Meg & Dia

Meg & Dia shaped a hybrid style that merged alternative rock textures with confessional singer/songwriter pop, which led to repeated slots on the Warped Tour after the 2005 release of their first album, Our Home Is Gone. Their Billboard 200 bow arrived via the third album Here, Here and Here in 2009. After Cocoon appeared in 2011, the outfit paused activities before regrouping in 2019 to issue Happysad, a brighter collection that folded prominent synths into the mix. A gentler, folk-leaning direction surfaced on 2021 singles such as “Wherever I Go.”

The project originated as a duo formed by sisters Meg and Dia Frampton. While the girls were raised in Draper, Utah, their father, a DJ, introduced them to an eclectic array of recordings. The siblings were likewise urged to channel personal expression through music: Dia performed at county fairs and Meg taught herself guitar by replicating radio tracks. Although they performed in multiple groups during their teenage years, the pair stepped away from the industry once Meg moved to Salt Lake City for college. By 2005, however, the Framptons decided to resume, prompting Dia to travel to Salt Lake City and rejoin her sister.

To achieve a fuller sound, the pair added drummer Nicholas Price, guitarist Kenji Chan, and bassist Ryan Groskreutz. The expanded lineup then toured behind debut album Our Home Is Gone, translating its acoustic material into a louder, more expansive live setting. That activity drew the notice of Doghouse Records, which signed Meg & Dia late in 2005 and paired them with producers Stacy Jones and Bill Lefler. Throughout 2006 the band alternated between recording and performing, including several Warped Tour dates that summer. Their first Doghouse offering, the EP What Is It? A Fender Bender., surfaced the same season, followed by the full-length Something Real in August 2006. Chan departed soon afterward and was succeeded by Carlo Gimenez; additional shifts occurred when Meg & Dia secured a Warner Bros. contract. Warner reissued Something Real in mid-2007, aligning with the group’s participation in that year’s Warped Tour.

Meg & Dia delivered a second Warner Bros. album, Here, Here and Here, which reached number 103 on the Billboard 200. The label parted ways with the band one year later, leading Meg & Dia to release their fourth album, Cocoon, independently in April 2011. Shortly afterward, Dia joined the cast of The Voice, which drew strong summer ratings; she placed second behind Javier Colon yet still attracted substantial mainstream attention. Her solo debut, Red, arrived on Republic Records in December 2011, after which Meg & Dia entered a temporary hiatus.

Dia pursued acting parts and completed the Upright Citizen Brigade improv program, later returning with the 2017 Nettwerk album Bruises. Meanwhile Meg played guitar in the touring bands of Hilary Duff and Kate Nash before relocating to Salt Lake City to open a coffee shop. Following an eight-year separation, the sisters quietly resumed songwriting after Dia proposed the idea. They secured a label deal, and after appearing on that year’s Warped Tour the resulting album Happysad emerged on Pure Noise in July 2019. Two months later Meg & Dia launched a headlining U.S. trek, then issued the November holiday collection December, Darling, which mixed originals with Christmas standards.

The 2021 single “Break Me In” introduced a softer, acoustic direction that continued on the follow-up “Wherever I Go.”