Sweethead | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Origin | United States |
Genres | Alternative rock |
Years active | 2008 | –present
Labels | The End |
Members | Serrina Sims Troy Van Leeuwen Eddie Nappi Norm Block |
Website | sweetheadmusic |
Sweethead is an American alternative rock band formed in 2008. The group's lineup consists of singer Serrina Sims and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Troy Van Leeuwen (of Queens of the Stone Age, formerly of A Perfect Circle, Enemy and Failure). For recording and touring they are joined by a variety of guest musicians, many of which are current or former members of Queens of the Stone Age or Mark Lanegan Band.
Sweethead have released two studio albums— Sweethead (2009) and Descent to the Surface (2016)—and one extended play, The Great Disruptors (2009).
Having played with Eddie Nappi (formerly of Handsome) and Norm Block (formerly of Plexi) in the Mark Lanegan Band (Nappi was also part of his previous group Enemy) [1] while also writing material with singer Serrina Sims over the years, [1] Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen [1] formed Sweethead in 2008. [2] The group's name was taken from the David Bowie song "Sweet Head" [1] [3] with Van Leeuwen stating that "I think band names are becoming sillier and sillier. That song just seemed to encapsulate what we thought of ourselves." [1] The band, in 2009, toured as part of Snow Patrol's Taking Back the Cities Tour playing in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France from May 18 through to June 2. [4] Commenting on how the group came to tour with Snow Patrol:
'We gave Nathan Connolly a copy of our record and they loved it. I just mentioned to them. Well, if you guys ever need an opening band. They just happened to it "Come on the road!"' [5]
They recorded their debut EP, titled The Great Disruptors , at Van Leeuwen's home studio [1] and eventually released it on July 13, 2009. [2] [3] Van Leeuwen stated that the EP included the first songs recorded by the band [1] with a cover of The Kinks' "Tired of Waiting for You" [1] [3] added, describing it as "a single with four B-sides." [1] In August, the group released the video to the title track from the EP [6] before going on to play a show at the London Barfly [6] followed by appearances at both the Reading and Leeds Festivals. [6] In late October and early November, the group supported Eagles of Death Metal for a number of shows on their UK tour. [1] [6]
With new material recorded, the group released Sweethead on November 2, 2009. The album was produced by Van Leeuwen [1] [7] with recording and engineering by Van Leeuwen, Block [7] and Billy Howerdel [7] (of A Perfect Circle and Ashes Divide) among others. The album was also mastered by Alain Johannes [7] The group went on to tour as the main support for the German/UK leg of the Deserve the Future Tour with Them Crooked Vultures. [8] In a November interview, Van Leeuwen hinted that should his commitments with Queens of the Stone Age clash with Sweethead, he would allow the group to continue with him switching to a writing and recording capacity until he could return:
'I think I'll always be involved in Sweethead, and I'll do my best to be involved as much as I can. But like I said, if things get too crazy with Queens Of The Stone Age, which they tend to do, it's totally understood that the idea should continue on, even if I move on to just doing the recording and the writing, and maybe not so much touring. It's really early to say. I love the band, and it's partly my baby, so I want to make sure that it's treated right.' [1]
Serrina Sims stated in an interview that the group may record a new album in the first part of the new year, before the US release of the debut album in March 2010, and when Queens of the Stone Age release a new album and tour, Sweethead will reconvene and continue. [5]
On April 5, 2010, the group announced a string of dates in Europe, including the Rock im Park Festival, as well as the UK, including the Download Festival. In June of the same year, they announced a handful of dates touring in the western US. [9]
On April 8, 2016, they released their second studio album, Descent to the Surface. [10]
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Seattle, Washington. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple lineup changes. Since 2013, the lineup has consisted of Homme alongside Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita, and Jon Theodore. The band also has a large pool of contributors and collaborators. Queens of the Stone Age are known for their blues, Krautrock and electronica-influenced style of riff-oriented and rhythmic hard rock music, coupled with Homme's distinct falsetto vocals and unorthodox guitar scales.
Screaming Trees were an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington, in 1984 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bassist Van Conner, and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel was replaced by Barrett Martin in 1991. Screaming Trees became known as one of the pioneers of grunge along with Melvins, Mudhoney, U-Men, Skin Yard, Soundgarden, Green River, and Malfunkshun, among others. Although widely associated with grunge, the band's sound incorporated hard rock and psychedelic elements.
Mark William Lanegan was an American singer, songwriter, and poet. First becoming prominent as the lead singer for the early grunge band Screaming Trees, he was also known as a member of Queens of the Stone Age and The Gutter Twins. He released 12 solo studio albums, as well as three collaboration albums with Isobel Campbell and two with Duke Garwood. He was known for his baritone voice, which was described as being "as scratchy as a three-day beard yet as supple and pliable as moccasin leather" and has been compared to Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and Nick Cave.
Failure is an American alternative rock band from Los Angeles that was active from 1990 to 1997 and from 2014 to the present. They have released six full-length albums and five EPs.
Lullabies to Paralyze is the fourth studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released on March 22, 2005. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, and sold 97,000 copies in America during its first week of release, eventually topping over 342,000 copies as of March, 2007 according to Nielsen Soundscan. The album has been certified gold in the UK, where it has sold over 100,000 units. It is also the band's first album to be released after bassist Nick Oliveri was fired from the band. Singer/guitarist Josh Homme and singer Mark Lanegan are the only members from the previous album, Songs for the Deaf, to play on this album and it is the first album to feature drummer Joey Castillo and guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen.
Troy Van Leeuwen is an American musician and record producer. He is best known as a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist in the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, with whom he has recorded five studio albums. Joining the band in 2002, he is the second-longest-serving member of the band, after founding member Josh Homme. Van Leeuwen is also a member of the supergroup Gone Is Gone and has fronted his own projects, Enemy and Sweethead. As of 2021, Van Leeuwen is a co-producer and musical contributor to the anonymous American hardcore punk musical collective the Armed.
Over the Years and Through the Woods is the title of a live album and video by Queens of the Stone Age. The release features material on audio CD as well as video DVD—both recorded at London's Brixton Academy on Monday August 22, 2005 and KOKO on Tuesday August 23, 2005.
"Burn the Witch" is the third single released from Queens of the Stone Age's fourth album, Lullabies to Paralyze. Many of its lyrics run parallel with the dark, folkloristic theme for this album.
Rancho De La Luna is a recording studio in Joshua Tree, California that was founded in 1993 by Fred Drake and David Catching. After Drake's death in 2002 to cancer, the studio was operated by David Catching and Drake's collaborators Tony Mason, Ted Quinn, Dean Chamberlain, Billy Bizeau and Fred Burke until 2004. It has since doubled as Catching's home, where he serves as engineer, producer, joins as guest musician and cooks for bands.
Troy Jayson Sanders is an American musician, best known as a member of heavy metal band Mastodon, in which he plays bass and sings alongside guitarist Brent Hinds and drummer Brann Dailor. He is also active in Killer Be Killed and Gone Is Gone, as well as being the current touring bassist for Thin Lizzy.
Mondo Generator is an American rock band founded in 1997 by Nick Oliveri. The band has released seven studio albums, four EPs, one live album and one video album.
Era Vulgaris is the fifth studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age. Recorded from July 2006 to April 2007, it was released on July 20, 2007 in the United Kingdom and July 21 in the United States, being released on July 29 in other countries. The single "Sick, Sick, Sick" was released in May, followed by second single "3's & 7's" in early June, and third single "Make It wit Chu" in October. The album debuted at No. 14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts, selling 52,000 copies in its first week. It reached top ten positions in other countries, such as No. 7 in the UK, No. 5 in Canada, and No. 4 in Australia. It was the band's last album on Interscope Records.
Enemy was an American band fronted by guitarist and vocalist Troy Van Leeuwen, with bassist Eddie Nappi, and drummer Kelli Scott (Failure). Former Quicksand drummer Alan Cage was a founding member before being replaced by Scott. Van Leeuwen has described Enemy as his "big, dumb rock trio".
Actually it's a vehicle driven by pure and utter disgust of mediocrity and general frustration with the human condition...[a]nd by obsession with anime.
--Van Leeuwen describing the band on their Myspace.com page.
Josh Homme is an American rock musician who has released 18 studio albums and collaborated with over 25 different artists. He started playing guitar in the 1980s and formed a band with Palm Desert, California schoolmates John Garcia and Brant Bjork, initially under the name Katzenjammer, then Sons of Kyuss, and later shortened to simply Kyuss. The band released an EP called Sons of Kyuss (1990) when Homme was 16 years old, before going on to record four critically acclaimed studio albums and a greatest hits release without breaking through to mainstream success. After the breakup of the band in 1995, Homme considered abandoning his music career, but was persuaded by vocalist Mark Lanegan to join the Screaming Trees on tour as second guitarist.
Handsome was an American rock supergroup formed in 1995. The group's lineup was singer Jeremy Chatelain, guitarists Peter Mengede, Tom Capone, bassist Eddie Nappi, and drummer Pete Hines. Capone would leave the group in 1997, replaced by Donni Campion. They released two 7" vinyl singles in 1995, two CD singles in 1997 and one album, Handsome (1997), through Epic/Sony before disbanding.
The Great Disruptors is the first EP by American rock band Sweethead and was released on July 13, 2009. It included a cover of The Kinks' "Tired of Waiting for You" which can also be downloaded for free at the band's website.
Sweethead is the debut album by rock group Sweethead on November 2, 2009 following the release of their EP The Great Disruptors in July of the same year. The album was produced by guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen. The only track to be featured from the EP was The Great Disruptors.
Descent To The Surface is the second album by rock group Sweethead. It was released on April 8, 2016 and is the follow-up to their 2009 self titled debut album. For the recording of the album, band members Serrina and Troy Van Leeuwen are joined by an array of guest musicians.
Gone Is Gone is an American experimental rock supergroup formed in 2016. It consists of Troy Sanders of Mastodon, Troy Van Leeuwen of Queens of the Stone Age, Tony Hajjar of Sparta, as well as Mike Zarin, a multi-instrumentalist and founder of Sencit Music who appeared with Van Leeuwen on Sweethead's Descent to the Surface. The band has released one EP and two studio albums to date.
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