Dealership is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a 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 music they produc ...

band based in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

, thought to be disbanded.

History

The band was formed in 1995 at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

Chris Wetherell Chris Wetherell is a software developer and musician from the US best known as the founder of Google Reader and as an influential "ex-Googler" since his departure from the company. Software engineer While working at Google in 2005 as a Senior So ...

and his friend Chris Groves after the two had attended a Primus concert.KALX Program Guide interview
/ref> After the concert, Wetherell went to a

Guitar Center Guitar Center is an American Music store, musical instrument retailer chain. It is the largest company of its kind in the United States, with 294 locations. Its headquarters is in Westlake Village, California. Guitar Center oversees various sub ...

with a student loan check and said to an employee, "I would like the stuff to make a band". He bought

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publ ...

s, microphone stands, a

guitar amplifier A guitar amplifier (or amp) is an electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which ar ...

, two

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

s and a

drum kit A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

– without knowing how to play any of them. Eventually, Wetherell decided to play drums while Groves, who had played

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

in high school, played

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 ...

. During the summer, they began holding auditions for a third band member, though these were largely unsuccessful. The auditions were held at Wetherell's place. Miyuki Jane Pinckard, who was dating Wetherell's roommate at the time, heard many of these auditions. Understanding that the auditions were going poorly, Pinckard decided to learn to play the guitar herself. Within weeks, the trio became Dealership. In 1998, Dealership self-released their first album, '' Secret American Livingroom''. The band then briefly ran their own record label, Keiki Records, on which they released their second full-length album, '' TV Highway to the Stars'', in 2001. Keiki Records also distributed releases by the now-inactive

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

band Secadora, of which Chris Groves was a member. The band's third album, '' Action/Adventure'', was released on Turn Records, based in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

, in 2004. In 2005, Dealership went on their first (and only) tour of the United States. They also played at the

X-Games The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island ...

. Jesse Hudson joined the band in late 2006. Recording was begun on a fourth unreleased album, ''The Future is Far Away'', with an estimated 2008 release date. In November 2007, Pinckard announced on the ''game girl advance'' blog that

Harmonix Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as bei ...

included the song "Dots and Dashes" in its iPod

rhythm game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to press ...

Phase Phase or phases may refer to: Science *State of matter, or phase, one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist *Phase (matter), a region of space throughout which all physical properties are essentially uniform * Phase space, a mathematic ...

'', and noted that the track would be sold on iTunes. "Dots and Dashes" was to appear on the upcoming album.Phase: Harmonix's iPod game - now with 100% more Dealership!
a
gamegirladvance.com
/ref> Their song "Database Corrupted" is a downloadable track in '' Rock Band 2''. Since the announcement of ''The Future is Far Away'', no official word has been heard from the band and it is thought to be disbanded.

Band members

;Current members *Chris Groves — lead vocals,

*Jane Pinckard —

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, vocals (2006—present),

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 strin ...

, vocals (1995—2006) *Chris Wetherell — drums, vocals *Jesse Hudson — guitar, bass (2006—present)

Discography

;Albums *'' Secret American Livingroom'' (1998, self-released) *''TV Highway to the Stars'' (2001, Keiki Records) *''Action/Adventure'' (2004, Turn Records) *''The Future Is Far Away'' (not released) ;Other releases * Model Mortal / Domesticated 7" (2000, self-released) ;Compilations * Noise Pop '99 - Souvenir Seven Inches (1999, 1 song) *

Live 105 Kits may refer to: * Kitsilano, a neighbourhood of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada *Kits, an American taffy candy made by Gilliam Candy Company *KITS, a San Francisco, California radio station *Kottayam Institute of Technology & Sci ...

Local Lounge Vol.21 (1999, 1 song) * Cool Beans No. 11 (1999, 1 song) * Bored, Lonely and a Little Pissed Off (1999, 1 song) * Ten Years of Noisepop (2002, 1 song)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dealership Musical quartets from California Musical groups established in 1995 Indie pop groups from California Indie rock musical groups from California Musical groups from Berkeley, California