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All Music Guide:
The experimental, environmentally conscious Cloud Cult began in the mid-'90s in Minneapolis, MN. The band was initially the solo project of Craig Minowa, who launched Cloud Cult while he was pursuing a degree in environmental science, and also shining shoes and driving an ice cream truck, among other jobs. Minowa spent the bulk of 1995 recording The Shade Project, which included sounds produced by buckets, pans, and couch cushions. Additional musicians were recruited to play the material live, and Cloud Cult pushed the conventions of rock concerts by introducing "live painting" to their sets. During every show, members Connie Minowa and Scott West would complete a painting; the resulting artwork was then auctioned off upon the show's conclusion. Such creative flourishes would soon come to characterize Cloud Cult's music, green-minded philosophy, and live performances.
Following the release of The Shade Project, Minowa busied himself with the creation of Earthology Records. He housed the nonprofit label on his own organic farm, powered by geothermal energy and built partially from reclaimed wood and recycled plastic. In early 2000, he returned to music with Who Killed Puck? After the birth of his son, however, Minowa devoted the bulk of his time to family, recording, grant writing, and environmental activism.
With the sudden death of his son in February 2002, Minowa became reclusive and sought solace by writing a large volume of songs. Lost Songs from the Lost Years was released that summer as a retrospective compilation, and They Live on the Sun followed in 2003, featuring contributions from cellist Sarah Young and drummer Dan Greenwood. Both became permanent members of Cloud Cult, and the band added Mara Stemm on bass in January 2004. Aurora Borealis was released just six months later. For the supporting tour, Cloud Cult's shows included the aforementioned live painters, performance artists, back-screen video, and tables featuring information from nonprofit environmental organizations.
Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus was released June 2005, with the full live band now consisting of Minowa (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Greenwood (drums), Young (cello, keyboard), and Matthew Freed (bass, keyboard, percussion). Later, 2007's The Meaning of 8, 2008's Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes), and 2010's Light Chasers found the band specifically addressing its own environmental concerns in song format.
Wikipedia:
Cloud Cult is an experimental indie rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota led by singer/songwriter Craig Minowa. The name originated from the ancient prophecies of indigenous North Americans.
History
Cloud Cult developed in 1995 as Craig Minowa recruited several other artists to contribute to his solo recordings. The band's early work earned Cloud Cult several offers from record labels, but all were rejected in favor of self-publishing. As they began to play live, one of their show's most distinctive features was the live painting by Connie Minowa and Scott West: over the course of a show they each completed a painting to be auctioned off at the end.
In 1997, lead singer Craig Minowa formed Earthology Records on his organic farm, powered by geothermal energy and built partially from reclaimed wood and recycled plastic. This nonprofit label uses only recycled materials and donates all profits to environmental charities. The band also tours in a biodiesel van.
In the year 2002, shortly after the unexpected death of his two year old son Kaidin, Minowa wrote songs to deal with the loss. Another Cloud Cult album came in the summer of 2002, titled Lost Songs from the Lost Years, a ten-year anthology of previously unreleased work from Minowa. They Live on the Sun was finished in 2003 and went to #1 on college radio station charts across the country. In January 2004, Cloud Cult added Mara Stemm on bass and released Aurora Borealis just six months later. The album was nominated by the Minnesota Music Awards as “Album of the Year” along with Prince and Paul Westerberg. With a van covered in solar panels, the band began touring nationally. In 2006 Cloud Cult released Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus, which Pitchfork Media called “insane genius” and rated the album with an 8.3. The Denver Post ranked the 2007 release The Meaning of 8 as one of the top ten albums of the past decade, along with bands like Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips and Radiohead.
Cloud Cult released a new album entitled Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) on April 8, 2008. The album was recorded and produced at Minowa’s small organic farm in Northern Minnesota. "The place is so far out in the boonies, you can barely find it, because it’s not on the maps," said Dan Montalto, an MTV Producer who brought a camera crew to the farm to film a short MTV feature on the band.
Craig said that this might be the final Cloud Cult album: "I don't think there's going to be another Cloud Cult album for a while. It could be never, I don't know." The band's website said that "the band plans to take a short respite to focus on family in the latter part of 2008 and into 2009."
In October 2008, Cloud Cult was featured in an animated Esurance commercial. The band is shown playing the song "Lucky Today" while floating on clouds. This and other songs are available for free downloads on the Esurance website.
In the spring of 2009, Cloud Cult released "No One Said It Would Be Easy" a full length documentary about the band.
At Coachella 2009, Craig revealed that Connie would not be performing because she was "not feeling well.... she's pregnant." They continued to tour and appeared for the second year straight at the "St Johns Block Party" outdoors in front of over 7,000 fans in Rochester, Minnesota.
The band announced a break beginning August 23, 2009 for Connie and Craig's baby. They resumed playing regionally in late spring 2010 and nationally in fall 2010.
In the spring of 2010, Cloud Cult became a contributing artist to Think Out Loud, a compilation album serving the homeless in the Twin Cities.
In early 2010, the band announced that it would release a new album entitled Light Chasers, due out September 14, 2010. Despite these plans, the album in its entirety leaked to the internet in early July 2010. The lead single for the album, "Running With The Wolves" was released in April 2010 and received local and national radio play. The band toured nationally in support of the album.
In spring 2011, Cloud Cult music was featured in a commercial on BBC America for Petrobras, a Brazilian energy company.
In summer 2011, Cloud Cult played at the St. John's Block Party in Rochester, MN; the first band to play three times at the St. John's Block Party. Craig announced he and Connie were expecting at the 2011 St. John's Block Party.
On May 4th, 2012 after an 8 month hiatus, Cloud Cult announced a surprise show at the River Falls University Center in Wisconsin about 40 minutes away from the Twin Cities. This was the start of a stream of shows following the birth of Craig and Connie's baby.
Their song, You Were Born, was played on the How I Met Your Mother Season 7, Part 1 Finale.
Awards
Minnesota Music Awards 2004: "Artist of the year" for the studio album Aurora Borealis.
