12 Rods

Last updated
12 Rods
Also known asRyan'z Bihg Hed (1992)
Origin Oxford, Ohio, United States
Genres Indie rock
Years active
  • 1992–2004
  • 2015
  • 2021–present
Labels
Website www.12Rods.site

12 Rods (also known by the stylistic variants 12RODS and Twelve Rods) is an American indie rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group was formed in Oxford, Ohio in 1992, later relocating to Minneapolis in 1995 where it was based until its disbandment in 2004.

Contents

Aside from a one-off reunion show in 2015, the band remained inactive until 2021, when frontman Ryan Olcott announced on Facebook that he was making a new album under the 12 Rods name.

History

1992: Formation

An early incarnation of the group that would become 12 Rods was formed in Oxford, Ohio in May 1992, initiated by Talawanda High School student Ryan Olcott. Friends and fellow students Christopher McGuire, Matt Flynn, and Daniel Perlin were included as members of the band. At this time, the group was known as Ryan'z Bihg Hed, [1] a name coined by Flynn in reference to Olcott's purported behavior during their rehearsals.[ citation needed ] The band prepared numerous songs for a performance early in the summer of 1992 at a local high school graduation party named "Field Fest 3". A cassette recording of this performance, titled Helikopter Hundrid Dolurz, became their first release before the group disbanded until July 1992 when Olcott was invited to join a new group formed by McGuire, Flynn, and Daniel Burton-Rose at a performance at the end of the summer. Olcott accepted and the roster went on to name themselves "12RODS", a title discovered by Flynn in a passage from a children's Bible. [1]

1993–1995: Career beginnings and relocation

The group independently released Bliss in 1993, their first album under the name 12 Rods, which was recorded in Minneapolis while the members were still living in Oxford. [1] In 1996, one year after fully relocating to Minneapolis, the band released the EP gay?, which went on to bring the group much-needed publicity following a review by an early Pitchfork where it received one of the few 10.0 ratings given in the publication's history. [2] Former Pitchfork columnist Jason Josephes spoke of gay? favorably in his "Three Blocks from Groove Street" column after he and Pitchfork founder Ryan Schreiber saw 12 Rods' first Minneapolis concert and bought the EP. [3]

1996–2000: V2 Records era

In 1996, 12 Rods became the first American act to sign to the newly founded V2 Records, [1] then a part of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, where gay? was reissued, making it the group's first major label release. The band's next album Split Personalities was released in 1998 and was named in Pitchfork's first list of the best albums of the 1990s (although it was absent in the second version). Minneapolis musician Bill Shaw joined the group around this time, serving as its bassist until the end of the band's career. [3]

12 Rods released its next album, the Todd Rundgren-produced Separation Anxieties, in 2000. Band members say Rundgren didn't do much during recording:

“All he would do was press the ‘record’ button and go back to doing crossword puzzles,” said Ev Olcott, who, like his brother, wound up producing records for other bands. “Some of those songs are good, but Todd Rundgren did the absolute worst job possible with that record,” Ryan Olcott sneered. “I would straight-up re-record that record before I’d reissue it.”

— Star Tribune [4]

The band was dropped by V2 Records following the album's release, which was a disappointment both critically and commercially. Local Minneapolis drummer Dave King went on to be the group's drummer for most of the remainder of its career after McGuire's departure following the recording sessions for Separation Anxieties. [3]

2000–2004: Independent era and disbandment

Jake Hansen joined the band in the summer of 2002 as an additional guitarist, and in 2003 George Marich took on drumming duties due to King's touring conflicts with The Bad Plus. [1] The group recorded and released one more album, 2002's self-released Lost Time, then broke up in 2004. [3]

2011–present: Lost Time reissue and first reunion, documentary, and second reunion

On September 7, 2011, it was announced on the website for Justin Vernon's record label Chigliak that 12 Rods had an album awaiting release in the label's "first year of vinyl releases", [5] which began on May 22, 2012, with Amateur Love's It's All Aquatic, produced by Ev Olcott. [6]

On October 8, 2014, 12 Rods announced via Facebook that Chigliak would be reissuing Lost Time on January 20, 2015, and the band would be playing a reunion show at First Avenue in Minneapolis on January 16, 2015 with Ryan Olcott, Ev, Christopher McGuire, Matthew Foust, Matt Flynn, Tal Tahir, Bill Shaw, Dave King, and Jake Hanson. [7]

James Francis Flynn filmed the reunion show as part of a documentary about 12 Rods. Throughout the summer and fall of 2015 he completed gathering the interviews and additional footage for the documentary titled "Accidents Waiting to Happen". The film, modeled after Martin Scorsese's "The Last Waltz," was funded by a Kickstarter campaign [8] and was shown at the Minneapolis Saint Paul International Film Festival in April 2017. [9]

In September 2021, Ryan Olcott announced via the band’s Facebook page that he was making a new 12 Rods record with “zero help, zero support and zero financing”.

On June 20, 2023, a new 12 Rods lineup was announced on the artist's Facebook page, [10] along with a new single, "Twice," the third from new album If We Stayed Alive announced for release on July 7. [11] The album was released on the distribution platform Bandcamp. [12]

Post-disbandment

Following the band's first break-up, Ryan went on to perform solo as Foodteam (and later as c.Kostra), with a band as Mystery Palace, and is a record producer in Minneapolis. Ev went on to play in Halloween, Alaska and The Few Nice Words, and co-founded audio software company Audiofile Engineering. McGuire went on to play with Kid Dakota, John Vanderslice, The Mountain Goats, Quruli and has been involved in giving drumming lessons. Matt Flynn currently lives in Cincinnati, Ohio and performs in a group called the Queen City Silver Stars and The Matt Flynn Jazz Trio where he plays the upright bass. Bill Shaw re-formed Post Mortem Grinner and also plays in The Few Nice Words and Halloween, Alaska. Dave King plays actively with Happy Apple, The Bad Plus, Halloween, Alaska, and Dave King Trucking Company.

Members

Current members

Former members

Former touring members

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Compilations

Live albums

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veruca Salt</span> American alternative rock band

Veruca Salt is an American alternative rock band founded in Chicago in 1992 by vocalist-guitarists Nina Gordon and Louise Post, drummer Jim Shapiro, and bassist Steve Lack. They are best known for their first single, "Seether", which was released on the 1994 album American Thighs. That success was followed up with 1997's Eight Arms to Hold You. By 1998, Post was the only original member still in the band and continued on with other musicians. Veruca Salt released the album Resolver in 2000 and the album IV in 2006. After a hiatus in 2012, the band reformed with its original lineup. Their fifth studio album, Ghost Notes, was released in 2015.

Faces are an English rock band formed in 1969 by members of Small Faces after lead singer and guitarist Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie. The remaining Small Faces—Ian McLagan (keyboards), Ronnie Lane, and Kenney Jones —were joined by guitarist Ronnie Wood and singer Rod Stewart, both from the Jeff Beck Group, and the new line-up was renamed Faces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lush (band)</span> English rock band

Lush were an English rock band formed in London in 1987. The original line-up consisted of Miki Berenyi, Emma Anderson, Steve Rippon and Chris Acland (drums). Phil King replaced Rippon in 1991. They were one of the first bands to have been described with the "shoegazing" label. Following the death of Acland, the group disbanded in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guided by Voices</span> American indie rock band

Guided by Voices (GBV) is an American indie rock band formed in 1983 in Dayton, Ohio. It has made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard. The most well-known lineup of the band consisted of Pollard, his brother Jim, Mitch Mitchell, Tobin Sprout, Kevin Fennell (drums), and bassist Greg Demos. Noted at first for its lo-fi aesthetic and Portastudio four-tracks-to-cassette production methods, Guided by Voices' music was influenced by early post–British Invasion garage rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, punk rock and post-punk. The band has had a prolific output, releasing 35+ full-length albums along with many other releases, and has garnered a dedicated cult following. Their songs are known for their frequent brevity and for ending abruptly or intertwining with homemade sound effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helmet (band)</span> American alternative metal band

Helmet is an American alternative metal band from New York City formed in 1989 by vocalist and lead guitarist Page Hamilton. Helmet has had numerous lineup changes with Hamilton as the only constant member. Since 2010, the band has consisted of Hamilton, drummer Kyle Stevenson, guitarist Dan Beeman and bassist Dave Case.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pavement (band)</span> American indie rock band

Pavement is an American indie rock band that formed in Stockton, California, in 1989. For most of their career, the group consisted of Stephen Malkmus, Scott Kannberg, Mark Ibold (bass), Steve West (drums), and Bob Nastanovich. Initially conceived as a recording project, the band at first avoided press or live performances, while attracting considerable underground attention with their early releases. Gradually evolving into a more polished band, Pavement recorded five full-length albums and ten EPs over the course of their decade-long career, though they disbanded with some acrimony in 1999 as the members moved on to other projects. In 2010, they undertook a well-received reunion tour, followed by another international tour in 2022-24.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porno for Pyros</span> American alternative rock band

Porno for Pyros is an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992, following the first break-up of Jane's Addiction. The band currently consists of Jane's Addiction members, Perry Farrell (vocals) and Stephen Perkins (drums), alongside Peter DiStefano (guitar) and Mike Watt (bass). Founding bass guitarist Martyn LeNoble was a member of the band between 1992 and 1995, and was initially committed to the band's reunion between 2022 and 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slint</span> American rock band

Slint was an American rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1986. The band consisted of Brian McMahan, David Pajo (guitar), Britt Walford, Todd Brashear, and Ethan Buckler. Slint's first album, Tweez, was recorded by engineer Steve Albini in 1987 and released in obscurity on the Jennifer Hartman Records label in 1989. It was followed two years later by the critically acclaimed Spiderland, released on the independent label Touch and Go Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forbidden (band)</span> American thrash metal band

Forbidden is an American thrash metal band from the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Formed in 1985 as Forbidden Evil, but would change their name in 1987. Since their formation, Forbidden have broken up and reformed twice with numerous line-up changes. After breaking up for the first time in 1997, Forbidden reunited once again in 2007, went into an indefinite hiatus in 2012, but reformed in 2023. The current line-up of the band is Norman Skinner (vocals), Craig Locicero (guitar), Matt Camacho (bass), Steve Smyth (guitar) and Chris Kontos (drums).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Sherwood</span> American singer and multi-instrumentalist

William Wyman Sherwood is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer, record producer and mixing engineer. He is best known for his tenures in the English progressive rock band Yes as guitarist and keyboardist in 1994 and from 1997 to 2000 and as bassist since 2015, following the death of original bassist Chris Squire. He is also known for working with former and current Yes members on other projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leatherwolf</span> American heavy metal band

Leatherwolf is an American heavy metal band that formed in Huntington Beach, California in 1981. They split up in 1992, but reunited in 1999. The group is also nicknamed the "Triple Axe Attack" for pioneering the use of a 3-guitar line-up in heavy metal.

<i>Something/Anything?</i> 1972 studio album by Todd Rundgren

Something/Anything? is the third album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released in February 1972. It was Rundgren's first album released under his own name, following two records credited to the quasi-group project Runt, and was also his first double album. It was recorded in late 1971 in Los Angeles, New York City and Bearsville Studios, Woodstock. The album is divided into four sections focused on different stylistic themes; the first three parts were recorded in the studio with Rundgren playing all instruments and singing all vocals in addition to producing. The final quarter contained a number of tracks recorded live in the studio without any overdubs, save for a short snippet of archive recordings from the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utopia (band)</span> American rock band

Utopia was an American rock band formed in 1973 by Todd Rundgren. During its first three years, the group was a progressive rock band with a somewhat fluid membership known as Todd Rundgren's Utopia. Most of the members in this early incarnation also played on Rundgren's solo albums of the period up to 1975. By 1976, the group was known simply as Utopia and featured a stable quartet of Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell and John "Willie" Wilcox. This version of the group gradually abandoned progressive rock for more straightforward rock and pop.

Hurricane #1 are an English rock band, formed in Oxford in 1996. The band were formed by former Ride guitarist Andy Bell, along with vocalist / guitarist Alex Lowe, bassist Will Pepper and drummer Gareth "Gaz" Farmer. After releasing two albums, Hurricane #1 (1997) and Only the Strongest Will Survive (1999), the band broke up. Bell went on to join Gay Dad and then eventually Oasis, while Lowe ventured into a solo career. Fronted by Lowe, the band reformed in 2014 and released their third album, Find What You Love and Let It Kill You, in November 2015.

King Harvest was a 1970s French-American rock band who was formed initially in Ithaca, New York, U.S., but broke up and reformed in Paris where they began recording their first songs. They are known for their 1972 hit single "Dancing in the Moonlight". They took their name after the 1969 song "King Harvest " by The Band, one of their musical influences.

<i>Its Alive!</i> (The New Cars album) 2006 live album by The New Cars

It's Alive! is the only album released by The New Cars. The album features fifteen live tracks, twelve of which are songs known as being performed by the original Cars. The remaining two, "I Saw the Light" and "Open My Eyes", were popularized by New Cars member Todd Rundgren. The album ends with three new studio tracks, recorded especially for this release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher McGuire</span> American musician

Christopher McGuire is an American drum set player, session drummer, drum teacher, and producer. He is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.

<i>Bliss</i> (12 Rods album) 1993 studio album by 12 Rods

Bliss is a 1993 album by 12 Rods.

<i>Separation Anxieties</i> 2000 studio album by 12 Rods

Separation Anxieties is a 2000 album by 12 Rods. It was the band's third full-length album.

Shiner is an American post-hardcore/alternative rock band from Kansas City, Missouri that was active from 1992 to 2003. Since 2012 Shiner has been playing several shows a year. The band's new record Schadenfreude was released May 8, 2020, with touring to follow that was since cancelled due to COVID-19.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Thomas, Lindsey (11 August 2004). "End of the Road, End of the Rods". City Pages. City Pages. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  2. ↑ Josephes, Jason (1 May 1996). "12 Rods: Gay?: Pitchfork Record Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Campbell, David (5 March 2015). "Artist of the Month: 12 Rods". The Current. Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  4. ↑ Riemenschneider, Chris (1 January 2015). "10 years later, 12 Rods is back". Star Tribune. Star Tribune. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  5. ↑ Sundquist, Josh (7 September 2011). "About". Chigliak. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Sundquist, Josh (22 March 2012). "It's All Aquatic on May 22". Chigliak. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  7. ↑ Reed, Fischer (8 October 2014). "12 Rods Announce January Reunion Show". City Pages. City Pages. Archived from the original on 1 March 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Accidents Waiting to Happen: The 12 Rods Story by James Francis Flynn".
  9. ↑ Gerth, Austin (20 April 2017). "12 Rods documentary remembers what might have been". City Pages. City Pages. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  10. ↑ "The 12 Rods hiatus is over". Facebook. 12 Rods. 20 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  11. ↑ Rettig, James (20 June 2023). "12 Rods – "Twice"". Stereogum. Stereogum. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  12. ↑ "If We Stayed Alive – 12RODS". Bandcamp. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.