John-Allison Weiss

Last updated

John-Allison Weiss
J.A.W. at LoveLoud 2018 (cropped).jpg
John-Allison Weiss performing at LoveLoud in 2018.
Background information
Birth nameJohn-Allison Witham Weiss
Born (1987-04-13) April 13, 1987 (age 37)
Grosse Pointe, Michigan, US
Origin Athens, Georgia, US
Genres Indie pop
OccupationsSongwriter, performer
InstrumentsVocals, guitar
Years active2007–present
Labels SideOneDummy Records, No Sleep Records, Lower Key Music, Get Better Records
Website lowerkeymusic.com

John-Allison Weiss (born April 13, 1987) is a Los Angeles-based indie pop singer, songwriter, and performer. To date, they have released four full-length albums and several EPs. Their most recent LP, The Long Way, was released on February 17, 2023, through Get Better Records.

Contents

Biography

John-Allison Weiss emerged at the end of the 2000s as an early crowd-funding hero with a strong D.I.Y. ethos that has defined them throughout their career.

Weiss began playing music as a teenager in their hometown of Flowery Branch, Georgia. [1] Inspired by the emotional tumult of young relationships, they began writing songs and released their first EP, An Eight-Song Tribute to Feeling Bad and Feeling Better, in 2007, while attending the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. [2] They followed it up with a full-length concert album, Live at Sidewalk NYC, a year later.

In late 2009, Weiss turned to the newly launched Kickstarter crowd-funding platform to try raising the money for their first studio LP, ...Was Right All Along. Their campaign allowed them to reach their funding goal within the first day and triple it just days later. The Kickstarter success led to some high-exposure press, with The New York Times and Wired magazine essentially labeling them as a sort of poster child for the new era of Internet promotion. [3] Weiss turned the attention into countless tours, interviews, and a panelist slot at the industry's SXSW conference in Austin alongside Kickstarter founder Yancey Strickler. [4]

In 2011, Weiss recorded their second studio album, Say What You Mean, as well as a companion acoustic record called Sideways Sessions in Brooklyn, New York. Both albums were released on No Sleep Records in 2013. The label released an EP titled Remember When the following year.

In May 2015, Weiss signed with SideOneDummy Records and announced plans to release a third studio album later that year. New Love was released on October 2, 2015, produced by Forrest Kline of electro-pop band Hellogoodbye and Bradley Hale of indie rock band Now, Now. [5] Following a live album and 2021's Death Valley Demos EP, John-Allison Weiss signed with Get Better Records and issued the single "Different Now."

Associated acts

During their time in Brooklyn, New York, Weiss frequently played shows with Jenny Owen Youngs, Bess Rogers, Field Mouse, and more. They have toured with acts such as Candy Hearts, Anthony Raneri, Tim Barry, State Champs, Matt Pryor, and The Front Bottoms. They have supported artists like Laura Jane Grace, The Wonder Years, Chuck Ragan, and Relient K. In 2012, A.W. supported Lou Reed on his European tour, during which they also contributed backing vocals in Reed's band. [6] In 2013, Daytrotter released a vinyl 12" featuring Tegan and Sara on side A and Weiss on side B. [7] In 2015, Weiss contributed backup vocals to The Front Bottoms album Back on Top and The Wonder Years album No Closer to Heaven. Weiss has also contributed backup vocals to songs with Chris Farren, Reggie and the Full Effect, and more. A.W.'s touring band is led by musical director and guitarist Peter Recine [8] and includes Liam McCormack of Yellowbirddd on bass and Eric Downs on drums.

Personal life

In 2017, shortly after the release of their single "Runaway", Weiss came out as non-binary and began assuming "they/them" pronouns. [9] They discussed the transition on the podcast Queery, hosted by comedian Cameron Esposito, for which Weiss also provides the theme music with their song "Who We Are." [10]

Discography

Studio LPs

TitleLabelYear
...Was Right All AlongSelf-Released2009
Say What You Mean No Sleep Records 2013
New Love SideOneDummy Records 2015
The Long WayLower Key Music2023

EPs

TitleLabelYear
An Eight-Song Tribute to Feeling Bad & Feeling BetterSelf-released2007
Winter Mix TapeSelf-released2007
The Only Girl at an All Boys Pool PartySelf-released2008
& The Way She Likes ItSelf-released2008
I Was an IslandSelf-released2011
Remember When No Sleep Records 2014

Other releases

TitleLabelYear
Live At Sidewalk NYCSelf-Released2009
Georges Perec: The PageSelf-Released2010
The Teenage YearsSelf-Released2012
Making It Up 7" No Sleep Records 2012
Say What You Mean: Sideways Sessions No Sleep Records 2013
Tegan & Sara / Allison Weiss Daytrotter 2013
"The Same" (Acoustic)Everyone Is Gay2015

Music videos

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tegan and Sara</span> Canadian indie rock/indie pop duo

Tegan and Sara is a Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1998 in Calgary, Alberta. The band is led by identical twin sisters, Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin. Both musicians are songwriters and multi-instrumentalists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steel Train</span> American indie rock band

Steel Train was an indie rock band from New Jersey. They performed at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Coachella, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Late Show with David Letterman, and toured with several acts, including Tegan and Sara, Fun, Ben Folds, O.A.R., Finch, and the Get Up Kids. The band played their final show at the Bowery Ballroom in January 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin</span> American indie pop band

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (SSLYBY) is an American indie pop band from Springfield, Missouri. They are named after Boris Yeltsin, the first President of Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Their first full-length album, Broom, was independently released in 2005. They are now signed with Polyvinyl Record Co.

<i>Exile</i> (Aloud album) 2010 studio album by Aloud

Exile is the name of Aloud's third full-length studio album, after 2008's Fan The Fury, and their first release since the 2009 live EP Live 2009. It is the first studio album recorded by Aloud's principal members Henry Beguiristain and Jen de la Osa without Aloud's original rhythm section.

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

Pop Evil is an American rock band that was formed in North Muskegon, Michigan, in 2001 by Leigh Kakaty. The band's roots reside in TenFive, a group formed in the late-1990s by Kakaty and guitarist Jason Reed. Pop Evil has several songs that topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, including "Trenches" and "Waking Lions".

My Jerusalem is an American Indie Rock band based in Austin, Texas. The band consists of Jeff Klein (vocals) and Ross Dubois. The band rose to critical acclaim after releasing their debut album Gone For Good.

Small Black is an American indie band from Brooklyn, New York. They are currently signed to the 100% Electronica record label. The band consists of Josh Kolenik, Ryan Heyner (guitar/keyboards), Juan Pieczanski (bass/guitar), and Jeff Curtin (drums).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skinny Lister</span> British folk band

Skinny Lister are a British band formed in London in 2009. They were a five-piece band until October 2013 when a drummer was added. In August 2022 they returned to being a five piece after Sam Brace left and the decision was made not to replace him. They are signed to Xtra Mile Recordings, and were previously signed to Sunday Best Records in the UK, SideOneDummy Records in the US, and Uncle Owen Records in Japan.

We Barbarians were an American three-piece indie rock band based in Brooklyn, originally from Long Beach, California. The band consisted of David Quon, Derek VanHeule, and Nathan Warkentin. Their debut studio album, There's This There's That, was released on December 15, 2009. The band's latest EP, Headspace, was released August 30, 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gringo Star</span> American indie rock group

Gringo Star is an American indie rock group from Atlanta, Georgia.

The now defunct Voxhaul Broadcast was a Silver Lake, Los Angeles–based indie rock band formed in 2006. The band is composed of four childhood friends: David Denis, Anthony Aguiar, Phil Munsey II, and Kurt Allen (drums).

Little Tybee is an experimental, progressive folk-rock band based out of Atlanta, GA. Since their beginnings in 2009, the band has released 4 full length albums and conducted numerous tours, the most recent being a full-US run in support of CHON and Tera Melos. Stylistically, the band fuses together elements from folk, psychedelic rock, indie music, jazz, soul, and other diverse influences. While the band utilizes a "democratic" composition process, vocalist Brock Scott has been described by bandmate Josh Martin as "typically [the] primary songwriter".

Social Studies is an indie rock band from San Francisco, California, composed of Natalia Rogovin, Tom Smith (guitar), Ben McClintock (guitar), Jesse Hudson, and Michael Jirkovsky (drums). Their sound has been described as “structurally trim and sonically dazzling”.

<i>No Country for Old Musicians</i> 2013 studio album by Reggie and the Full Effect

No Country For Old Musicians is the sixth studio album by American rock band Reggie and the Full Effect, released on November 19, 2013. The album was released through the support of a Kickstarter campaign set up by James Dewees himself. The album was the last album produced by longtime collaborator Ed Rose at his studio Black Lodge Recording before his retirement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Lighthouse and the Whaler</span> American indie rock band

The Lighthouse and the Whaler is an American band from Cleveland, Ohio. Originally a folk rock trio, they eventually became a rock quartet. The group's second album, This is an Adventure, was produced by Ryan Hadlock and independently released in 2012 and received critical praise for its genre-bending melodic folk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Into It. Over It.</span> Indie rock band

Into It. Over It. is an indie rock band founded in 2007 as the solo project of Chicago, Illinois-based musician Evan Thomas Weiss. It is considered a leading act of the early-2010s emo revival scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quilt (band)</span>

Quilt is a four-piece psychedelic indie rock band from Boston consisting of Anna Fox Rochinski (vocals/guitars), Shane Butler (vocals/guitars), Keven Lareau (vocals/bass) and John Andrews (vocals/drums). They have released three albums, an EP, and a handful of singles through Mexican Summer. The band tours internationally. They write collaboratively and share vocal duties. They were born out of a local improv scene, and combine elements of folk-rock, psychedelia and dream pop.

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

Radkey is an American punk rock band from St. Joseph, Missouri formed in 2010 by brothers, Dee, Solomon, and Isaiah Radke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amasa Hines</span>

Amasa Hines is an American rock band from Little Rock, Arkansas.

Jason Scott Wilkes, known professionally as WILKES, is a musician, singer and songwriter. He is the former frontman for High Flight Society and is now a solo artist.

References

  1. ↑ "Allison Weiss". billboard.com.
  2. ↑ Archives, The Red And Black (July 10, 2008). "When a band loves a woman: Allison Weiss". redandblack.com.
  3. ↑ Walker, Rob (August 5, 2011). "The Trivialities and Transcendence of Kickstarter". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ "Kickstarter at SXSW". kickstarter.com.
  5. ↑ "SideOneDummy Records - Blog". sideonedummy.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Lou Reed Kicks off Kunstrasen". 3songsbonn.com. June 30, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Tegan & Sara / Allison Weiss Vinyl 12" (New) from Daytrotter Studio, 2013 at Wolfgang's". Wolfgang's. Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  8. ↑ "NEW LOVE INTERVIEWS: PETER RECINE, GUITARIST / MD". allisonw.com.
  9. ↑ @johnnyalligator (July 26, 2017). "Guess today is as good a day as any to tell y'all I'm non-binary / genderqueer. Yeehaw!" (Tweet). Retrieved April 4, 2023– via Twitter.
  10. ↑ Esposito, Cameron. "21 - AW". Feral Audio. Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
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.