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Dan Deacon

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Dan Deacon

Dan Deacon (born August 28, 1981) is an American electronic musician based out of Baltimore, Maryland. Since 2003, Deacon has released eight albums under several different labels. Deacon also has a renowned reputation for his live shows, where large scale audience participation and interaction is often a major element of the performance.

Life and music history

Dan was born and raised in suburban Long Island, New York. He graduated from Babylon High School in 1999 and attended the Conservatory of Music at State University of New York at Purchase in Purchase, New York where, in addition to performing his solo material, he played in many bands, including tuba for Langhorne Slim and guitar in the improvisational grindcore band Rated R, and had a small ensemble. He completed his graduate studies in electro-acoustic and computer music composition. He studied under composer and conductor Joel Thome and Dary John Mizelle.

In 2004 he moved to Baltimore, Maryland and moved into the Copycat Building and, along with friends from SUNY Purchase, formed Wham City, an arts and music collective.[citation needed]

His first two albums as a solo artist, Meetle Mice and Silly Hat vs Egale Hat were released on CD-R on the Standard Oil Records label in 2003 while he was a student at SUNY Purchase. The albums are both collections of computer music and live recordings of ensemble pieces. They are markedly different from his first popular record, 2007's Spiderman of the Rings, in that they contain almost no tracks where Deacon sings or uses vocal manipulation. Most of the pieces are instrumentals or sound collages. He followed those two albums with a set of records made up of sine wave compositions. "Green Cobra is Awesome Vs The Sun" is a 42-minute piece comprising six slowly drifting sine waves. "Goose On The Loose" is a 60-minute piece featuring a Wavetek 180 signal generator being processed through a Digitech Whammy Pedal and a Line 6 Loop/Delay pedal.

His next two releases were the EPs Twacky Cats on Comfort Stand Recordings and Acorn Master on Psych-o-path Records. These were the first releases that contained material with which most of his current listeners would associate him.[citation needed]

Spiderman of the Rings was Deacon's first commercially distributed full-length album, released by Carpark Records in May 2007.[2] The album was well received by the press[3] and was included in the Best New Music section of Pitchforkmedia.com. The album was also ranked as number 24 on the website's "Top 50 Albums of 2007".[4]

Ultimate Reality was released as a DVD in November 2007. It was a return for Deacon to composing music for others to perform. The pieces for percussion and electronics were performed by Jeremy Hyman of Ponytail and Kevin Omeara of Videohippos. The pieces were set to collaged and heavily altered video created by Deacon's long time friend and collaborator Jimmy Joe Roche.

Deacon has performed at several leading art centers including Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, Getty Center in Los Angeles, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC.

Originally to be released in the fall of 2008, Deacon's new album entitled Bromst was released on March 24, 2009.[5] It was produced by Chester Gwazda at Snow Ghost Studios in Whitefish, Montana and features live instruments including player piano and a variety of percussion instruments. It was also very well received.[citation needed] Pitchfork gave it an 8.5/10, and it made it to the "best new music" section.[6] Bromst also ranked #46 in Pitchfork's Best Albums of 2009.[7]

On January 20, 2011, Dan Deacon and So Percussion performed a piece composed by Deacon titled "Ghostbuster Cook: Origin of the Riddler" at the Merkin Concert Hall in New York as part of the Ecstatic Music Festival.

Live shows

Dan Deacon is famed for his live shows.[8] When playing solo he performs on floor level within the audience, his musical devices being set up on a low table, and surrounded by the crowd.

In stark contrast to Deacon's electronic performances, the Bromst tour was with a 14-person ensemble of members of various Baltimore bands including So Percussion, Future Islands, and Chester Gwazda. He was accompanied by various acts including Nuclear Power Pants. This tour is also notable for the musicians' use of a veggie oil powered bus.

In the summer of 2009, Dan Deacon went on tour with two other notable acts, Deerhunter, and No Age, on the "No Deachunter" tour.[9]

In the fall of 2009, Dan Deacon was forced to cancel the small remainder of his North American tour, which included shows at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY and Connecticut College in New London, CT due to health complications involving a battle with acute sciatica, all of which were rescheduled in winter of 2010.[10]

In September 2010 Dan Deacon collaborated with Jimmy Joe Roche at the Incubate festival in Tilburg, The Netherlands. While in residency there, Deacon and Roche worked on a new piece of video art. Material was shot at 't Schop, a farm in Hilvarenbeek, and in the area surrounding Tilburg. During the festival, the movie was shown at the farm before Deacon's performance.[citation needed]

Viral video

Deacon recorded the track "Drinking out of Cups". In 2006, Liam Lynch created a video to accompany the piece. The compilation has been viewed more than 13.25 million times on YouTube.[11] As the video spread, rumors of what the video was and how it was made quickly began forming. One popular rumor is that it is a recording of someone on LSD locked in a closet. Deacon has stated numerous times that this is not true.[12]

Film composer

Stage composer

  • Power Moves Forever Quest (2011, with Dan Breen, Josh Van Horne, Chase O'Hara)

Discography

  • A Green Cobra Is Awesome vs. the Sun (single EP, 2003)
  • Goose on the Loose (2003)
  • Silly Hat vs. Egale Hat (2003)
  • Meetle Mice (2003)
  • Live Recordings 2003 (2004)
  • Twacky Cats (Comfort Stand Records, 2004)
  • Porky Pig (Standard Oil Records New Music Series, 2004)
  • Acorn Master (Psych-o-Path Records, 2006)
  • Spiderman of the Rings (Wildfire Wildfire, 2007)
  • The Crystal Cat (7" single, Carpark Records, 2007)
  • Ultimate Reality (soundtrack) (Carpark Records, 2008)
  • Bromst (Carpark Records, 2009)

Media appearances

Charts

Awards

Festival appearances

  • SXSW 2007,2008, 2011 Austin, TX
  • NXNW 2007, Portland, OR
  • CMJ 2007, New York, NY
  • Virgin Festival, Baltimore, MD
  • Pitchfork Music Festival 2007, Chicago, IL
  • Laneway Festival 2008, Australia
  • Coachella 2008, Indio, CA
  • Future Days Festival 2008, Dublin, Ireland
  • Dot to Dot 2008, UK
  • Electric Picnic 2008, Ireland
  • Sled Island Music Festival 2008, Calgary, AB Canada
  • Bumbershoot 2008, Seattle, WA
  • TIM Festival 2008, Brazil
  • Fun Fun Fun Fest 2008, Austin, TX
  • Langerado Festival 2008, Big Cypress, FL
  • Fuck Yeah Fest 2008, Los Angeles, CA
  • Golden Plains Festival 2009, Australia
  • Transmodern Festival 2009, Baltimore, MD
  • Primavera Sound, 2009, Barcelona, Spain
  • Lollapalooza 2009, Chicago, IL
  • Villette Sonique 2009, Paris, France
  • Big Ears Music Festival, Knoxville, TN
  • Treasure Island 2009, San Francisco, CA
  • Campus A Low Hum, Bulls, New Zealand
  • Transmediale 2010, Berlin, Germany
  • MtyMx 2010, Monterrey, Mexico
  • Sperm Festival, Prague, Czech Republic
  • Donau Festival 2010, Krems, Austria
  • Bonnaroo 2010, Manchester, TN
  • Whartscape 2005-2010, Baltimore, MD
  • Haldern Festival 2010, Germany
  • Incubate 2010, The Netherlands
  • High Zero 2010, Balitmore, MD
  • Moogfest 2010, Asheville, NC
  • Iceland Airwaves 2010, Iceland
  • Ecstatic Music Festival 2011, NYC
  • 35 Conferette 2011, Denton, TX
  • SXSW 2011, Austin, TX
  • Transmodern Festival 2009, 2011, Baltimore, MD
  • B.O.M.B. Fest 2011, Hartford, CT

Museum and Art Institution performances

  • National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest Romanian, April 2010
  • Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD USA, July 2009
  • Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA USA, June 2009
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH USA, June 2009
  • Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, Detroit, USA, May 2009
  • Fort Worth Museum of Art, Fort Worth, TX USA, April 2009
  • The Hirshorn Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC USA, November 2008
  • Detroit Museum of Modern Art, Detroit, MI USA, October 2008
  • The Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA USA, July 2008
  • Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY USA, February 2008
  • Model Arts Centre and Niland Gallery, Sligo, Ireland, December 2007
  • Corcoran Museum, Washington, DC USA, November 2007
  • The Walters Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD USA, February 2007

References

  1. ^ "Dan Deacon". Discogs. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  2. ^ Hughes, Josiah."Dan Deacon's High Art Dance Party", Exclaim!, April 2009.
  3. ^ Marc Hogan, "Dan Deacon, 'Spiderman of the Rings' (Carpark): Baltimore Goofball Packs Ingenious Sonic Punch", Spin.com (accessed September 11, 2009).
  4. ^ "Top 50 Albums of 2007", Pitchfork Media, Retrieved on 2008-09-01.
  5. ^ http://www.carparkrecords.com carparkrecords.com
  6. ^ http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12833-bromst/
  7. ^ http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7744-the-top-50-albums-of-2009/
  8. ^ "NPR: Dan Deacon, In Concert"
  9. ^ "Pitchfork: No Age/Deerhunter/Dan Deacon Super Mega Awesome Tour Dates Revealed"
  10. ^ "Pitchfork: Dan Deacon Hospitalized With Back Problems, Shows Canceled"
  11. ^ "Dan Deacon on 'Drinking Out Of Cups'". EvolveHappy.com. 2009-07-06. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
  12. ^ "Dan Deacon on the 'Drinking Out of Cups' Video: 'I Have NEVER DONE ACID'". Pitchfork.com. 2009-07-09. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
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