Grandaddy biography
Grandaddy is an American indie rock band, formed in 1992 in Modesto, California by singer, guitarist, and keyboardist Jason Lytle, bass guitarist Kevin Garcia, and drummer Aaron Burtch. Guitarist Jim Fairchild and keyboardist Tim Dryden later joined the band in 1995. After several self-released records and cassettes the band signed to Will Records in the US and later the V2 subsidiary Big Cat Records in the UK, going on to sign an exclusive deal with V2. The bulk of the band's recorded output was the work of Lytle, who worked primarily in home studios. The band released four studio albums before splitting in 2006, with band members going on to solo careers and other projects. In March 2012, it was announced that Grandaddy had reformed and were to make a number of live appearances.
Grandaddy was formed in 1992 by singer, guitarist, and keyboardist Jason Lytle, bassist Kevin Garcia, and drummer Aaron Burtch. The group was initially influenced by US punk bands such as Suicidal Tendencies and Bad Brains. Lytle was a former professional skateboarder, who had turned to music after a knee injury forced him to stop, working at a sewage treatment works to fund the purchase of equipment, and several of the band's early live performances were at skateboarding competitions.
The band members constructed a studio at the Lytle family home, and the band's first release was the self-produced cassette Complex Party Come Along Theories in April 1994. Singles "Could This Be Love" and "Taster" followed later that year. "Summer Here Kids" is also used as the theme music for another Charlie Brooker-fronted show, BBC Radio 4's So Wrong It's Right. The album led to an increase in the band's popularity in Europe, and a main stage performance at the Reading Festival in 1998, although it was only a success in the US when later reissued by V2. With the band busy touring in 1999, their next release was the compilation The Broken Down Comforter Collection.
Unhappy with the efforts of Will Records, the band signed a worldwide deal with Richard Branson's V2 Records in 1999, their first release on the label being the Signal to Snow Ratio EP in September that year. with popular British music magazine NME later placing it number 34 in their "Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade" list, and The Independent describing it as "easily the equal of OK Computer". The album reached number 36 on the UK Albums Chart, and the band's fanbase increased, including celebrities such as David Bowie, Kate Moss, and Liv Tyler. By early 2001 the album had sold 80,000 copies worldwide. "The Crystal Lake", although not a hit when released as the first single from the album, gave the band their first UK top 40 single when reissued in 2001.
Around the time that The Sophtware Slump was released, Grandaddy was invited to open for Elliott Smith on his tour for Figure 8. The band later opened for Coldplay on their US tour in Summer 2001. Also in 2001, the band's version of The Beatles' "Revolution" was used in the film I Am Sam.
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