Sean Nelson | |
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 Sean Nelson at the 2015 EMP Pop Conference | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Sean Nelson |
| Born | June 12, 1973 Washington, United States |
| Origin | Seattle, Washington, United States |
| Genres | Alternative rock, indie rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer, filmmaker, journalist, music critic |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, keyboards |
| Years active | 1993–present |
Sean Nelson (born June 12, 1973) is an American musician and journalist. He was the lead singer of the alternative rock group Harvey Danger.
Nelson is a graduate of Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia and was a classmate of Paul DePodesta and Courtenay Bram Anderson.
Nelson joined Harvey Danger in 1993 [1] and played with the band through to its farewell show in 2009. In addition to being the band's lead singer, he was also its songwriter and keyboardist. The band's debut album Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? was released in 1997 and was certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 copies. [2] The album contained the hit single "Flagpole Sitta", which was featured in the 1999 film American Pie and was later used as the theme song for the British sitcom Peep Show . [3]
In 2001, Nelson formed a second band, The Long Winters, with John Roderick. He left the band in 2004, and Roderick has continued the group as a largely solo effort.
Nelson has also recorded and performed with Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists, Robyn Hitchcock, Nada Surf, The Minus 5, and others. In 2006, he recorded Nelson Sings Nilsson, an album of songs by the late American composer Harry Nilsson, accompanied by a 25-piece-orchestra. Nelson was also a member of the short-lived side project The Vernacular, along with Chris Walla and Nathan Good of Death Cab For Cutie.
On June 4, 2013, Nelson released his first official batch of recordings to bear his name, Make Good Choices, which includes contributions from Chris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie), Peter Buck (R.E.M./Minus 5), Matt Pence & Scott Danbom (Centro-Matic), Howard Draper (Shearwater), Dave Depper (Loch Lomond, Fruit Bats), Rachel Blumberg (The Decemberists/M. Ward), Adam Selzer (Norfolk & Western), Steve Fisk (player: Pell Mell, Pigeonhed; producer: Nirvana, Beat Happening, Unwound), and others. Sessions arose over the course of several years between Nelson and his collaborators' other projects.
In June 2019, Nelson released the decades-in-the-making album of Harry Nilsson covers, titled "Nelson Sings Nilsson," a play on Nilsson's classic album of Randy Newman covers, Nilsson Sings Newman . [4]
In December 2019, Sean released the "Viral Love" 7" which contained the first song released from a new full-length album he made with producer Shane Tutmarc. The b-side contained an alternate version of Harvey Danger's "Carlotta Valdez" [5] entitled "Carlotta Valdes [sic] (Texas Version)".
Nelson joined the staff of the Seattle alternative weekly newspaper The Stranger in 1996 while still a member of Harvey Danger. He held several positions at the publication, including web editor, film editor, copy editor, associate editor, and arts editor. [6] He left The Stranger in 2018, moving to Nashville, TN to take another job. [7]
In 2006, Nelson published his first book, an entry in the 33⅓ series on Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark . [8] His essay "Dead Man Talking" was published in the Da Capo anthology Best Music Writing 2008. [9]
In addition to his writing work, Nelson taught a songwriting class at the University of Washington Extension and co-hosted Audioasis on KEXP-FM for five years.
In 2008, Nelson co-wrote and played a supporting role in Humpday director Lynn Shelton's third feature film My Effortless Brilliance, [10] which enjoyed a successful run on the film festival circuit and was released on DVD by IFC Films in November 2009. He has also acted in David Russo's cult film festival hit The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle [11] and alongside Dax Shepard in Katie Aselton's The Freebie, which was released in September 2010. [12]
(as harmony vocalist, except where noted)
(lead singer, songwriter*)
(lead singer, keyboards, songwriter)
Benjamin Gibbard is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums, and as a member of the supergroup The Postal Service. Gibbard released his debut solo album, Former Lives, in 2012, and a collaborative studio album, One Fast Move or I'm Gone (2009) with Jay Farrar.
Something About Airplanes is the debut studio album by indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, released August 18, 1998, on Barsuk Records. A tenth-anniversary edition of the album was released November 25, 2008, featuring redesigned artwork, liner notes by Sean Nelson, and a bonus disc including the band's first ever Seattle performance at the Crocodile Cafe in February 1998.
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Harvey Danger was an American indie/alternative rock band. It was formed in 1992 in Seattle, Washington, by Aaron Huffman and Jeff J. Lin, who were both journalism students at the University of Washington. Drummer Evan Sult and singer Sean Nelson were brought into the band in 1993, solidifying the band's lineup for the remainder of their initial existence.
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Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? is the debut studio album by American rock band Harvey Danger. It was initially released by the independent record label the Arena Rock Recording Company on July 29, 1997. The second song on the album, "Flagpole Sitta", received extensive airplay in the United States and resulted in the band's fame. As the song gained national attention, the album was picked up and reissued by Slash Records, a label associated with London Records. On July 29, 2014, 17 years to the day after the album's initial release, Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? was re-released, for the first time as a vinyl LP, by No Sleep Records. The album has been described by Fuse as "a definitive indie power pop punk record at a time and place where grunge reigned supreme".
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The Long Winters are an American indie rock band based in Seattle, Washington.
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