Dan Deacon
(born August 28, 1981) is an American electronic "musician" and hipster who originates from Babylon, New York and Baltimore, Maryland.
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DAN DEACON TICKETS
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Life and music history
Dan Deacon attended the
Conservatory of Music at
Purchase College in
Purchase,
New York, where he played in many bands, including tuba for
Langhorne Slim and guitar in the improvisational
grindcore band Rated R, and was composition classmates with electronic artist
Nite Club and singer-songwriter
Regina Spektor. He completed his graduate studies in
electro-acoustic and
computer music composition. He studied under composer/conductor
Joel Thome and
Dary John Mizelle.
[1]
In 2004 he moved to
Baltimore,
Maryland and moved into the
Copycat Building and started
Wham City, an arts and music collective.
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 Purchase. The albums are both collections of computer music and live recordings of ensemble pieces. They are markedly different from his most 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.
Following those two albums came another set of records that were pieces of
sine waves. 'Green Cobra is Awesome Vs The Sun' is a 42 minute piece of 6 sine waves that slowly drift. 'Goose On The Loose' is a 60 minute piece of 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.
Spiderman of the Rings was Deacon's first commercially distributed full length album, released by
Carpark Records in May 2007. The album was well received by the press
[2] [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, like Spiderman of the Rings, was also very well received. Pitchfork gave it an 8.5/10, and it made it to the "best new music" section.
[6]
In February 2009 he received mainstream exposure with a mention on the Opie and Anthony radio show, regarding an animated short he profanely narrated, 'drinking from cups', which was produced with Liam Lynch.
Live shows
Dan Deacon is famed for his live shows. 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. The Bromst tour was with a 14 person ensemble and for most of the dates on that tour Deacon performed on the stage or on a small platform within the audience. His live performances involve constant audience participation, often requiring the attendees to perform physical tasks and games en masse during the songs, like dance circles, human tunnels, stretching, ridiculous countdowns, etc.
Discography
- 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
(2004)
- Porky Pig
(Standard Oil Records New Music Series) (2004)
- Acorn Master
(2006)
- Spiderman of the Rings
(2007)
- The Crystal Cat
(single) (2007)
- Ultimate Reality (soundtrack)
(2008)
- Bromst
(2009)
Media appearances
- July 23, 2003: performed on WFMU
- February 21, 2004: performed again on WFMU
- February 2005: performed "Ohio" on WSAV, Savannah, GA's local NBC affiliate
- February 13, 2006: featured on Liam Lynch's Podcast Lynchland
. Portions of Deacon's song "Big Big Big Big Big" are also used for Lynchland
's opening and closing credits on each episode.
- May 26, 2006: performed again on WFMU
- October 25, 2007: featured on Public Radio International's The Sound of Young America.
- April 5, 2009: featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered.
- May 29, 2009: featured on American Public Media's Sound Opinions.
Charts
- August 1, 2006: Acorn Master
hits #162 on the CMJ Radio 200 charts.
- March 24, 2009: Bromst
hits #199 on the Billboard Top 200 charts.
Awards
- Silly Hat vs. Egale Hat
#18 in Top 30 most played albums on WFMU in November 2003
- Meetle Mice
Third Best Album of 2003 on Top Ten Albums by OCDJ
- Best Solo Performer 2005 Baltimore City Paper Critics Poll
- Best Solo Performer 2006 Baltimore City Paper Readers Poll
- Acorn Master
#1 in Top 30 played albums on WFMU in July 2006
- Spiderman of the Rings
named Best New Music on Pitchfork Media in May 2007 with a 8.7 rating
- Bromst
named Best New Music on Pitchfork Media in March 2009 with a 8.5 rating
- Awarded "Best Awesome" by COOL! Magazine
- Spiderman of the Rings
named one of the best records of 2007 by CMJ New Music Monthly
- Crystal Cat
Single listed in top 100 singles of 2007 by Rolling Stone Magazine
- Spiderman of the Rings
named one of the 25 best records of 2007 by Pitchfork Media