring the three top 40 hits, "Carnival", "Wonder", and "Jealousy", Tigerlily went on to sell over six million copies, and remains Merchant's best selling record to date. Yanowitz recorded two more records with Merchant, ''

'', and '' Live in Concert''. Yanowitz was Merchant's boyfriend from 1994 until their abrupt split in 2000. In 2001, Yanowitz took on the nickname "Pedro" and began writing his own songs. He met Chantal Claret at a party and they started writing songs for what was to be Morningwood's first album. They were signed to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

in 2003. Working with producer

Gil Norton Gil Norton (born in Liverpool) is an English record producer known for his work with alternative rock bands such as Pixies, Echo & the Bunnymen, Foo Fighters, Tribe, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Feeder, the Distillers, Maxïm ...

, Morningwood recorded their first record in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

at the

RAK Studios RAK Studios is a recording studio complex, with residential facilities, used by Rak Records, and located near Regent's Park in central London, England. It was founded in 1976 by English record producer Mickie Most. History The RAK complex res ...

. Yanowitz wrote the hits "Nth Degree", which was used by Lincoln-Mercury in several of their car commercials, and "New York Girls", which was featured in the movie ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

''. After parting ways with Capitol, Morningwood wrote and recorded their second record, '' Diamonds & Studs'', which Yanowitz co-produced with Junior Sanchez, and it was released in October 2009 by VH1/MTV records. VH1 and MTV incorporated several songs from ''Diamonds & Studs'' in their programming, including "Best of Me", which was the theme song for ''

Daisy of Love Daisy de la Hoya attending the premiere of VH1's "Daisy of Love" at My House, Hollywood, CA on April 26, 2009 ''Daisy of Love'' is an American reality television dating show which stars Daisy de la Hoya, the runner-up of the VH1 reality datin ...

'', "Killerlife", which MTV used as a theme song for '' Peak Season'', and "Sugarbaby" which was used as the theme song for VH1's '' You're Cut Off''.

Other projects

In the early 1990s, Yanowitz struck up a friendship with

after meeting him at the

Tibet House Tibet Houses are an international, loosely affiliated group of nonprofit cultural preservation organizations established at the request of the Dalai Lama. They work to preserve, present, and protect Tibet's ancient traditions in philosophy, mi ...

Benefit. They performed several times together at Carnegie Hall, and stayed friends until his death in 1997. Yanowitz played percussion on the record ''

Mermaid Avenue ''Mermaid Avenue'' is a 1998 album of previously unheard lyrics written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie, put to music written and performed by British singer Billy Bragg and the American band Wilco. The project was the first of seve ...

'' (1998) by

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...

and

. Yanowitz also played drums with Nina Nastasia in 2000 on her cult classic album ''

'', which was produced 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), ...

. In 2001, Yanowitz recorded and played live with

on his critically lauded record "Change Is Coming". With

and her boyfriend at the time,

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (; born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He founded the rock band Foo Fighters, of which he is the lead singer, guitarist, principal songwriter, and only consistent member. From 1990 to 1994, he was the drummer of th ...

, Yanowitz started the band Hand of Doom, a

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

tribute band, and recorded a live record at the Whiskey in 2002. In 2008, Yanowitz played drums in

's band when she headlined the

Pitchfork Music Festival Pitchfork Music Festival was an annual music festival in Union Park (Chicago), Union Park in Chicago, Illinois, organized by the online magazine ''Pitchfork (website), Pitchfork.'' Starting in 2011, the festival announced a branch staged in Paris ...

. The band also included

Stephen Trask Stephen Trask (born Stephen R. Schwartz; born August 29, 1966) is an American musician and composer who graduated from Wesleyan University. He was the music director and house band member at the New York City club Squeezebox, where they performe ...

, and

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running ...

. Yanowitz recently collaborated with Andrew W.K. on Andrew's EP titled "Party All Goddamn Night", featuring a track they wrote and produced together titled "We're All Women". Yanowitz also wrote music for ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'', penning the music for "rhyme time". After meeting

at a writer's retreat in Oklahoma in 2006, Yanowitz began collaborating on the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical adaptation of ''

Clueless ''Clueless'' is a 1995 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling. It stars Alicia Silverstone, and was produced by Scott Rudin and Robert Lawrence. The film is a loose adaptation of Jane Austen's 1815 no ...

''. In the summer of 2013 Yanowitz wrote and performed in his own show called 'Walking In Soho" at the Signature Theatre as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Yanowitz and Trask co-wrote the rock opera ''This Ain't No Disco'', which ran at the

Atlantic Theater Company The Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater company based in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1985 by playwright David Mamet, actor William H. Macy, and a group of acting students, the compan ...

between June 30, 2018, and August 12, 2018. Yanowitz has been a member of the self-described "kaleidoscopic sound weather" trio Princess Goes to the Butterfly Museum since 2018, alongside

and Matt Katz-Bohen. Their eponymous debut EP was released 2 April 2020. In 2023, the band released their second album, 'Come of Age'.

Personal life

Yanowitz is married to former model, Lisa Davies.

Discography

, ''

'' (Virgin Records 1992) *Darlene & Co, ''Absence in uniformity'' (1993) *

, '' Tigerlily'' (Elektra Records 1995) *

, ''

'' (Elektra Records 1997) *

, ''

'' (Elektra Records 1998) *

, '' Live in Concert'' (Elektra Records 1999) * Nina Nastasia, ''

'' (Touch & Go Records 2000, reissued 2004) *

, ''Change Is Coming'' (Emperor Norton 2001) * Hand of Doom ''Live in Los Angeles'' (Idaho Records 2002) *

, ''

'' (Capitol Records 2004) *

, '' Diamonds & Studs'' (MTV/VH1 Records 2009) *Hedwig and the Angry Inch, ''(

Cast album A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

)'', (2014)

References

External links

* Morningwood song credits

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Morningwood Official SiteNatalie Merchant Official SiteWallflowers Official SiteHand Of Doom MyspaceHOD artists pagearticle on pedro
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yanowitz, Pedro 1967 births Living people Songwriters from Utah Songwriters from Illinois American bass guitarists The Wallflowers members Jewish American musicians Musicians from Salt Lake City Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from Utah 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American guitarists Morningwood members American male bass guitarists Drummers from Chicago Drummers from Utah