Burning Brides were an American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band. They were partially known for their live performances, such as selected dates as the opening band for

The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums with ...

in 2000. In 2002 they toured with

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (often abbreviated as Trail of Dead, or T.o.D., which reads as "death" in German) are an American alternative rock band from Austin, Texas, formed in 1994. The chief members of the band are Jason Re ...

and

Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple line- ...

, in 2003 with

Audioslave Audioslave was an American Rock music, rock supergroup (music), supergroup formed in Glendale, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine membe ...

, in 2004 with

A Perfect Circle A Perfect Circle is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. A Perfect Circle has released four studio albums, the first three during the early 2000s: ' ...

, in 2005 with

Mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of th ...

, and in 2006 with

Eagles of Death Metal Eagles of Death Metal is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, formed in 1998. Founded by Jesse Hughes (vocals, guitar) and Josh Homme (drums), the band also includes a wide range of other musicians who perform both on the band's ...

and

Peaches The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fuz ...

. They also opened for both

Melvins Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...

and

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

in their home town of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

History

Burning Brides formed in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in early 1999.

Dimitri Coats Dimitri Coats is an American musician, songwriter, producer, and actor. Music career Dimitri Coats is best known as the frontman for the hard rock band Burning Brides and as the guitarist in the hardcore punk band Off!. The Brides have release ...

and future wife and musical partner Melanie Coats joined together after Melanie graduated from

The Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

for modern dance. Dimitri dropped out of the acting program two years earlier to pursue music. They spent several years traveling the country together, living in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

before settling in Philadelphia.Burning Brides band bio
. Retrieved July 20, 2009. The couple soon found drummer Mike Ambs and headlined their first concert May 11, 1999 at The Khyber in Philadelphia. The Brides saw popularity from their local live performances, and record companies began scouting them in order to sign them to a

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

. They first signed with File Thirteen Records, a local independent label. Burning Brides then took U.S. tours with such acts as

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...

, J. Mascis,

Royal Trux Royal Trux was an American alternative rock band active from 1987 to 2001, reuniting in 2015 but disbanded once again in 2019. It was founded by Neil Hagerty (vocals, guitar) and Jennifer Herrema (vocals). History While still a teenager, Hagerty ...

, and

. The band began to build a steady fan base from their energetic live shows. Burning Brides' first album, '' Fall of the Plastic Empire'' was released on April 17, 2001. The album grabbed the attention of a few music magazines, writing that Burning Brides were a garage rock band on the verge. After a successful showcase at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

in 2002, the band found themselves in a major label bidding war. Mike Ambs departed the band during this time, and subsequently joined Philadelphia garage rockers, The Three 4 Tens. With a new drummer, Jason Kourkounis, formerly of

The Delta 72 The Delta 72 were an American alternative music band formed in Washington, DC in the summer of 1994, later relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They created a frenetic and honest style channeling post-punk sensibilities with 1960s British In ...

and

Hot Snakes Hot Snakes are an American post-hardcore band led by Rick Froberg and John Reis, formed in 1999 in San Diego, California. Reis and Froberg had previously performed together in Pitchfork (band), Pitchfork and Drive Like Jehu, after which Reis had f ...

, they eventually signed with

V2 Records V2 Records (or V2 Music; V2 being an abbreviation for Virgin 2) is a record label that was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2007 and sold to IASin 2013. In the Benelux, V2 operates separately from PIAS, as the label bought itself out from ...

who re-released ''Fall of the Plastic Empire'' in 2002, giving it much more media attention, thus giving the Brides some international popularity. The

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

rated the album five out of five. The biggest hit off the album was " Arctic Snow," the band's first single, which they performed on

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

. The Brides continued touring with such bands as

My Morning Jacket My Morning Jacket is an American rock band formed in Louisville, Kentucky in 1998. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Jim James, bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan, guitarist Carl Broemel, and keyboardist Bo Koster. The ba ...

, and joined 2003's

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

traveling music festival. Burning Brides 2007

Burning Brides' second album '' Leave No Ashes'' was released on June 29, 2004. It was produced by

George Drakoulias George Drakoulias (born 1965) is a Greek-American music producer and a former A&R executive at the American Recordings label. He is often considered a protégé of Rick Rubin. Drakoulias grew up in Syosset, New York, and attended Syosset High Sc ...

(Tom Petty, Black Crowes). The most successful song off the album, " Heart Full of Black" received some radio airplay and was featured in three video games, ''

Guitar Hero ''Guitar Hero'' is a series of music rhythm game video games first released in November 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead, bass guitar, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Player ...

'', '' Burnout 3: Takedown'' and ''

NHL 2005 ''NHL 2005'' is an ice hockey video game released in 2004, the successor to ''NHL 2004''. Features Improvements/flaws ''NHL 2005'' features ''Open Ice Control'', including moving players without the puck and also a complete World Cup mode where ...

''. The band also returned to ''

'' to perform the song. The Brides went on to tour with such bands as

, and

. After the collapse of V2 Records the band moved to Los Angeles and released their third album, '' Hang Love'', independently on June 19, 2007 to some critical acclaim. Pete Beeman, formerly of Guzzard, became the band's new drummer. Dimitri Coats produced the album. The band teamed with engineer Mathias Schneeberger (Joseph Arthur, St. Vitus, Mark Lanegan), whom Dimitri and Melanie met while contributing tracks to Lanegan’s 2004 ''

Bubblegum Bubble gum or bubblegum is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble. Bubble gum flavor While there is a bubble gum "flavor" – which various artificial flavorings including esters are mixed to obtain – it ...

'' album. ''Hang Love'' was recorded at Shneeberger’s Arcadia, CA studio. Dimitri and Melanie Coats married in 2006. Dimitri played guitar on

Chris Cornell Christopher John Cornell (né Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American singer and musician best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary lyricist and songwriter for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. H ...

's 2007 album ''

Carry On Carry On may refer to: * ''Carry On'' (franchise), a British comedy media franchise *Carry-on luggage or hand luggage, luggage that is carried into the passenger compartment * ''Carry On'' (film), a 1927 British silent film * ''Carry On'' (novel), ...

'' and performed with Chris on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

''. Burning Brides' fourth album ''

Anhedonia Anhedonia is a diverse array of deficits in hedonic function, including reduced motivation or ability to experience pleasure. While earlier definitions emphasized the inability to experience pleasure, anhedonia is currently used by researchers t ...

'' was released independently on June 10, 2008. It was produced by Dimitri Coats and mixed by Matt Hyde (Monster Magnet, Slayer). Two songs from the album, "If One Of Us Goes Further" and "Flesh And Bone" are featured in the 2009 film ''

Suck Suck may refer to: *Suction, the force exerted by a partial vacuum *.sucks, an Internet top-level domain Arts and entertainment Music * Suck (band), a South African hard rock group * Suck, drummer for the 1990s Japanese punk band Teengenerate * ...

'', a rock and roll vampire comedy starring

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is a British actor, producer, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Alex DeLarge in ''A Clockwork Orange.'' He was born in the Horsforth suburb of Leeds and raised in ...

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

, and

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

. Dimitri Coats plays the role of Queeny, the lead villain vampire. Dimitri also acted in the independent film Passenger Side, which premiered at the 2009

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...

. In November 2008, Dimitri and Melanie announced the arrival of their first child, Veronica Coats. In the summer of 2009, The Brides played several showcases at

North by Northeast North by Northeast (or NXNE) is an annual music and arts festival held each June in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival's main focus is live music, but it also includes an eSports gaming tournament, comedy, a conversations series, a flea mark ...

and toured Quebec to support the Canadian release of Anhedonia. At the end of 2009, Dimitri formed the hardcore punk band

Off! Off! (stylized as OFF!) is an American hardcore punk supergroup, formed in Los Angeles, California in late 2009 by Circle Jerks/ Black Flag singer Keith Morris, Burning Brides frontman Dimitri Coats, Redd Kross bassist Steven Shane McDonald ...

with

Keith Morris Keith Morris (born September 18, 1955) is an American singer and songwriter known for his role as frontman of the hardcore punk bands Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Off!. Born and raised in Hermosa Beach, California, he formed Black Flag at the ...

Steven Shane McDonald Steven Shane "Steve" McDonald (born May 24, 1967) is an American rock musician, best known as the bass guitarist in the Los Angeles alternative rock/power pop band Redd Kross. He is a founding member of the hardcore punk band Off! – serving a ...

, and

Mario Rubalcaba Mario Rubalcaba (also known by the pseudonym Ruby Mars) is an American drummer from San Diego, notable as a member of numerous rock bands including Clikatat Ikatowi, Thingy, Rocket from the Crypt, Hot Snakes, Earthless, the Sultans, and Off! H ...

. In early 2010, Dimitri and Melanie welcomed the arrival of their second child, Charles Coats. In 2014, Dimitri and Melanie separated and ended the band.

Personnel

Former members

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, vocals (1999–2014) * Melanie Coats –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(1999–2014) * Mike Ambs – drums (1999–2002) * Jason Kourkounis – drums (2002–05) * Pete Beeman – drums (2005–08)

Discography

* '' Fall of the Plastic Empire'' (2001) * '' Leave No Ashes'' (2004) * '' Hang Love'' (2007) * ''

'' (2008)

References

External links

{{Authority control Musical groups from Philadelphia