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The Dandy Warhols Biography
What is the Odditorium? It’s a place where things move left when you think they’ll go right. Just inverted as hell. Or -- to be literal -- it’s the title (sorta) of the new album by the Dandy Warhols, and also the name of the spot in their Portland, Oregon hometown where they lived it.
So yes, the Odditorium is a building located right by the Fremont Bridge in Northwest Portland that’s got a stage and a recording studio and lots of guitars and instruments and couches and ashtrays and maps and charts and all the other essentials that a full-time rock and roll band should have at their disposal. As a meeting ground for the Dandys and their extended circle of friends, lots of things have happened there (we can’t tell you about most of them), but arguably the most important thing that went down there in the last year or so was the recording of the band’s fifth record, Odditorium Or Warlords Of Mars, which will be released on September 13th.
Before we get into where they are now, let’s discuss where they’ve been. The Dandys formed in Portland in 1994, releasing Dandy Warhols Rule Ok? on the indie Tim/Kerr Records in 1995. Their next three albums for Capitol, The Dandy Warhols Come Down (1997), Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia (2000) and Welcome To The Monkey House (2003) put the band on the charts, on TV and in the sweet, sweet limelight with international hits like “Not If You Were The Last Junkie on Earth” and “Bohemian Like You.” In 2003, the band was chosen by David Bowie to be the supporting act on his Reality Tour and most recently, the band was featured alongside the Brian Jonestown Massacre in indie documentary film Dig!, winner of the Grand Jury Best Documentary prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
Where they’ve been makes for good copy for sure, but where they’re going now with Odditorium Or Warlords From Mars is really interesting.
Odditorium finds the Dandys bringing it all back home, but in a different way. Co-producers Courtney Taylor-Taylor and longtime band collaborator Gregg Williams have captured and augmented the sound of the Dandys doing what they do best -- making super-seductive music for your head and your hips.
Born of long sessions that found the band experimenting freely with new instrumentation and adding new flavors to their trademark mix of seamless rock hooks, turned-on drone, deep psychedelia and a big shot of the country blues, Odditorium is an expansive rock and roll album that could only come from the minds (and home) of the Dandys.
How exactly the band was able to cover so much new musical ground and sound so familiar is the Dandys’ little secret, but you could say that the group being fully in their element while crafting this record for you had something to do with it. And while the Odditorium is certainly a product of the Dandys’ own rarified world, they’re thankfully not the types to keep a good thing all to themselves. They’d like to have everyone get in on the fun.
You can think of the Odditorium as a physical place that produced an album of the same name (sorta), or as a sonic portal straight to the Dandy Warhols circa now. It’s totally up to you.
As for the whole Warlords Of Mars thing, we seriously have no idea about that.
THE DANDY WARHOLS ARE:
Courtney Taylor-Taylor – vocals, guitars, keyboards, percussion
Peter Holstrom – guitars, bells
Zia McCabe – keyboards, bass, percussion, harmonica, vocals
Brent DeBoer – drums, bass, vocals
So yes, the Odditorium is a building located right by the Fremont Bridge in Northwest Portland that’s got a stage and a recording studio and lots of guitars and instruments and couches and ashtrays and maps and charts and all the other essentials that a full-time rock and roll band should have at their disposal. As a meeting ground for the Dandys and their extended circle of friends, lots of things have happened there (we can’t tell you about most of them), but arguably the most important thing that went down there in the last year or so was the recording of the band’s fifth record, Odditorium Or Warlords Of Mars, which will be released on September 13th.
Before we get into where they are now, let’s discuss where they’ve been. The Dandys formed in Portland in 1994, releasing Dandy Warhols Rule Ok? on the indie Tim/Kerr Records in 1995. Their next three albums for Capitol, The Dandy Warhols Come Down (1997), Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia (2000) and Welcome To The Monkey House (2003) put the band on the charts, on TV and in the sweet, sweet limelight with international hits like “Not If You Were The Last Junkie on Earth” and “Bohemian Like You.” In 2003, the band was chosen by David Bowie to be the supporting act on his Reality Tour and most recently, the band was featured alongside the Brian Jonestown Massacre in indie documentary film Dig!, winner of the Grand Jury Best Documentary prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
Where they’ve been makes for good copy for sure, but where they’re going now with Odditorium Or Warlords From Mars is really interesting.
Odditorium finds the Dandys bringing it all back home, but in a different way. Co-producers Courtney Taylor-Taylor and longtime band collaborator Gregg Williams have captured and augmented the sound of the Dandys doing what they do best -- making super-seductive music for your head and your hips.
Born of long sessions that found the band experimenting freely with new instrumentation and adding new flavors to their trademark mix of seamless rock hooks, turned-on drone, deep psychedelia and a big shot of the country blues, Odditorium is an expansive rock and roll album that could only come from the minds (and home) of the Dandys.
How exactly the band was able to cover so much new musical ground and sound so familiar is the Dandys’ little secret, but you could say that the group being fully in their element while crafting this record for you had something to do with it. And while the Odditorium is certainly a product of the Dandys’ own rarified world, they’re thankfully not the types to keep a good thing all to themselves. They’d like to have everyone get in on the fun.
You can think of the Odditorium as a physical place that produced an album of the same name (sorta), or as a sonic portal straight to the Dandy Warhols circa now. It’s totally up to you.
As for the whole Warlords Of Mars thing, we seriously have no idea about that.
THE DANDY WARHOLS ARE:
Courtney Taylor-Taylor – vocals, guitars, keyboards, percussion
Peter Holstrom – guitars, bells
Zia McCabe – keyboards, bass, percussion, harmonica, vocals
Brent DeBoer – drums, bass, vocals
The Dandy Warhols All Music Guide Biography
Often compared to the druggy psychedelic pop of the Velvet Underground, the Dandy Warhols do possess more than just a passing resemblance to Lou Reed and company at times, but elements of such modern rockers as Love and Rockets and Ride can be detected in their sound as well. Formed in Portland, OR, during 1994, the Dandy Warhols consist of members Courtney Taylor (vocals, guitar), Zia McCabe (keyboards), Peter Holmstrom (guitar), and Eric Hedford (drums), who signed on with the independent label Tim/Kerr shortly after their formation. In 1995 came the release of the quartet's debut release, Dandy's Rule OK?, and while other rock bands may be a bit hesitant to spell out their influences, the Dandy Warhols decided to openly advertise it, as the album contained such song titles as "Lou Weed" and "Ride."
Capitol Records signed the group the same year, but the Dandys' new label rejected a second album they submitted (claiming it didn't have any "hits"). Disappointed but undeterred, the group reunited once more with the producer of their debut album, Tony Lash, and came up with Dandy Warhols Come Down, issued in 1997. While the album didn't exactly establish the group as a household name, it did prove to be an underground fave (especially in Europe, where the group became the toast of the critics and enjoyed more substantial commercial success), while the single "Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth" received some attention, for which a promo video was filmed by renowned celebrity photographer David LaChapelle. At the height of the band's popularity, Hedford left the band to take up DJing in Portland, and Taylor's cousin Brent DeBoer stepped in to play drums. In 2000, the band issued its third full-length overall, Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia. "Bohemian Like You" was a hit at college radio. Two summers later, founding member Peter Holmstrom married his longtime girlfriend and took her maiden name of Loew. Taylor also got a name change when he opted to go by Courtney Taylor-Taylor after an interviewer misinterpreted the pronunciation.
Within months, Taylor-Taylor, Loew, McCabe, and DeBoer were back in the studio for a fourth album. Welcome to the Monkey House (2003), a tribute to Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s book of short stories, featured collaborations with Nile Rodgers, Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes, and Evan Dando. The Dandy Warhols were also personally asked by David Bowie to be the opening act for his fall 2003 A Reality tour. Though the band was relatively quiet during 2004, it remained prominent thanks to the fascinating documentary Dig!, which chronicled the love-hate relationship between the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre. The group returned with new music in 2005, when Odditorium or Warlords of Mars arrived that fall. In 2008, the Dandy Warhols released their sixth album, ...Earth to the Dandy Warhols..., in both digital and physical formats on their own Beat the World label; the album also featured collaborations with Mark Knopfler and the Heartbreakers' Mike Campbell. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
Capitol Records signed the group the same year, but the Dandys' new label rejected a second album they submitted (claiming it didn't have any "hits"). Disappointed but undeterred, the group reunited once more with the producer of their debut album, Tony Lash, and came up with Dandy Warhols Come Down, issued in 1997. While the album didn't exactly establish the group as a household name, it did prove to be an underground fave (especially in Europe, where the group became the toast of the critics and enjoyed more substantial commercial success), while the single "Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth" received some attention, for which a promo video was filmed by renowned celebrity photographer David LaChapelle. At the height of the band's popularity, Hedford left the band to take up DJing in Portland, and Taylor's cousin Brent DeBoer stepped in to play drums. In 2000, the band issued its third full-length overall, Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia. "Bohemian Like You" was a hit at college radio. Two summers later, founding member Peter Holmstrom married his longtime girlfriend and took her maiden name of Loew. Taylor also got a name change when he opted to go by Courtney Taylor-Taylor after an interviewer misinterpreted the pronunciation.
Within months, Taylor-Taylor, Loew, McCabe, and DeBoer were back in the studio for a fourth album. Welcome to the Monkey House (2003), a tribute to Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s book of short stories, featured collaborations with Nile Rodgers, Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes, and Evan Dando. The Dandy Warhols were also personally asked by David Bowie to be the opening act for his fall 2003 A Reality tour. Though the band was relatively quiet during 2004, it remained prominent thanks to the fascinating documentary Dig!, which chronicled the love-hate relationship between the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre. The group returned with new music in 2005, when Odditorium or Warlords of Mars arrived that fall. In 2008, the Dandy Warhols released their sixth album, ...Earth to the Dandy Warhols..., in both digital and physical formats on their own Beat the World label; the album also featured collaborations with Mark Knopfler and the Heartbreakers' Mike Campbell. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
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