MewithoutYou

MewithoutYou, usually styled as mewithoutYou, is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band consists of Aaron Weiss (vocals), Michael Weiss and Brandon Beaver (guitars), Greg Jehanian (bass guitar) and Rickie Mazzotta (drums). The band's music is generally dominated by spoken-word vocals and free-ranging drums, bassguitar and guitar.
History.
The band was originally conceived as a side project. The Weiss brothers and former guitarist Christopher Kleinberg were playing together in another band called The Operation with former bassist Greg Jehanian (who released one album and one EP, 2001's "There Is Hope for a Tree Cut Down" & 1999's "Invisible Man EP", on Takehold Records), but Aaron wanted to start another band to experiment with new sounds. With the help of Ricky Mazzotta, Ray Taddeo, and his brother Mike, Aaron formed what is now formally known as mewithoutYou. At first the band was a four piece, with Aaron Weiss on both bass and vocals. However, in only a few months Chris Kleinberg joined to play third guitar. The band released their first EP, "I Never Said That I Was Brave", in 2001 and shortly thereafter signed to Tooth & Nail Records after a show at Cornerstone Festival the same year. Around this time Taddeo had moved on, and Daniel Pishock was recruited to be the first official and permanent bass player of the band. The Operation disbanded soon afterward, and mewithoutYou's debut full-length album, "[A→B] Life", was released in 2002. The band garnered more attention for their second release, 2004's" Catch for Us the Foxes", which was produced by Brad Wood (Smashing Pumpkins, Sunny Day Real Estate). In December 2004 Pishock had made the decision to retire as the bassist to pursue a career in teaching and explore other musical ventures, and former Operation frontman, Greg Jehanian, was selected to replace him. In 2005, mewithoutYou won mtvU's "Left Field" award for most original artist for their song "January 1979." Their third album, "Brother, Sister", again produced by Wood, was released on September 26, 2006. In late 2007, guitarist Christopher Kleinberg left the band, to pursue a degree in medicine. Pete Syoum filled in for guitar in the fall of 2007, but later Kleinberg returned to play with the band on their 2008 Summer tour since school was not in session. Kleinberg also played some shows on their "It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright" tour in June 2009.
Aaron Weiss narrates the Forgive Durden album entitled, "Razia's Shadow: A Musical" which was released October 28, 2008. He also sings for Norma Jean's "Memphis Will Be Laid to Waste" and the indie/hip hop project Bella Futuro's "70 X 7".
In September 2008, the band finished recording the follow-up to "Brother, Sister" titled, "It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright". The title of the album is taken from parable 518 in the book "The Golden Words of a Sufi Sheikh" by Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. In this he writes, "It's all false, It's all a dream, It's all crazy, It's all over, It's all right, Let's see what's next." The album is a departure from Weiss' trademark shouting and the band's rough grooves. The fast rants, thick with lyrical angst, are traded for simpler melodies with lyrics about anthropomorphic food and animals. Similarly, the band has scaled back its edgier post-hardcore sound, at times trading riffs for chords and guitars for pianos and harp; a classical composer was called into their Fishtown, Philadelphia, studio for various arrangements on several tracks. The album was produced by Dan Smith (Danielson, Sufjan Stevens) and Brian McTear and was mixed by Brad Wood.
They toured in a 42-foot 1976 MC8 Charter bus that runs on vegetable oil. Before July 2009, the side of the bus read "Altus Bulldogs". The bus has since been painted in a light beige and marked with paintings of flowers and vines by the artist Salihah Moore. The bus broke down on June 3, 2016, while on tour in Canada.
In 2011 they added Brandon Beaver of Buried Beds to play second guitar, as stated on their blog by Rickie Mazzotta. In August 2011, Mazzotta stated in an interview that the band has parted ways with Tooth & Nail Records due to perceived restrictions placed on them by the label. They hinted at starting their own label as they prepared to release their fifth album. Other band members, however, expressed satisfaction with and gratitude and affection toward their old label, citing different reasons for ceasing to work with them: namely, having completed their contract, the declining relevance of record labels in the current music world, and simply the excitement to try something new.
In February 2011, Alternative Press announced that the band's fifth album, due early 2012, and was produced by Daniel Smith. Thirteen songs were recorded in the studio sessions, eleven planned for the album and two b-sides. On May 8, 2012 the band announced on their blog that a pre-release of "Ten Stories" could be streamed in its entirety on Spotify.
In April 2014, the band announced that a "Catch for Us the Foxes" ten-year anniversary tour along the US West Coast and South West followed by a second leg along the US East Coast. In September 2014, the band announced a vinyl reissue of the album.
In March 2015, the band announced that their sixth album would be released in mid-2015 on Run For Cover Records. In April 2015, the band announced that they would support their album, "Pale Horses", with a mid-year tour and revealed the album would be released on June 16.
On August 11, 2017 the band announced an "[A→B] Life" 15th anniversary tour with Pianos Become the Teeth, Strawberry Girls and Slow Mass and also reissued the album on vinyl and cassette.
On August 13, 2018, the band announced a new single, "Julia (or, 'Holy to the LORD' on the Bells of Horses)", from their seventh album. The single was released through Run for Cover Records. In an interview with "Billboard" the band confirmed that Will Yip would be returning to produce the new album. The album, "[Untitled]", was released on October 5, 2018.
In October 2019, mewithoutYou announced through their social media that 2020 would be their final year as an active band.
Lyrical themes.
The Weiss brothers are of Jewish descent and their songs use Jewish, Muslim and Christian imagery to explore spiritual themes. The Weiss brothers were raised in a Sufi Muslim household: their mother had converted from the Episcopal church, and their father from Judaism. Due to the Christian imagery in some of Aaron Weiss' lyrics, they have been categorized as a Christian band, although in interview, A. Weiss has stated he doesn't think they are a Christian band. Their lyrics reflect a personal relationship with God, and are not evangelistic. Other lyrical themes explored include suffering and self-doubt.
Many lyrics are taken from the Sufi poet Rumi including the song "The Cure for Pain" from "" and a line in the song "Seven Sisters" from "Catch for Us the Foxes".
In the song "Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt" from their album ", Aaron Weiss' lyrics are based on a poem from the metaphysical poet John Donne called ". John Donne wrote the poem to his wife to explain that there is no need for dreading their physical separation or distance because their spiritual love will always keep them together. The lines of the song "thy firmness makes my circle just, and makes me end where I begun" are directly from John Donne's poem where the conceit is revealed as a compass (Stanza 9, ll. 35–36). The title of the song itself is a Kurt Vonnegut quote.
The title of their second album "Catch for Us the Foxes" is taken directly from Song of Songs 2:15: "Catch for us the foxes, / the little foxes / that ruin the vineyards, / our vineyards that are in bloom" ("New International Version").
In a 2007 interview singer Aaron Weiss states that the title of their third album, "Brother, Sister", comes from a verse in the Bhagavad Gita.
Their fourth album, "It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright" explores many of the teachings of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. The Sufi teacher's story of "The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie" from "My Love You My Children: 101 Stories for Children" is told as well as his story about the "King Beetle" from "The Divine Luminous Wisdom that Dispels Darkness." Other concepts from the teacher are explored in "Allah, Allah, Allah," about seeing God in every blade of grass and in "Fig with a Bellyache" dealing with sexual temptation from "The Divine Luminous Wisdom" and "The Golden Words of a Sufi Sheikh." Guitarist Mike Weiss has been quoted as saying that the themes of the album reflect a time in vocalist Aaron Weiss' life where he is "sort of revisiting [religion] and holding himself up to those teachings that there's no one religion that's going to be the only way to God [...]," reveals Weiss. "If you really want to just try to follow a path to God, I don't believe you need anything beyond [Jesus Christ], but it's just the idea that you're fixed on the only way and that everybody else is just completely misguided [...] that is a sort of obtuse attitude that can hurt your own spirit."
Members.
Current
Former
Touring musicians
Additional musicians