Biography All Music GuideWikipedia
Group Members: J Mascis and the Fog, J Mascis & Friends, J Mascis
All Music Guide:
Los Angeles-based cosmic country-pop combo the Beachwood Sparks were formed in mid-1998 by onetime Strictly Ballroom singer/guitarist Chris Gunst, slide guitarist/keyboardist Dave Scher, ex-Further bassist Brent Rademaker, and Lilys drummer Aaron Sperske. Inspired by the pioneering country-rock efforts of West Coast legends like the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Buffalo Springfield, the group issued acclaimed singles for Bomp! ("Desert Skies") and Sub Pop ("Midsummer Daydream") prior to the spring 2000 release of their superb self-titled debut LP. Their polished sophomore effort, Once We Were Trees, followed in fall 2001. A year later, the band released the EP Make the Cowboy Robots Cry. Around the same time, Beachwood Sparks went on unofficial hiatus, during which time the members pursued various side projects including Rademaker's band the Tyde, which also included Scher and Gunst at times, Scher's All Night Radio, and others. In 2012, Beachwood Sparks reunited for the full-length effort The Tarnished Gold.
Wikipedia:
Beachwood Sparks are an American alternative country band from Los Angeles. A Daily Telegraph article on America's underground psychedelic pop scene described Beachwood Sparks as "country through a kaleidoscope".Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).
Biography[edit]
The band was formed by bassist Brent Rademaker and guitarist Christopher Gunst who met in the 1990s when both were members of Los Angeles indie-rock group Further. Guitarist Dave Scher and drummer Jimi Hey (who played with Gunst in Strictly Ballroom) were recruited before the band's first show in June 1997.
Hey suggested the band's name by combining Sparks Street, where Brent Rademaker lived in Burbank, with Beachwood Street, which runs parallel and adjacent to Sparks. Hey left after a few shows and was replaced by Tom Sanford. At around the same time, the group was also joined by Pete "Sleigher" Kinne on percussion and another former Further member, guitarist Josh Schwartz.
They released the "Desert Skies"/"Make It Together" single on Bomp! in October 1998. Sanford left and was replaced by Aaron Sperske, drummer with Lilys, whose first recording with the band was on the Sub Pop singles club release "Midsummer Daydream"/"Windows 65" issued in April 1999. Kinne and Schwartz left shortly after.
In spring 2000, they released their first album, Beachwood Sparks. The "shimmering twang-pop melodies and gorgeous harmonies" drew comparisons to the late 1960s' Laurel Canyon country-rock of The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and Gram Parsons as well as to contemporaries Elephant 6.
The single "Once We Were Trees" (featuring a jangly cover of The Everly Brothers' "Wake Up, Little Suzie" on the B-side) was released on the Spanish label Houston Party Records, previewing the mellower sound that featured on the band's second album, also called Once We Were Trees, which was released in the second half of 2001.
A single from the album, a cover of Sade's "By Your Side", was released in the United Kingdom and enjoyed some chart success. The video, directed by Chad Misner, was selected for the 2002 South by Southwest Film Festival and featured footage of Aaron Sperske and Autumn de Wilde's wedding. The song was later featured on the soundtrack for the 2010 feature film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
For the 2002 EP, Make the Cowboy Robots Cry, Sperske was replaced on drums by the returning Jimi Hey. Strictly Ballroom's Jimmy Tamborello, aka Dntel, contributed to the EP. Tamborello also worked with Scher and Gunst at Loyola Marymount University's radio station, KXLU.
Since 2002, the band has mostly concentrated on other projects. Gunst formed Mystic Chords of Memory. Brent Rademaker, sometimes with Gunst and Scher, plays in The Tyde and also in Frausdots. Hey and Scher released an album as All Night Radio. In March 2007, Scher was recruited as touring keyboard player for New York indie rockers Interpol. Sperske joined Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti.
Beachwood Sparks reunited in 2008 to play at SB20, the celebration of Sub Pop's 20th anniversary. A small number of dates were played on the West Coast and the East Coast, including July 19 at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur, California. The reunion line-up was Gunst, Rademaker, Sperske, Ben Knight, Jen Cohen and Dan Horne. Scher also played at four of the West Coast shows.
In 2012, Beachwood Sparks released the album The Tarnished Gold.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).
