Cupcakes | |
---|---|
Origin | Chicago, IL |
Genres | Power pop |
Years active | 1996-2000 |
Labels | DreamWorks |
Past members | Matt Walker Preston Graves Greg Suran Solomon Snyder |
Website |
Cupcakes were a Power pop band from Chicago who were signed to the DreamWorks record label and released one self-titled album in 2000. The band's drummer, Matt Walker, had previously played with the Smashing Pumpkins and Filter and would go on to play with Garbage and Morrissey. [1] [2] [3] [4] Guitarist Greg Suran would go on to tour with the Goo Goo Dolls [5] and the B-52's. [6]
Prior to forming the Cupcakes, Matt Walker, Solomon Snyder and Preston Graves had previously played together in a band called Tribal Opera. Following the break-up of Tribal Opera, Graves started working with Greg Suran, and by 1996 both Walker and Snyder had joined. They started performing as the Cupcakes. By 1997 they were signed by DreamWorks and they flew to London to record with notable producer, Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur, the Cranberries). However, the label dropped the band shortly after their self-titled album was released in 2000.
Following the end of Tribal Opera, Walker had been touring with Filter when he was recruited by the Smashing Pumpkins to replace Jimmy Chamberlin. [7] He joined the Smashing Pumpkins, but left when Cupcakes got signed by DreamWorks. [8]
In December 2012, Graves and Walker formed a new band called Stuttgart, with Scott Tallarida, Thomas Walker and Michael Sinclair rounding out the line-up. [9]
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Smashing Pumpkins carves off a drummer — again. Matt Walker was hired by the band last year to replace Jimmy Chamberlin, who the other Pumpkins said was hitting controlled substances a bit hard. Walker will concentrate full time on his own band, Cupcakes. His final appearance with the band will be Dec. 5, when the Pumpkins open for the Stones at Miami's Orange Bowl.
Lead singer Preston Graves may garner recognition among those familiar with Chicago's industrial-rock scene a few years back, when he screamed for Tribal Opera