Dan Deacon

Dan Deacon fuses his training in experimental composition with an affinity for pop culture and a taste for the absurd, earning both fervent listeners and widespread praise through his intensely kinetic live shows and intricately layered studio works. Much of the music for which he is best recognized, including the 2007 album Spiderman of the Rings, relies on electronically altered voices and bright, buzzing synthesizer textures that convey an unrestrained sense of delight. At the same time, he has produced more introspective and layered compositions such as the 2012 release America while maintaining ties to the modern classical community. He maintains a prolific career scoring films, having supplied the music for the 2016 documentary Rat Film, in which he also appeared. Committed to independent artistic networks, he helped establish Wham City, the Baltimore collective uniting musicians, performance artists, comedians, and filmmakers that has mounted numerous events and tours. Members of the group frequently join him on the road, sometimes bringing more than ten additional players to realize his arrangements. His concerts stress direct engagement with listeners, often incorporating dance contests and humorous interludes.

Born on Long Island, New York, Dan Deacon finished Babylon High School in 1999 after playing in the ska group Channel 59. He continued his studies at the Conservatory of Music at SUNY Purchase under Joel Thorne and Dary John Mizelle, focusing on electro-acoustic and computer music. During this period he performed tuba with Langhorne Slim and guitar with the grindcore outfit Rated R, while also creating his own experimental electronic and chamber works. Several of those pieces appeared on his earliest self-released CD-Rs, among them the 2003 collections Meetle Mice and Silly Hat vs. Egale Hat as well as the extended sinewave pieces Goose on the Loose and Green Cobra Is Awesome vs. the Sun. The recordings received repeated airplay on WFMU, where he also gave several live performances and appeared at station events alongside People Like Us and Jason Forrest; selections from those appearances were later compiled on the 2004 release Live Recordings 2003. Additional 2004 projects included the digital EP Twacky Cats on Comfort Stand Records, which introduced live staples “Ohio” and “Lion with a Shark’s Head,” and the split album Porky Pig issued with Big City Orchestra, the Bran Flakes, and Gelbart.

That same year Deacon moved to Baltimore with fellow SUNY Purchase alumni, settling in the Copycat Building and helping form the Wham City collective. He began relentless cross-country touring, transporting his assortment of inexpensive electronics by bus and performing in houses and modest clubs to build recognition. He frequently placed his gear among the audience rather than on a stage, making direct interaction central to each evening. Wham City launched the annual festival Whartscape, which drew favorable notice from regional outlets.

Psych-O-Path Records issued the 2006 EP Acorn Master, which gained national college-radio exposure. The record also reached filmmaker and musician Liam Lynch, known for the MTV series The Sifl & Olly Show and the track “United States of Whatever,” who incorporated the song “Big Big Big Big Big” into his Lynchland podcast. Lynch further produced an animated video for “Drinking Out of Cups,” a spoken-word piece first heard on Meetle Mice. Over time the clip spread widely through word of mouth, fueled by an unsubstantiated claim that it captured someone ranting under the influence of acid while confined in a closet, a story Deacon has consistently rejected.

In 2007 Deacon joined the Baltimore label Carpark Records and issued Spiderman of the Rings, shifting toward brighter, more approachable material than his earlier abstract works. The album featured the single “Crystal Cat,” whose vivid video gained traction online, and the twelve-minute choral piece “Wham City,” conceived as an anthem for the collective. The record marked his breakthrough and drew acclaim from outlets including Pitchfork. Later that year he and frequent collaborator Jimmy Joe Roche, who had directed the “Crystal Cat” video, completed the surrealist film Ultimate Reality, which assembled footage from Arnold Schwarzenegger movies with kaleidoscopic visuals and Deacon’s exuberant score. Carpark released the film on DVD, and Deacon toured screenings accompanied by percussionists Jeremy Hyman of Ponytail and Kevin O’Meara of Videohippos, both Wham City associates. The collective traveled in a vegetable-oil-powered school bus and presented shows in rotating “round robin” format, with each act set up in a circle and performing in turn. In 2008 Deacon issued a split 7-inch with touring partners Future Islands, followed in early 2009 by a split 12-inch with Adventure (Benny Boeldt).

Also in 2009 he released Bromst, an expansive song cycle that revisited his experimental roots while remaining buoyant. The album incorporated intricate percussion and player-piano passages influenced by Conlon Nancarrow. Its track “Woof Woof” appeared as a single with remixes by Hudson Mohawke and Luke Abbott. In 2011 Carpark reissued Silly Hat vs. Egale Hat and Meetle Mice on vinyl and cassette. That year Deacon also composed the score for Francis Ford Coppola’s thriller Twixt. By then he had deepened his involvement with contemporary classical ensembles, collaborating with So Percussion and Bang on a Can. In March 2012 he joined Matmos and So Percussion at Carnegie Hall for a concert marking the centenary of John Cage. Later in 2012 he signed with Domino and released America, which captured his impressions of the American landscape gathered during repeated cross-country journeys. The 7-inch single Konono Ripoff No 1 appeared for Record Store Day in 2013.

Gliss Riffer, issued in 2015, was recorded and produced while touring with Arcade Fire the previous year. The album employed fewer guest musicians than earlier releases and placed greater emphasis on Deacon’s own vocals. He subsequently opened for Miley Cyrus and the Flaming Lips on their Dead Petz tour. In 2016 he both appeared in and scored Rat Film, Theo Anthony’s documentary examining Baltimore’s rat population; the soundtrack was released in 2017 as the inaugural title on the Domino Soundtracks imprint. Deacon produced and co-wrote Riddles, the third album by Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, issued in March 2018. His score for Finlay Pretsell’s cycling documentary Time Trial followed later that year. In early 2019 he performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, presenting his own works alongside pieces by Erik Satie and Du Yun. Mystic Familiar, his first studio album in five years, arrived in 2020, as did the soundtrack Well Groomed for a documentary on competitive dog grooming. Further scores followed, including All Light, Everywhere and Ascension in 2021 and Strawberry Mansion in 2022.