Gatsbys American Dream
Gatsbys American Dream is a prolific Seattle-based indie rock band. Since their founding in 2002, they have released four full-length albums and one EP. They have also appeared on several compilations with original songs and covers. Gatsbys American Dream drew their name from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.
Although it's widely agreed that the band is difficult to classify into one subgenre, it can be said that they draw influence from alternative, pop/rock, emo, indie pop, indie rock, post-hardcore, and punk rock.
Line-up
 Nic Newsham: vocals
Bobby Darling: guitar, vocals
Ryan Van Wieringen: guitar, vocals
Kirk Huffman: bass, vocals
Rudy Gajadhar: drums and percussion
Kyle O'Quin: keyboard
History
Gatsbys American Dream began with the disbanding of the groups One Point Two and Good for Nothing. Bobby Darling, a guitarist for One Point Two, met up with Nic Newsham and Ryan Van Wieringen, who were the lead singer and guitarist (respectively) for Good For Nothing. The Gatsbys lineup wasn't complete until Kirk Huffman (formerly of K Through Six) was recruited to play bass and Dustin McGhie signed on as their drummer, making them a five piece band.
When Acceptance guitarist Kaylan Cloyd heard a Gatsbys demo, he handed it to Darrick Bourgeois, owner of local record label Rocketstar Recordings. Shortly afterward, Gatsbys signed a two-record deal with Rocketstar and worked with producer Aaron Sprinkle to record their 2002 debut album Why We Fight. Their first show after being signed drew in a crowd in excess of 500, which was largely due to Rocketstar's extensive promotion.
After Why We Fight was released, the band replaced drummer Dustin McGhie with Rudy Gajadhar, formerly of Waxwing and Bugs in Amber. In 2003, the band released their second record, Ribbons and Sugar, a concept album based loosely on George Orwell’s fable Animal Farm. With this release it became apparent to critics and fans alike that literary references were a hallmark of the band. Musically, the album found them exploring an ambitious and experimental harder-edged pop sound, opting for unusual time signatures and tempo changes. Although literary references are common through most of their material, Ribbons and Sugar also began a motif of record label disdain. The lyrics of "Cut the Strings" read:
"This is awful to think who decides what should or should not stay, what ends up on the cutting room floor. Apparently it's not my choice to make."
Gatsbys' two-record deal with Rocketstar was fulfilled with Ribbons and Sugar, and the band decided not to renew their contract. Later, guitarist Ryan Van Wieringen would leave the band to further his college education.
Following the release of Ribbons and Sugar, the band started to field numerous offers from other, larger record labels. Slightly embittered by the process, the band nevertheless signed a one-record deal with Chicago-based LLR Recordings in 2004. Their contractual record, the more mellow and subdued In the Land of Lost Monsters EP, was in part a response to the post-Ribbons record label attention the band had received. Most of the labels that approached them thought they were excellent musicians, but wanted the band to write choruses for their next record (a standard songwriting technique the band had, up to that point, seemed to avoid). Feeling uncomfortable about forgoing their integrity in order to get a record contract, Gatsbys continued writing music they liked in the way they wanted to write it. Newsham's lyrics for Lost Monsters reflected this struggle, criticising the music industry and expressing the band's wariness of record labels. The band's independent, individualistic approach simply brought them more acclaim as an uncompromising progressive rock band.
Several months after the EP's release, the band settled on Fearless Records and released their third full-length, Volcano, in April 2005. Thematically, Volcano revolves around Pompeii (as evidenced by the title of the second track on the record), which stands as a metaphor for the uncontrollable intensity of human emotion. The album is rife with literary and cultural references from such diverse works as children's film Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Lionhead Studio's Fable, William Golding's Lord of the Flies, Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, the action film Jurassic Park, and Orson Scott Card's science-fiction epics Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead.
During the tour that followed the release of Volcano, Gatsbys added Kyle O'Quin (also a member of the band Surrounded By Lions). A few months after O'Quin was added to the band, Ryan Van Wieringen met up with the band in Arizona while they were on tour there and rejoined the line up. Since then, he has been touring and performing live as part of the band.
Van Wieringen did not, however, participate in writing any guitar parts for their self-titled fourth full-length album, released August 8th, 2006. The album bears all the hallmarks of a Gatsbys record: an album of musical experimentation in a pop context, peppered with numerous pop culture and literary references, which appear in both the lyrics and song titles, ranging from works by Philip K. Dick to the television show Lost. The album is, however, noticeably bitter towards the music industry, even compared to previous Gatsbys releases, scalding both current "trend" bands and greedy record labels.
Though no official statement has been made regarding the band's status, the band has been relatively inactive since the release of the self-titled album. The band has played a handful of shows in and around the Seattle area, and on April 27, 2007, they played their first out-of-state show since the self-titled album's release at Colgate University. During the hiatus, most of the members have started side projects.
Full-length albums
Why We Fight (Rocketstar, 2002) - LP
Ribbons and Sugar (Rocketstar, 2003) - LP
Volcano (Fearless, 2005) - LP
Gatsbys American Dream (Fearless, 2006) - LP
Singles and EPs
In the Land of Lost Monsters (LLR, 2004) - EP
Volcano Bonus Disc (Fearless, 2005) - EP
Compilations
A Santa Cause: It's A Punk Rock Christmas (Immortal, 2003) - "Christmas Time Is Here"
In Honor: A Compilation to Beat Cancer (Vagrant Records, 2004) - "The Rundown"
Punk Goes 80's (Fearless, 2005) - "Just Like Heaven"
Warped Tour 2005 Compilation (SideOneDummy, 2005) - "Theatre"
Music On The Brain Vol. 2 (Smartpunk, 2005) - "Theatre"
Taste of Christmas (Warcon, 2005) - "Saint Nicholas"
Music On The Brain Vol. 3 (Smartpunk, 2006) - "Station 5: The Pearl"
Paupers, Peasants, Princes & Kings: The Songs Of Bob Dylan (Doghouse Records, 2006) - "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"
NHL07 (EA Sports, 2006) - "Theatre"
Side projects
The following bands were started during Gatsbys's unofficial hiatus. Of all the Gatsbys members, Rudy Gajadhar is the only one with no other known projects, though he played drums with Search/Rescue at a June 2007 show in Seattle and recorded drums for Forgive Durden's upcoming album.["Open the floodgate." Forgivedurden.com. January 27, 2008.]
Search/Rescue
Search/Rescue is a progressive rock band whose sound is more straight-forward than that of Gatsbys American Dream. To date, the band has released several tracks online for streaming on their MySpace page.
The band recently completed their debut album, titled The Compound.["Search/Rescue's Complex Album Details." Absolutepunk.net. November 13, 2007.] The album was released on CD in Japan in early 2008 and digitally in the US via iTunes and Amazon MP3 on February 26, 2008.
In a forum post at Gatsbys fansite Snicker At The Swine, Bobby stated the following on the band's decision to release the album in Japan first and the reason they aren't signed to a label in the US:
It is unclear whether the band has found a permanent drummer.
Members
Ryan Van Wieringen - vocals, guitar
Bobby Darling - guitar, drums
Kaylan Cloyd - guitar
Jerrod Bettis - bass
Ryan Zwiefelhofer - guitar
RedRedBlue
RedRedBlue is Newsham's powerpop side project with Justin Harcus of Pale Pacific. The band's name is taken from a Gatsbys song from In the Land of Lost Monsters, which was itself a reference to an army's color code from the book Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. To date, the band has released 3 tracks for download on their MySpace page. On August 23, Newsham posted a MySpace bulletin stating that due to popular request, he would start writing more songs for RedRedBlue, but that they would likely be acoustic-only.
Members
Nic Newsham - vocals, guitar
Justin Harcus - bass
Wild Orchid Children
Wild Orchid Children is another band featuring Huffman and O'Quin. In August 2007, the band started a MySpace page and posted a single song, titled "Ahead of Us the Secret" which was also made available for free download at Gatsbys fansite Snicker At The Swine. The band features musicians from other prominent Seattle bands The Divorce and Forgive Durden.
The band started taking pre-orders in late October 2007 for a 4-song EP, which includes the songs released for streaming on the band's Myspace page. After a manufacturing error caused delays in the release of the EP, the band started shipping orders in January 2008. The EP's artwork is by John Gourley.
Members
Kirk Huffman - vocals
Kyle O'Quin - keys
Thomas Hunter - guitar
Garrett Lunceford - drums
Mark Gajadhar was previously listed as playing percussion and drums, but his name has since been removed from the lineup listed on the band's MySpace page.
Bombs Over Bellevue
Bombs Over Bellevue is an independent label started by Huffman.
To date, the label's only release is the live Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground DVD/CD Live at the Pretty Parlor. The label's website states that a 5-song EP by Seattle band Man in the Blue Van will be released toward the end of the year as well as a 10" vinyl-only release from Huffman's Wild Orchid Children.
Keith Ledger
Keith Ledger is a punk band featuring Nic Newsham on vocals. So far, the band has released three tracks for streaming on their Myspace page and played a handful of shows in the Seattle area.
Members
Nic Newsham - vocals
Ryan?
JD?
Zero Cool
Zero Cool is a rock band featuring Bobby Darling and Thomas Dutton of Forgive Durden. The band came out of an idea both members had about mapping out an entire album using guidelines for the tempo and key and setting up the session in ProTools before playing a single note.[Zero Cool forum post on Gatsbys fansite Snicker At The Swine. Last accessed August 3, 2008.] Currently, the band has only released a single song titled "Godzilla" on Forgive Durden's blog.["mini side project." Forgive Durden blog. Last accessed August 3, 2008.]
Members
Bobby Darling - guitar, bass, vocals
Thomas Dutton - drums, vocals
External links
Official Site
Fearless Records
Purevolume
Snicker At The Swine (Gatsbys American Dream Fansite)
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