Dan Deacon

  • Baltimore, MD
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  • Electronic
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  • 2003
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About Dan Deacon

Official Site: http://www.dandeacon.com | @siouxsiebee
Dan Deacon is an outstanding composer. He is also a goddamned instigator. So while he made his Carnegie Hall debut this year, a few weeks later he was getting 10,000 people to do crazy dances at a massive Occupy Wall Street rally in Union Square. Deacon has always made trailblazing music that moves people to do things they wouldn’t normally do. But on his new album, America, he takes that idea a giant step further. “I hope the people who take the time to listen to these songs enjoy them,” says Deacon, “but I hope that anyone looking for anything beyond that can find inspiration to change the world for the better.”

There’s some alchemy going on here. Yes, the lyrics are full of bleak, even apocalyptic imagery, but the music is keenly hopeful, with beats that make you want to dance, teeming major keys that lift the spirit, and Deacon’s voice hollering defiantly from the depths of his own joyous cacophony. Eclipsing its own despair, the music simulates the rush of being involved in something bigger and better than yourself.

Dan Deacon shows are renowned for the spectacle of hundreds, even thousands, of jubilant people doing coordinated movement, whether it’s vast, swirling circles, long, snaking lines or just over-the-top dance contests. It’s a sight to behold, but it’s even more amazing to participate. And for Deacon, what is ostensibly just “fun” started to take on a profound dimension, of people uniting and claiming physical space in an ecstatic act of empowerment. He saw a metaphor in there, a connection with revolutionary movements like the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street. America is the soundtrack of that realization — like James Brown once said, “Get up! Get into it! Get involved!”

After 2009′s Bromst, Deacon did a lot of touring, but he also worked a lot in the classical world. In 2011, he played his long-form piece Ghostbuster Cook: Origin of the Riddler with the acclaimed So Percussion as part of New York’s prestigious Ecstatic Music Festival, and New York magazine named it of one of the top 10 classical music performances of 2011. In 2012, Deacon returned to that same festival and premiered the evening-length An Opal Toad with Obsidian Eyes with the NOW Ensemble and the Calder String Quartet. Canada’s 50-piece
Kitchener-Waterloo orchestra premiered Deacon’s first orchestral works, “Fiddlenist Rim” and “Song of the Winter Solstice,” in 2011, the same year of Deacon’s first film score, for Francis Ford Coppola’s Twixt. And then there was that Carnegie Hall debut, another So Percussion collaboration, in celebration of the music of John Cage. All of these became part of Deacon’s rich tapestry, woven in with countless sweaty, grimy DIY shows in basements and lofts, viral Youtube videos, and even two comedy tours.

Deacon started out as a solo electronic musician, but after doing tours with the Dan Deacon Ensemble, Deacon began to embrace making music with large groups of people. And so for America, he resolved to do something he’d never done before: try things out in the studio with different players on different instruments. Again: community and people power.

America is a study in density, a thick but nuanced mix of acoustic and synthetic timbres, a mix of Deacon’s pop side (as in 2007′s Spiderman of the Rings) and his more composerly side (Bromst). There’s also dance music culture in the DNA of this music, but suffused with the top-to-bottom distortion and overdrive of noise music and the instrumentation and sweep of orchestral music. America has echoes of Steve Reich and Terry Riley for sure, but Deacon engages with minimalism in a maximalist way — dense and relentless, it’s crammed with sound and joy, an overwhelming experience to immerse and dance within.

The opening “Guilford Avenue Bridge” is a vivid instrumental memoir about the early days of the Wham City art collective, when Deacon would throw parties and nervously wait to see if anyone would show up. You can hear his heart pounding with anticipation via powerhouse drumming by Dan Deacon Ensemble member Denny Bowen, then a lull that seems to suggest the empty loft waiting to be filled, and finally a triumphal reprise as people come streaming in for an anarchic night of serious fun.

“True Thrush” is about conformism, apathy, alienation, and just plain losing your way. Pretty grim, right? But it’s a catchy, anthemic, fist-pumping summer jam, possibly the greatest pop song Deacon has ever created.
Redemption and transcendence are baked right into the music. Rise above, people! “Lots” is another powerhouse, a rock song that harbors all the animating frictions of America: On the one hand, the narrator walks a dire, apocalyptic landscape, and on the other, he vows, “Now we stand upon a chance/ to break the
chains and break the lance” — to break the cycle of oppression and war and build a new world.

The instrumental “Prettyboy” is an idyllic respite from the strife and clamor, just like the song’s namesake, Prettyboy Reservoir Park, about an hour north of Baltimore. But then comes “Crash Jam” — what Deacon calls “a drum-focused vocoder barnburner” — about the timeless, healing power of nature. The song was inspired by a Dan Deacon Ensemble tour that didn’t really gel until the band camped out in a state park in New Mexico and bonded over the campfire — another song about communion and the almost spiritual power a deeply united
group of people can have.

The album’s finale, the 21-minute magnum opus “USA,” features 22 virtuosic players, many recruited from the prestigious Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore representing every section of the
orchestra in bringing to life this epic cross-country sonic travelogue. As Deacon hurtled across the country on his many tours, he concluded that we’ve lost touch with the beauty of our own land, and spare few opportunities to despoil it. The words, as Deacon says, are “about the destruction of that land and the feeling of being disenfranchised, of having no connection to your home,” but the exultant music of “USA” celebrates that beauty in all its vast and varied glory.

And so what to do? America doesn’t pretend to supply the answers, but it does offer the energy to help us find them. As Deacon is fond of saying, “The future surrounds us. Let us begin.”
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Music

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Interviews & Exclusives

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  • Beyond The DJ: Dan Deacon
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    Beyond The DJ: Dan Deacon

Photos

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  • Dan Deacon
    Shawn Brackbill
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    Dan Deacon
    Single Cover
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    courtesy of www.dandeacon.com
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News

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  • Dan Deacon
    Dan Deacon Heads West For 'Bromst'
    www.billboard.com
    Analog mixing boards, a player piano and a trip out west all factor into indie phenom Dan Decon's new album, "Bromst." The 11-song set is due March 24...
    Read More
  • Dan Deacon
    Evolve 2012: Deerhoof, Hey Rosetta, Shout Out Out Out Out, Dan Deacon and More
    www.jambands.com
    Deerhoof, Hey Rosetta, Shout Out Out Out Out, Dan Deacon, The Garrett Mason & Keith Hallett Show and Chali2na w/ Break Science are among the acts slat...
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  • Dan Deacon
    Dan Deacon Announces New Album, Releases First Track
    www.jambands.com
    Dan Deacon has announced the release of his new album, America, set for release on August 28 via Domino. According to a press release, the album takes...
    Read More
  • Dan Deacon
    Beck, Amon Tobin, Dan Deacon and More Featured on Philip Glass Remix Project
    www.jambands.com
    In celebration of his 75th birthday, composer Philip Glass will be the subject of a new remix project featuring contributions from critically acclaime...
    Read More
  • Dan Deacon
    Stream Dan Deacon's 'America' LP | Prefix
    www.prefixmag.com
    Tweet Very little says America like bells, whistles, squeals, and joyful, sing-songy choruses. Thankfully, there's a new Dan Deacon album with which t...
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  • Dan Deacon
    Adult Swim to Release Singles from Flying Lotus, Miguel, Dan Deacon, More
    Paste
    Cartoon Network's Adult Swim is once again offering a summer's worth of free singles for your listening pleasure. Each week, a new track will be avail...
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  • Dan Deacon
    Watch the Video for Dan Deacon's "USA" Suite
    Paste
    Just days ago Dan Deacon released a new track "Why Am I on This Cloud?" as part of the Adult Swim Singles series. Now the electronic musician is revis...
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  • Dan Deacon
    Dan Deacon Remixes Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop"
    Paste
    After mashing up artists like Beyoncé, Skrillex and Carly Rae Jepsen in the past, electronic musician Dan Deacon chose to focus his efforts this time ...
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  • Dan Deacon
    Listen to Dan Deacon's Version of Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop"
    pitchfork.com
    Dan Deacon has decided to take on the summer anthem that inspired the twerk heard 'round the world. Here's his version of Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop"...
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  • Dan Deacon
    Beck, Dan Deacon Headline L.A.'s Station to Station Railway Car Exhibit
    www.billboard.com
    By Maxwell Williams, The Hollywood Reporter At around 8 p.m. at Union Station in Los Angeles, artist Doug Aitken stood on tiptoes, inspecting through ...
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Tour Dates

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  • Oct 5 Saturday
    Bloomington, IN, US Unknown venue
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  • Oct 12 Saturday
    Jackson Hole, WY, US Pink Garter Theatre
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  • Oct 16 Wednesday
    Madison, WI, US Orpheum Theatre
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  • Oct 17 Thursday
    Chicago, IL, US Riviera Theatre
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  • Oct 18 Friday
    Oakland, CA, US The New Parish
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  • Oct 19 Saturday
    Oakland, CA, US The New Parish
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  • Oct 21 Monday
    Los Angeles, CA, US The Wiltern
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  • Oct 24 Thursday
    Kansas City, MO, US Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland
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  • Oct 28 Monday
    Philadelphia, PA, US Union Transfer
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Discography

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  • America (2012)
    Dan Deacon
    America (2012)
    Domino
  • Bromst (2009)
    Dan Deacon
    Bromst (2009)
    Carpark Records
  • Dan Deacon/Adventure [Split 12"] (2009)
    Dan Deacon
    Dan Deacon/Adventure [Split 12"] (2009)
    Carpark Records
  • Spiderman of the Rings (2007)
    Dan Deacon
    Spiderman of the Rings (2007)
    Carpark Records
  • Twacky Cats (2004)
    Dan Deacon
    Twacky Cats (2004)
    Comfort Stand
  • Live Recordings 2003 (2004)
    Dan Deacon
    Live Recordings 2003 (2004)
  • Goose on the Loose (2003)
    Dan Deacon
    Goose on the Loose (2003)
  • Silly Hat vs. Egale Hat (2003)
    Dan Deacon
    Silly Hat vs. Egale Hat (2003)
  • Meetle Mice (2003)
    Dan Deacon
    Meetle Mice (2003)
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