Criteria is an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band from

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, formed in 2003 when ex-

Cursive Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionalit ...

founding member Steve Pedersen returned to his hometown after graduating from the

Duke University School of Law Duke University School of Law (Duke Law School or Duke Law) is the law school of Duke University, a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law is a constituent academic unit th ...

. He spent six months in a friend's basement where he wrote all ten songs for his new project's debut album. He recruited the help of some old friends, A.J. Mogis (of

Presto! Recording Studios Presto! Recording Studios is located in Lincoln, Nebraska, and run by brothers Mike Mogis and A.J. Mogis. The studio began in the brothers' North Platte, Nebraska basement and around 1995 moved to the basement of a Lincoln home. First known as W ...

and

Lullaby for the Working Class Lullaby for the Working Class was an indie folk rock band from Lincoln, Nebraska, active from the mid-to-late 1990s. Fronted by Omaha, Nebraska singer-songwriter Ted Stevens (of the bands Mayday and Cursive), the group also featured multi-instrume ...

) on bass guitar,

Aaron Druery Criteria is an indie rock band from Omaha, Nebraska, formed in 2003 when ex-Cursive founding member Steve Pedersen returned to his hometown after graduating from the Duke University School of Law. He spent six months in a friend's basement wher ...

on guitar, and Mike Sweeney of Beep Beep on drums. Their first album, ''En Garde'', was released on his previous band's label, Initial Records. Steve Pedersen worked as a lawyer, making it hard for the band to promote their album. Initial Records went bankrupt about a year after, leaving Criteria without a label.

Saddle Creek Records Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. Started as a college class project on entrepreneurship, the label was founded by Mike Mogis and Justin Oberst in 1993 (as Lumberjack Records). Mogis soon turned over his ...

took their longtime friend in and put out three releases in 2005. The first was a re-release of the LP ''En Garde'', their new single, "Prevent the World," and their second full-length, ''When We Break''. After signing with

Saddle Creek Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. Started as a college class project on entrepreneurship, the label was founded by Mike Mogis and Justin Oberst in 1993 (as Lumberjack Records). Mogis soon turned over his ...

, Pedersen quit his day job to spend full-time making music and touring. Criteria has performed with bands such as

The Fall of Troy The Fall of Troy is an American rock band from Mukilteo, Washington. The band is a trio consisting of Thomas Erak (guitars, vocals, keyboards), Andrew Forsman (drums, percussion) and Tim Ward (bass, screamed vocals) who was later replaced by Fr ...

Thunderbirds Are Now! Thunderbirds are Now! were an American, Livonia, Michigan-based post-punk revival band, whose sound used a mix of traditional post-punk, new wave and noise rock. The band was heavily influenced by 1980s new wave and other post-punk revival ...

Statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...

, Poison the Well, Rahim (band), and

Minus the Bear Minus the Bear was an American indie rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2001, and comprising members of Botch, Kill Sadie, and Sharks Keep Moving. Their sound was described as " Pele-esque guitar-taps and electronics with sophisticate ...

. The band performed at the Maha Musical Festival on August 17, 2013 in Omaha, Nebraska. Criteria's most recent performance took place on December 12, 2013 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha, during which Pedersen mentioned the band was working on a new album.

Band members

* Steve Pedersen - vocals, guitar * A.J. Mogis - backup vocals, bass guitar *

- backup vocals, guitar *Mike Sweeney - drums

Discography

Albums

* ''En Garde'' (2003 ·

Initial Records Initial Records was an independent record label in Louisville, Kentucky, that was founded in 1992. The label released music by Falling Forward, Boysetsfire and Ink & Dagger, and created the annual weekend long music festival, Krazy Fest. Hist ...

) re-released 2005 on

*'' When We Break'' (2005 ·

) *
Years
' (2020 �
15 Passenger

Singles and EPs

*" Prevent the World" single (2005 ·

)

Compilations

* ''Lagniappe: A Saddle Creek Benefit for Hurricane Katrina'' (2005 ·

) ::song: "Booketa"

Videography

*" Prevent the World" (2 versions, August 2005, directed by Jason Kulbel) *"Good Luck" (March 2006), directed by Shafei and Levitz *"Kiss the Wake" (March 2006, directed by Jaime O’Bradovich
Saddle Creek Music Video Competition at the Hot Shops Film Festival
winner, runners-up: Luke Rustermier and Michael McClendon)

References

External links

15 PassengerCriteria official website (site now down)
*
Criteria on MySpaceSaddle Creek RecordsVideo Interview with Steve Pedersen of CriteriaInterview from ''Alternative Press'' 184
(2003)
Interview from ''Alternative Press'' 207
(2005)
Soundcrank Podcast Hosted by Criteria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Criteria Indie rock musical groups from Nebraska Musical groups from Omaha, Nebraska Musical groups established in 2003 Saddle Creek Records artists