Biography
David Bazan of Seattle established himself as a mainstay in late-'90s indie rock by fronting Pedro the Lion and cutting introspective records such as the 1998 highlight It's Hard to Find a Friend, where he handled nearly every instrument. Constant club touring marked those years, with musicians cycling through the lineup until the well-received 2004 album Achilles Heel. After that release Bazan shifted to solo work, issuing the EP Tiny Moving Parts and then spending the following ten years alternating between clubs and house shows while delivering further milestones including the 2009 album Curse Your Branches and a subscription series whose output was gathered on the compilations Bazan Monthly, Vol. 1 (2014) and Vol. 2 (2015). His relentless D.I.Y. approach and candidly self-examining lyrics have long positioned him among indie rock's most respected songwriters.
Raised by a pastor, Bazan encountered Christian music early, an influence that surfaces in much of Pedro the Lion's initial material. He assembled the band in 1995, blending first-person storytelling with layered indie rock supported by a changing roster of players. Operating out of Seattle, the group issued four albums from 1998's It's Hard to Find a Friend through 2004's Achilles Heel before Bazan retired the name in early 2006, though his recording and performing continued under other guises and as a solo artist.
Soon after setting the Pedro the Lion name aside, Bazan teamed with Nick Peterson and Starflyer 59's Frank Lenz to create the electronic pop trio Headphones. He simultaneously tracked solo material, resulting in the 2006 EP Fewer Moving Parts, whose five tracks each appeared in two versions—one fully arranged, the other acoustic—with titles adjusted accordingly. Paste Magazine named him among its Top 100 Living Songwriters, and he opened 2006 with European dates as part of the Undertow Orchestra alongside Vic Chesnutt, Will Johnson, and Mark Eitzel before returning to North America that summer to support the EP alongside Micah P. Hinson.
Bazan delivered his first full-length solo album, Curse Your Branches, three years later on Barsuk; the record entered the Billboard 200 and drew favorable notices. After its release he captured an October 2009 performance at Chicago's Electrical Audio and issued the recording in 2010 as Live at Electrical Audio. The same ensemble that played the live set also backed his second solo album, Strange Negotiations, which arrived in early summer 2011. He maintained a rigorous touring schedule and, in 2012, revisited Pedro the Lion's 2002 album Control onstage with his solo band to mark its tenth anniversary. Weary from years of travel, he looked for a project that would allow him to remain home.
That project became the limited-edition 7" series Bazan Monthly. Starting in 2014, he issued two new songs on the first of each month for five consecutive months; those ten tracks later appeared together on Bazan Monthly, Vol. 1. He repeated the format the next year for Vol. 2. The resulting music was more minimal and solitary than prior work, with most tracks captured at home. In 2016 Bazan reworked ten of the monthly recordings into his third solo album, Blanco, which was followed in November by the Christmas collection Dark Sacred Night. A few months afterward, in March 2017, he released the synth-driven album Care, produced by Richard Swift.
Raised by a pastor, Bazan encountered Christian music early, an influence that surfaces in much of Pedro the Lion's initial material. He assembled the band in 1995, blending first-person storytelling with layered indie rock supported by a changing roster of players. Operating out of Seattle, the group issued four albums from 1998's It's Hard to Find a Friend through 2004's Achilles Heel before Bazan retired the name in early 2006, though his recording and performing continued under other guises and as a solo artist.
Soon after setting the Pedro the Lion name aside, Bazan teamed with Nick Peterson and Starflyer 59's Frank Lenz to create the electronic pop trio Headphones. He simultaneously tracked solo material, resulting in the 2006 EP Fewer Moving Parts, whose five tracks each appeared in two versions—one fully arranged, the other acoustic—with titles adjusted accordingly. Paste Magazine named him among its Top 100 Living Songwriters, and he opened 2006 with European dates as part of the Undertow Orchestra alongside Vic Chesnutt, Will Johnson, and Mark Eitzel before returning to North America that summer to support the EP alongside Micah P. Hinson.
Bazan delivered his first full-length solo album, Curse Your Branches, three years later on Barsuk; the record entered the Billboard 200 and drew favorable notices. After its release he captured an October 2009 performance at Chicago's Electrical Audio and issued the recording in 2010 as Live at Electrical Audio. The same ensemble that played the live set also backed his second solo album, Strange Negotiations, which arrived in early summer 2011. He maintained a rigorous touring schedule and, in 2012, revisited Pedro the Lion's 2002 album Control onstage with his solo band to mark its tenth anniversary. Weary from years of travel, he looked for a project that would allow him to remain home.
That project became the limited-edition 7" series Bazan Monthly. Starting in 2014, he issued two new songs on the first of each month for five consecutive months; those ten tracks later appeared together on Bazan Monthly, Vol. 1. He repeated the format the next year for Vol. 2. The resulting music was more minimal and solitary than prior work, with most tracks captured at home. In 2016 Bazan reworked ten of the monthly recordings into his third solo album, Blanco, which was followed in November by the Christmas collection Dark Sacred Night. A few months afterward, in March 2017, he released the synth-driven album Care, produced by Richard Swift.
Albums
Rare Coins: David Bazan & Sean Lane
2018
Dark Sacred Night
2016
Christmas Bonus
2016
Blanco
2016
Strange Negotiations
2011
Curse Your Branches
2009
Fewer Moving Parts
2006
Singles
