Dumptruck is an American
rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...
al group formed in
Boston, Massachusetts, in 1983 by composers, guitarists and singers Seth Tiven and Kirk Swan.
History
The principal songwriter and sole continuous member of Dumptruck is Seth Tiven. Born and raised in Connecticut, Tiven received his Bachelor of Arts in music in 1980 from Wesleyan University in Middletown. In 1981 he moved to Boston, where he performed in several local bands with Swan and drummer
Mark Mulcahy
Mark Mulcahy is an American musician and front-man for the New Haven, Connecticut-based band Miracle Legion. The band earned modest renown, especially in their native New England region, but disbanded after a sad turn of events with their recor ...
.
In 1983, Swan and Tiven formed Dumptruck and began writing songs. The duo recorded six songs with Mulcahy at a local studio. "
hey were
Hey or Hey! may refer to:
Music
* Hey (band), a Polish rock band
Albums
* ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014
* ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980
* ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
demos, really, more than anything else," Swan recalled on the liner notes to the 2004 reissue. "Seth and I played bass on each other's songs... which is how we would tackle the songs live in this incarnation of the band." Pleased with the results, the duo recorded six additional songs with drummer James Clement and released ''D is for Dumptruck'' on Incas records in 1983.
The record was well-received "The dozen songs fall somewhere between Joy Division and the dB's", said ''The New
Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...
Record Guide''.
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
awarded the record an "A−" in his
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...
review. The duo added Shawn Devlin on drums and Steve Michener on bass for live performances and signed with
Big Time Records
Big Time Records was an independent record label based in Sydney, Australia. The label was owned by Lance Reynolds and Fred Bestall, who managed Air Supply in their early days, among others. From 1979 until 1981, Big Time was distributed by Wi ...
.
Their second album, ''Positively Dumptruck'' was recorded at
Mitch Easter
Mitchell Blake Easter (born November 15, 1954) is a musician, songwriter, and record producer. Frequently associated with the jangle pop style of guitar music, he is known as producer of R.E.M.'s early albums from 1981 through 1984, and as frontm ...
's Drive In studio in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...
with
Don Dixon producing. The record was played heavily on college radio and Dumptruck won the Best Independent Album Award at the
Boston Music Awards
Founded in 1987, the Boston Music Awards are a set of music awards given annually that showcase talent in the Boston, Massachusetts, area.
Past shows have featured such notable talent as Aerosmith, Paula Cole, Esperanza Spalding, Boston, Rubyhor ...
.
"By the end of 1986, a year and a half of pretty constant touring had taken its toll on the band," Tiven remembered.
"Steve Michener had quit the band shortly after Positively had been released ... When we returned home from a particularly grueling 3-month tour just before Christmas, Kirk
eplacement bassist Michael 'Spike' Priggenmade a decision to leave the band."
When Tiven and Devlin were uncertain about continuing the band, the label urged them to move forward, offering them a chance to record their next album in
Rockfield Studios
Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was originally founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward.
Facilities
Rockfield is a two- ...
in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
with producer
Hugh Jones.
Tiven and Devlin recruited
Kevin Salem (guitar, backing vocals) and Tom Shad (bass) and began rehearsing Tiven's new songs.
Lawsuit
''For The Country'' was released in September, 1987, to highly positive reviews. All Music Guide gave the album four and one-half stars, saying "these are
iven'sstrongest and most well-crafted songs yet... without coming across as slick or overprocessed... Highly recommended."
During the tour to support the album, the band discovered that Big Time Records was in financial difficulties, when checks issued by the label bounced. During a meeting with label owner Fred Bestall, the band learned that the label had failed to renew the band's contract prior to its expiration date.
In early 1988, the band learned that Big Time was negotiating to sell Dumptruck's contract to
Phonogram Records
Phonogram Incorporated was started in 1970 as a successor to Philips Phonographic Industries, a unit of the Grammophon-Philips Group (GPG), a joint venture of Philips N.V. of the Netherlands and Siemens A.G. of Germany.
Phonogram was the name ...
.
The band's lawyer sent Phonogram a copy of the expired contract with a letter instructing the label to negotiate directly with them.
When Big Time discovered that the band was attempting to negotiate directly with Phonogram, the label sued Dumptruck for breach of contract, requesting $5 million in damages, and threatening the other label with a $10 million lawsuit for tortuous interference.
["Dumptruck Reissue Conjures up the Record Industry's Ugly Past" - Chicago Tribune]
/ref> Phonogram (and subsequently, other labels) declined to sign a contract with the band until the suit was resolved, leaving the band with no way to release new material.
After almost three years (and $40,000 in legal fees) Dumptruck received a default judgment against Big Time Records when the label's attorneys failed to appear in court for a hearing. The band (which had filed a countersuit) was awarded $240,000 (very little of which it received from the now-bankrupt label) and the rights to its Big Time recordings.["After Lawsuit Woes, Dumptruck Rides Again" - Los Angeles Times]
/ref>
After one of the creditors of Big Time Records filed a lien for rights to Dumptruck's master recordings, the band broke up in 1991, and Tiven moved to Austin Texas.
Later Recordings
After relocating, Tiven worked as a computer programmer. Songs recorded by the band between 1988-91 were eventually released as ''Days of Fear'' in 1994, on Unclean Records. At this time, Tiven was approached by guitarist Alan Durham about reforming Dumptruck with Austin musicians. Tiven was open to the idea and soon they were joined by drummer George Duron and a cast of bass players. Tiven and Durham still make up the core of Dumptruck, playing in Austin TX and occasionally doing shows in the Northeast with original members. Since relocating to Austin, Dumptruck has issued records: ''Terminal'' (1998) and ''Lemmings Travel to the Sea'' (2001), both on Devil In The Woods Records, and most recent "Wrecked" (201
Schoolkids Records
Salem has released six solo recordings and worked as a guitarist, vocalist, producer or engineer with artists including Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...
, Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James McNew ...
, Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev is an American indie rock band formed in 1989 in Buffalo, New York.
Original personnel were Mooney Suzuki
The Mooney Suzuki is an American garage rock band that formed in New York City in 1996. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Sammy James, Jr., guitarist Graham Tyler, bassist John Paul Ribas and drummer Will Rockwell-Scott, the band ha ...
.
In 1999, Swan released a solo album, entitled ''It's About Time''. In 2009, he released a second album, ''It's Only Me''.
In 2003, Rykodisc reissued the band's first three albums with additional tracks. In 2006, the label released a compilation CD, "Haul of Fame."
In 2007, Tiven released a solo recording, entitled "Solitude". Dumptruck continues to perform occasional shows in the Austin area.Seth Tiven & Dumptruck :: Music - ReverbNation
/ref>
Discography
* ''D Is For Dumptruck'' (1983)
* ''Positively Dumptruck'' (1986)
* ''For The Country'' (1987)
* ''Days Of Fear'' (1994)
* ''Terminal'' (1998)
* ''Lemmings Travel To The Sea'' (2001)
* '' Haul Of Fame (2006)
* ''Wrecked'' (2018)
References
External links
* Dumptruck official web sit
* Seth Tiven websit
*Alan Durha
Durham Electronics
* Kevin Salem's web sit
* Kirk Swan's MySpace pag
* Band page on Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
br>
* Band page on website of former bassist Michael "Spike" Prigge
* Band page on MySpacebr>
* All Music Guide profil
* Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...
Record Guide entr
{{Authority control
Musical groups established in 1983
Jangle pop groups
Musical groups from Boston
1983 establishments in Massachusetts