X: The Godless Void and Other Stories
Formed in late 1994 by singers/guitarists/drummers Conrad Keely and Jason Reece, Trail of Dead has evolved over the years expanding their line-up while still being creatively driven by the core founding members. Friends since childhood, Keely and Reece started playing music in the indie rock town of Olympia, WA and eventually relocated to Austin, TX where they started …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. Their first release was a self-titled album that came out on Trance Records in 1998 and was succeeded by Madonna in 1999 on Merge records. …Trail of Dead toured the US with Superchunk shortly after and in 2002 they released Source Tags and Codes on Interscope Records. Over the next four years the band released two additional albums on Interscope Records – World's Apart and So Divided before parting ways with the label in the fall of 2007. In the Spring of 2008, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead launched their Richter Scale Imprint and thanks to a partnership in the US with Justice Records and in Europe with Superball Music, their sixth studio album The Century of Self was released in February 2009. In the Spring of 2010 the band entered a worldwide deal with Superball Music and their Richter Scale Records Imprint and they released TAO OF THE DEAD in February 2011. In the summer of 2012 the band headed over to Hannover, Germany to record their eight full-length studio album Lost Songs – due out October 22nd on Richter Scale/Superball Music. Currently, Jason and Autry are based in Austin, TX, Conrad is based in Cambodia and Jamie lives in LA.
FACTS ON LOST SONGS:
Hello, we are ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. This is our eighth album, it was recorded this summer in Hannover, Germany. The music was partly inspired by the apathy to real world events that has plagued the independent music scene now for over a decade. It was also inspired by artists such as the Cure, KARP, Ros Sereysothea, Human League, Hildegard von Bingen, and a few others. We feel that because the lyrics can say more about the album than we could, we would simply share them with you.
We would like to dedicate our efforts to Pussy Riot, and any and all artists who have attempted to exercise their creativity under the oppression of government, as well as the endemic oppression of an indifference to passion present in our mainstream culture.
Conrad Keely, Phnom Penh 2012
INFLUENCES INCLUDE:
Fugazi, Melvins, Bikini Kill, KARP, Unwound, Sonic Youth, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Public Enemy, Yes, J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, etc.
TOURED/PERFORMED WITH…
Superchunk, Secret Machines, Blood Brothers, The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Doves, Audio Slave, Foo Fighters, U2, The Sex Pistols, The Sword, Mogwai, Dinosaur Jr., Queens of the Stone Age, Explosions in the Sky, Peaches, Spoon, My Bloody Valentine, Dethcock, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Sleighbells, Surfer Blood, Rival Schools
RANDOM FACTS:
- Source Tags & Codes - Received highest possible score of 10.0 on Pitchfork.
- Conrad and Jason met in high school in Hawaii
- Went to college together at Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA
- Moved to Austin, TX and started playing as a guitar and drums duo under the name You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
- Conrad has done album artwork for band's albums as well as others including The Sword, Fugo, Amanda Palmer and Eagle Claw and has showed his work at galleries across the world.