Nate Mendel | |
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![]() Mendel with the Foo Fighters in 2011 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Nathan Gregor Mendel |
Born | Richland, Washington, U.S. | December 2, 1968
Genres | Alternative rock, midwest emo post-grunge, grunge, hardcore punk, punk rock, indie rock, post-hardcore, emo |
Occupation(s) | Bassist |
Years active | 1982–present |
Member of | Foo Fighters |
Formerly of | Sunny Day Real Estate, Juno, The Fire Theft, Sound City Players |
Nathan Gregor Mendel (born December 2, 1968) is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist for the rock band Foo Fighters, as well as a former member of Sunny Day Real Estate. He has also worked with musical acts The Jealous Sound and The Fire Theft. He has released one solo album, If I Kill This Thing We're All Going to Eat for a Week , under the name Lieutenant. Aside from the Foo Fighters' lead vocalist and founder Dave Grohl, he is the second longest serving member of the band, and is the only member to have appeared on all of the band's studio albums as a full band, since The Colour and the Shape .
Mendel was born on December 2, 1968, in Richland, a mid-sized city in southeast Washington. His first instrument was the violin. At the age of 13, Mendel started to get interested in rock music and joined a band, [1] a friend who played guitar suggesting he play the bass. [2] Mendel stated that "as I picked up that bass I went on a 20-year detour into punk", helped by his town usually having concerts of DIY punk bands such as Scream. [3] This led to a "pretty limited musical education", as despite taking some lessons with a bassist from a local band, Mendel mostly taught himself to play, and "it was all hardcore punk rock, like Minor Threat, Black Flag and Bad Brains. Instead of studying the bass playing of someone like John Entwistle, which would have given me a foundation of how to play. I just wanted to play a lot of notes fast." [2] His family is Jewish. [4] [5]
Mendel began his musical career in the hardcore band Diddly Squat, which only recorded a 7" single but did a national tour during the 1988 summer vacation. After Diddly Squat ended, Mendel moved to Seattle, where he spent four months on the straight edge band Brotherhood. Afterward, he joined the band Christ on a Crutch, which included bandmate Glen Essary and lasted until 1993. In 1992, Mendel and his University of Washington housemate Dan Hoerner decided to form a band, and invited drummer William Goldsmith to form the group that would end up being named Sunny Day Real Estate (SDRE). [1] Mendel added that SDRE was an attempt to "play more intricate, interesting music". [2] While Mendel toured Europe with Christ on a Crutch, Jeremy Enigk jammed with the remaining members and eventually became a full-time member of SDRE. [6]
Just before Sunny Day Real Estate disbanded in 1995, Mendel and Goldsmith were invited by Dave Grohl to join his band, the Foo Fighters, during the week of Halloween in late October 1994. He has remained a bandmember ever since, being one of the only original members in the Foo Fighters' current lineup along with Grohl and former Nirvana live guitarist Pat Smear. [7] Although Sunny Day Real Estate reunited for two more albums ( How It Feels to Be Something On and The Rising Tide ), he stayed with the Foo Fighters, in Sunny Day Real Estate, he was replaced by Jeff Palmer, and Palmer was replaced by Joey Skyward, when Skyward left the band, Jeremy Enigk (lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist) moved to the bass. After Sunny Day Real Estate disbanded once more, he joined with other Sunny Day Real Estate members Jeremy Enigk and William Goldsmith to form The Fire Theft, who released a self-titled album in 2003. [2] In 2001, he played with Juno.
He scored a role in the indie movie Our Burden Is Light, in which he also played a minor role as the main female character's best friend's boyfriend and bassist. In the movie, Mendel plays in a band named Bleeder, consisting of himself, Jessica Ballard, and Taylor Hawkins.
In June 2009, it was confirmed that Sunny Day Real Estate plans to reunite again, with Mendel back in the fold. [8] [9] The band toured in 2009, confirming a new album in the works. [10] However, recording sessions proved to be unproductive and by 2013, the group had broken up once again.
Mendel at first considered the bass a melodic instrument, and thus liked to input more personality in his bass parts. Bass Player described Mendel's style in Sunny Day Real Estate as "heavy-handed and fleet-footed, rooted in punk rock but prone to melodic flights that encircled the band's airy arrangements", and Mendel added that in his first years of the Foo Fighters he tried "to make these songs as complicated as I could and put as much bass on there as possible". He eventually changed his priorities to the more traditional bass style where the instrument acts as "the bridge between the melodic element and the percussion", saying that he "alter[ed] the way I play bass so it works in this band, so I can support Dave's songs as best as possible." The priorities he learned to take with his playing was to "play tight and lock better with the drums" [2] [11] adding that when Grohl and drummer Taylor Hawkins decide to redo the drum tracks, at times Mendel would have to remake his whole basslines. [12]
Mendel is known to use a pick almost exclusively. His preferred style was alternate picking, but on the fifth Foo Fighters album, In Your Honor , he started to employ downpicking because "with this kind of music, you need the consistency and percussive sound you get from playing with downstrokes." For the acoustic shows, Mendel played fingerstyle. [2]
Mendel's main set-up consists of Fender Precision Basses with GHS strings, played through Ashdown amplifiers. [2] Mendel described the Precision as "iconic" in both its looks and its sound. The bassist's preferred P-Bass is his first, a 1971 model sold to him by the lead singer of Christ on a Crutch which Mendel adapted to be easier to play. [11] Mendel also plays Lakland basses, particularly the Bob Glaub Signature, one of which was employed on the Foo Fighters' seventh album, Wasting Light . He uses a Fulltone Bassdrive pedal, though Mendel downsized the usage of effects pedals as the Foo Fighters rose its number of musicians – "Now that we have three guitar players, there's a lot of distortion going on, so I try to keep it clean and stay in line with the kick drum. That way, I know that even if we're playing a big echoey venue, at least the bass will come across with some bite and precision." [2]
Mendel met Kate Jackson, co-founder of independent public relations firm Grandstand Media, in 2009 while she was director of marketing and publicity at Sub Pop Records and Mendel was touring as part of a reunion of the original lineup of Sub Pop recording artists Sunny Day Real Estate. They were married on October 11, 2014, accompanied by close friends and family including Mendel's Foo Fighters bandmates. [13] On July 19, 2018, Mendel took a one-show leave of absence from the Foo Fighters' Concrete & Gold tour, with Jane's Addiction bassist Chris Chaney filling in for him for one night at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, as he chose to be with Jackson as she gave birth to the couple's twin girls. [14]
Mendel has expressed fringe views on HIV & AIDS. In January 2000, he organized a sold-out concert in Los Angeles to benefit Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives, an HIV/AIDS denialism group. [15] In April 2000, MTV News reported that "The Foo Fighters have gone on record advocating Alive & Well, an alternative AIDS information group that questions the link between HIV and AIDS." [16] The Centers for Disease Control describe AIDS as the "most severe stage of HIV." [17] Sandra Thurman, then director of the Office of National AIDS Policy commented:
For the Foo Fighters to be promoting this is extraordinarily irresponsible behavior. There is no doubt about the link between HIV and AIDS in the respected scientific community and it's quite unfortunate that a band reads one book and then adopts this theory. To say [that HIV does not cause AIDS] is akin to saying the world is flat. [18]
Responding to coverage of the Alive & Well benefit in Mother Jones magazine, Mendel wrote, "I am not a medical professional, and I am relatively new to these questions, but I am convinced that those who have tested HIV positive and those sick with AIDS are being done a disservice by not having all the information available to them." [19] Links and references to Alive & Well were removed from the band's website by March 2003. [20]
David Eric Grohl is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, for which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of the grunge band Nirvana from 1990 to 1994.
Foo Fighters is the debut studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on July 4, 1995, through Roswell and Capitol Records. Former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl wrote the entire album. He recorded it himself in six days with the assistance of producer Barrett Jones at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle, Washington, in 1994. Grohl said that he recorded the album just for fun, describing it as a cathartic experience to recover from the suicide of Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain. The album is considered to have started the post-grunge genre.
The Colour and the Shape is the second studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on May 20, 1997, by Roswell and Capitol Records. It was the first album by the Foo Fighters to be recorded as a full band, as the previous self-titled album was both written and recorded entirely by frontman Dave Grohl. The Colour and the Shape is widely considered a defining album of the post-grunge genre, with its three singles becoming staples of rock-oriented radio in the United States. It was among the highest-selling rock albums of 1997 and 1998, and was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards.
William Goldsmith is an American drummer best known as a member of Sunny Day Real Estate and former member of Foo Fighters. Currently drumming for Assertion, he has toured with Mike Watt and IQU, performed on many recordings, and played live with several bands and artists.
Sunny Day Real Estate is an American emo band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1992. The band currently consists of founding members Jeremy Enigk, Dan Hoerner (guitar) and William Goldsmith (drums), alongside Greg Suran (guitar), who originally played with the band between 2000 and 2001, and Chris Jordan (bass), who joined the band in 2022. Founding bass guitarist Nate Mendel was a member of the band during three of its four incarnations.
There Is Nothing Left to Lose is the third studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on November 2, 1999, through Roswell and RCA Records. It marked the first studio credit for drummer Taylor Hawkins, and is often seen as a departure from the band's previous work, showcasing a softer, more experimental sound. Vocalist and guitarist Dave Grohl has called it his favorite Foo Fighters album, stating that it was "totally based on melody" and that the recording process was a serene experience. The album was recorded using only three musicians; Grohl, Hawkins, and bassist Nate Mendel in the basement of Grohl's home in Alexandria, Virginia.
Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the lineup now consists of Grohl, Nate Mendel (bass), Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear (guitars), Rami Jaffee (keyboards), and Josh Freese (drums). Drummers William Goldsmith and Taylor Hawkins, along with guitarist Franz Stahl, are former members of the band.
The Fire Theft was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. They were formed in 2001 by vocalist/guitarist Jeremy Enigk, bassist Nate Mendel, and drummer William Goldsmith, all of whom were previously members of Sunny Day Real Estate. Mendel also plays bass for Foo Fighters, and Goldsmith drummed for Foo Fighters between 1995 and 1997. This lineup of The Fire Theft was three-fourths of the original personnel of Sunny Day Real Estate, with guitarist Dan Hoerner not rejoining his former bandmates.
Dan Hoerner is an American guitarist, vocalist and author. He is known for being the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the Seattle-based band Sunny Day Real Estate.
Sunny Day Real Estate is the second studio album by American rock band Sunny Day Real Estate. The band's label, Sub Pop, distributed the album under the title LP2. Due to its simple pink cover, the album is often referred to as "The Pink Album". It was the band's final release to feature founding bassist Nate Mendel until their single "Lipton Witch", released in 2014 after their third breakup.
Jeremy Enigk is an American singer-songwriter, vocalist and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist. He is known as a solo artist, a film score composer, and as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist of the Seattle-based bands Sunny Day Real Estate and The Fire Theft.
"I'll Stick Around" is the second single released by American rock band Foo Fighters from their 1995 self titled debut album, Foo Fighters.
"Everlong" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters, released in August 1997 as the second single from their second studio album, The Colour and the Shape (1997). The song reached number three on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart and the Canadian RPM Rock/Alternative chart. It is often regarded as the band's signature song. "Everlong" was the last song performed live by former drummer Taylor Hawkins before his death in March 2022. As a result of his death, streams of the song increased and charted on the Billboard Global 200 at #123, the band's first appearance on the chart.
"Walking After You" is a song by Foo Fighters and appears on the band's 1997 album The Colour and the Shape. In 1998 a re-recorded version appeared on The X-Files: The Album, the soundtrack to the original X-Files movie, and was released as a single.
Diary is the debut studio album by American rock band Sunny Day Real Estate, released on May 10, 1994. The album is considered by many to be a defining emo album of the second wave, and key in the development of its subgenre, Midwest emo. It has also been called the missing link between post-hardcore and the nascent emo genre.
"Resolve" is the third single from Foo Fighters album In Your Honor. It was released on 21 November 2005. It has been released on two different discs. In The West Wing episode, "Election Day Part II", the band is seen playing this song at a campaign party for Democratic Presidential candidate Matt Santos.
Five Songs and a Cover is an EP released by Foo Fighters on November 20, 2005. It was exclusively distributed to Best Buy retail stores.
"Shame Shame" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters. The song is from the band's tenth studio album, Medicine at Midnight. It was released as the album's first single on November 7, 2020.
"Long Road to Ruin" is the second single from the Foo Fighters' sixth studio album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. The music video was released on November 1, 2007, with the single released on December 3, 2007. The video features an appearance by actress Rashida Jones, and was directed by Jesse Peretz, who had previously collaborated with the band for "Big Me", "Learn to Fly", "The One", and "Low".
Studio 666 is a 2022 American comedy horror film directed by B. J. McDonnell from a screenplay by Jeff Buhler and Rebecca Hughes, based on a story by Dave Grohl, who stars, alongside his Foo Fighters bandmates Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett, and Rami Jaffee, portraying fictionalized version of themselves.