Funeral Diner

Last updated
Funeral Diner
Funeral Diner Live.jpg
Background information
Origin Half Moon Bay, California
Genres Screamo, emo, post-rock
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitars, drums
Years active1998-2007
LabelsNumerous record labels
Past membersSeth Babb
Dan Bajda
Matt Bajda
Dave Mello
Ben Steidel
Sean O' Shea
Rob Beckstrom
Andy Radin
Phil Benson

Funeral Diner was a screamo band from Half Moon Bay, California, located near San Francisco. During their last few years, the band established a strong cult fanbase through a near constant string of releases and a touring schedule during which they visited the United States, Europe, and Japan. [1] [2]

Contents

The band had a large catalog of splits and compilation tracks on various records. They rarely pressed CDs, and kept many of their releases in limited quantities and one-time pressings, jumping from label to label, though their last few major recordings were released by Alone Records. [3] [4] Their most recent full-length, The Underdark, was issued on Alone in 2005. [5]

Members of the band were previously affiliated with other groups such as Nexus Six, Portraits of Past, [6] Living War Room, Lost Ground, Sheep Squeeze, and Takaru. After the breakup, members have gone on to form Stirling Says, ...Who Calls So Loud, Pills, and Lemonade.

Though rooted in first wave emo, hardcore punk and early screamo characteristics, the band later included elements of post-rock. [7] Funeral Diner's albums have attracted significant coverage from rock press outlets. [8]

Members

Final Lineup

Former Members

Discography

Studio albums

YearAlbum DetailsNotes
2002Difference Of Potential
  • Released: August 2002 (CD)
    September 2003 (LP)
  • Label: Ape Must Not Kill Ape
  • Format: CD, LP
LP edition limited to 1000 black colored copies
2005The Underdark
  • Released: April 2005
  • Label: Alone Records
  • Format: CD, LP
First issued through Alone Records in April 2005 on CD and vinyl formats. First vinyl pressing included black and clear vinyl, 1200 copies of the black vinyl and an unknown number of copies of the clear vinyl. Also unknown amount pressed on white vinyl. In 2015, to celebrate the album's tenth anniversary, Repeater Records reissue the album on grey colored vinyl, 524 copies total.

Extended plays

YearAlbum DetailsNotes
2002The Wicked
  • Released: August 2002 (CD)
    May 2004 (10")
  • Label: Sorry Records
    Alone Records
  • Format: CD, 10"
First released in August 2002 on CD format through Sorry Records. Later reissued on CD and 10" vinyl formats in 2004 through Alone Records with different artwork and an extra track.
2005Swept Under
  • Released: 2005
  • Label: LilacSky Records, Audio Is A War (10")
    Cosmic Note Records (CD)
  • Format: CD, 10"
10" edition issued through both LilacSky Records and Audio Is A War. CD edition, issued by Cosmic Note Records, includes different artwork and extra remixed versions of Funeral Diner tracks appended to the end.
2006Bag Of Holding
  • Released: 2006
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: 3" CD
Tour edition EP released as a home burned 3" CD. Edition of 75, all copies hand-numbered. Featured tracks from their split with Ampere and from The Emo Apocalypse compilation.
2007Doors Open'
  • Released: March 2007
  • Label: Self-released (CD)
    Vendetta Records, Adagio830 (12")
  • Format: CD, 12"
CD edition independently released by the band for their 2007 Japan tour. The single-sided 12" edition was released between Vendetta Records and Adagio830 in Germany. This edition included different artwork from the CD edition and was released in edition of 600 black colored copies.

Split releases

YearAlbum DetailsNotes
1999Nexus Six/Funeral Diner
  • Released: January 1999
  • Label: Old Glory Records
  • Format: LP
Edition of 1000 black colored copies. Split with Nexus Six.
2000The World of Forms
  • Released: August 2000
  • Label: Ape Must Not Kill Ape
  • Format: LP
Edition of 1000 black colored copies, 50 of which came packaged in hand-stamped sleeves. Split with Staircase.
2001The Shivering/Funeral Diner
  • Released: November 2001
  • Label: Into The Hurricane
    Unfun Records
    City Boot Records
  • Format: LP
Edition of 600 handnumbered black colored copies. Split with The Shivering.
2002A Split Seven Inch
  • Released: October 2002
  • Label: Vendetta Records
  • Format: 7"
Three pressings total: 525 make up the first, 440 for the second, and 520 for the third, all of which adding up to 1485 black colored vinyl copies total. The second and third pressings were hand-numbered. Split with Zann. The song "Lie In Headlights" is the only song from a split release to not be compiled in any of the band's compilation releases.
2003Music Inspired by Rites of Spring Part One
  • Released: September 2003
  • Label: Fire Walk With Me
  • Format: 7"
Rites of Spring tribute 7" split with the Saddest Landscape. Edition of 780 black colored copies.
2003Dead City/Funeral Diner
  • Released: September 2003
  • Label: Old Glory Records
    So Much To Give
  • Format: LP
1000 black colored copies and about 140 test pressings. About 130 of the test pressings were sold by Dead City on tour with unique artwork and inserts. About 12 copies were packaged in manilla envelopes and had artwork done by Dan Davis of Kodan Armada. Including these two "artwork variations", about 6 different variations of artwork exist for this release. Split with Dead City.
2004I Just Want To Feel This Way Forever
  • Released: June 2004 (CD)
    May 2005 (10")
  • Label: Falling Leaves (CD)
    Somberlain (10")
  • Format: CD, 10"
First issued as a CD through Falling Leaves in 2004. Reissued on 10" vinyl format through Somberlain with alternative artwork in 2005 as an edition of 675: 340 black, 335 mint-green. Split with Evylock.
2004A Seven Inch Split
  • Released: June 2004
  • Label: Red Cars Go Faster Records
  • Format: 7"
Edition of 1030 copies: 570 black, 460 champagne clear. 141 of the black copies were hand-numbered European tour editions, and 123 of the clear copies were hand-numbered as well. All copies of the split were pressed on thick 70 gram vinyl. Split with Raein.
2004Welcome The Plague Year/Funeral Diner
  • Released: July 2004
  • Label: Electric Human Project
  • Format: 7"
2000 copies total: 1000 blue, 700 black, 200 clear, and 100 white. Split with Welcome The Plague Year.
2007Ampere/Funeral Diner
  • Released: July 2007
  • Label: Clean Plate Records, Electric Human Project
  • Format: 9"
Released in edition of 1000: 800 black, 200 green. All copies were actually single-sided with etching all over the B-side and some even on the A-side. Split with Ampere.

Compilation albums

YearAlbum DetailsNotes
2003Three Sides Dead
  • Released: September 2003
  • Label: LilacSky Records
  • Format: CD
Compilation album composed of all of Funeral Diner's tracks from their splits with Nexus Six, Staircase, and The Shivering.
2003...Is Dead
  • Released: September 2003
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: CD-R
Tour edition homeburned CD-R, edition of 200. Sold through the band's 2003 European tour. Compilation composed of tracks that will later appear on their splits with Evylock, Raein, and Welcome The Plague Year.

Compilation Appearances

YearAlbum DetailsSong
2003Inspiration From Forest
  • Released: November 2004
  • Label: Falling Leaves
  • Format: CD
"Shifting"
2004A Sequel Of A Story
  • Released: August 2003 (CD)
    February 2004 (LP)
  • Label: Cosmic Note (CD)
    City Boot Records, Correlation Records, Coldbringer Recordings (LP)
  • Format: CD, LP
"This Truly Is God's Country"
2006The Emo Apocalypse
  • Released: May 2006
  • Label: React With Protest
  • Format: LP
"Addendum"
2008Droning Earth Vol. 4
  • Released: October 2008
  • Label: Droning Earth
  • Format: DL
"Two Houses"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Screamo</span> Aggressive subgenre of emo

Screamo is an aggressive subgenre of emo that emerged in the early 1990s and emphasizes "willfully experimental dissonance and dynamics". San Diego-based bands Heroin and Antioch Arrow pioneered the genre in the early 1990s, and it was developed in the late 1990s mainly by bands from the East Coast of the United States such as Pg. 99, Orchid, Saetia, and I Hate Myself. Screamo is strongly influenced by hardcore punk and characterized by the use of screamed vocals. Lyrical themes usually include emotional pain, death, romance, and human rights. The term "screamo" has frequently been mistaken as referring to any music with screaming.

Funeral are a Norwegian funeral doom band formed in 1991 by Thomas Angell and Anders Eek; soon afterward, Einar Frederiksen joined as bassist and songwriter and Christian Loos joined as guitarist. They are known as one of the pioneers of the funeral doom genre.

Saetia is a New York City-based screamo band. While relatively unknown during their initial existence, the band is now seen as one of the most critically lauded bands of the late-1990s screamo scene. Stewart Mason of AllMusic described their music as an "essential document" for fans of screamo.

Portraits of Past was an American post-hardcore band from the San Francisco Bay Area that existed roughly from 1994–1995. The genre of music that they helped create is often described as "screamo," though that term was not used at the time the band was active. As Kent McClard recounts on the Ebullition website, the band's popularity grew only a couple of years after their demise at the end of 1995.

Antioch Arrow was an American punk rock band from San Diego, California, that formed in 1992. Most of their discography was released through the San Diego independent label Gravity Records. The label was responsible raising San Diego's profile in the underground music scene of the mid-1990s. The band, breaking up in 1994 and releasing one final studio album posthumously in 1995, are now considered to be one of the most influential bands of the early 1990s that shaped emo and post-hardcore music of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Number Twelve Looks Like You</span> American mathcore band

The Number Twelve Looks Like You is an American mathcore band, formed in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, in 2002. The band went on a six-year hiatus in 2010. In May 2016, they performed a secret show and then announced their reunion.

Means was a Canadian Christian post-hardcore and melodic hardcore band from Regina, Saskatchewan.

The Audition is an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois. The band is composed of singer Danny Stevens, drummer Ryan O'Connor, guitarists Seth Johnson and Timmy Klepek and bassist Joe Lussa. The band's first release was a six track EP titled All In Your Head. In early 2005, they signed to record label Victory Records and released their debut album, titled Controversy Loves Company. In early January 2008 they released their second studio album Champion. On April 28, 2009 they released their third studio album Self-Titled Album. Their latest full-length album Great Danger was released on March 16, 2010.

<i>A Retrospective</i> (Saetia album) 2001 compilation album by Saetia

A Retrospective is a compilation album composed of the entire recorded output of screamo band Saetia, released October 1, 2001 by Level Plane. The album, which also includes five live recordings taken from one of the last shows the band performed at ABC No Rio, was remastered entirely by Alan Douches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mouth of the Architect</span> American heavy metal band

Mouth of the Architect is an American heavy metal band from Dayton, Ohio, creating music influenced by and similar to Neurosis, Isis, Pelican, Cult of Luna, and various post-metal bands. They are signed to Translation Loss Records and have released five full-length studio albums and one EP to date.

Capital Lights was an American Christian pop rock band from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Formed in 2002 as Aftereight, the band changed its name after signing to Tooth & Nail Records in 2008. The group initially disbanded in 2009, but reunited in late 2010 until 2012.

Bellavista is an indie rock/shoegaze band from San Francisco, California. The current lineup includes guitarist/vocalist Rex John Shelverton, bassist Jeremy Bringetto, and drummer Cary LaScala. Shelverton is also known for being a co-founder of the band/duo Tamaryn.

SNMNMNM is a band that formed in Rochester, New York, US, in 1997. The group's name is a condensation of "Seamus 'n Matt 'n Mark 'n Matt". While completing music degrees at the Eastman School of Music, the band members got together to play outside of their studies in an alternative music band, performing several shows at Java's, a coffee shop directly adjacent to Eastman. Blending traditional brass instruments with electronics, the band self-released their first album and toured before relocating to Los Angeles in 2002. Media attention built as the band released an EP in 2002 and a full-length in 2003, continuing to tour behind the records. Their album, As Best As We Can reached #65 on the CMJ charts and was covered by The New York Times. All of the songs on As Best As We Can feature exclamation points in their titles. Their newest album, Crawl Inside Your Head was released on September 18, 2007.

1997 was an American pop/rock band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, who were formed in October 2005. They released three albums between 2007 and 2009, but broke up the following year.

Danger Radio was an American rock band from Edmonds, Washington.

Racebannon was an American noise punk band from Bloomington, Indiana. The band, formed in September 1996, have cited influence ranging from Antioch Arrow to the Melvins, and have also stated that they're heavily influenced by hardcore, hip-hop, heavy metal, jazz, and the blues. The band's sound is noted for being odd and experimental, and the group has been dubbed as "noise rock" or "noise metal" by critics. Since their formation, the band has released numerous albums, extended plays, and splits through a variety of labels, such as Secretly Canadian and Level Plane.

Kingsbury are an Orlando-based psychedelic indie rock band, signed to Post Records. Their music has melodic, discordant and ambient elements.

The Lost Revival is an indie rock band from Columbus, Ohio. Formed in the Fall of 2005, membership changed several times before the band recorded its first album, Homemade Confetti, in the Summer of 2007. Band membership changed again before work began on the second album, which has yet to be released.

Jeromes Dream is a screamo band from Connecticut, originally active from 1997 to 2001, and again from 2018 onwards.

References

  1. Biography Archived 2007-10-27 at the Wayback Machine , 32brinkster.com. Accessed July 15, 2007.
  2. Biography Archived 2009-12-24 at the Wayback Machine , SXSW. Accessed July 15, 2007.
  3. Review of The Wicked. Delusions of Adequacy, April 15, 2005. Accessed November 7, 2008.
  4. Review of The Wicked. Decapolis, September 28, 2004. Accessed November 7, 2008.
  5. Review of The Underdark Archived 2008-12-03 at the Wayback Machine . Aversion.com. Accessed November 8, 2008.
  6. Mat Hocking, Review of The Underdark Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine . Drowned in Sound. Accessed November 8, 2008.
  7. Stewart Mason, Review of The Underdark. Allmusic.
  8. Joe Davenport, Review of The Underdark Archived 2005-05-02 at the Wayback Machine . Delusions of Adequacy, April 15, 2005. Accessed July 15, 2007.