The Faint is an American

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. Formed in

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 ...

, the band consists of

Todd Fink Todd Fink (born Todd Baechle – pronounced "BECK-lee" – on March 3, 1974, in Omaha, Nebraska) is the lead singer of the band The Faint. He attended Omaha's Westside High School. Career Fink was also one of four members of the band Command ...

, Graham Ulicny, Dapose and

Clark Baechle Clark Alan Baechle (born April 21, 1981) is an American founding member of the Omaha-based electronic rock band The Faint, along with his brother, Todd Fink. Although he is primarily known for playing drums, he also sings backing vocals and ...

. The Faint was originally known as Norman Bailer and included

Conor Oberst Conor Mullen Oberst (born February 15, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, the Faint (previously named Norman Bailer), Commander Venu ...

(of Bright Eyes, with whom The Faint toured in 2005). He quit shortly after the band was formed,The Faint // Profile
''The Faint'', (2005-01-27). Retrieved 2008-05-09. though the Faint continued to share a spot with Bright Eyes on

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 ...

History

Growing up, Fink, Petersen, and Baechle skateboarded in their free time, until Fink developed knee problems, which shifted their hobbies towards making music.The Faint // Youtube Interview
, ''BeatLawrence Interviews the Faint'', (2007-10-21). Retrieved 2008-05-09. The band originally consisted of

(formerly Todd Baechle), and

Joel Petersen Broken Spindles was a band solely consisting of Joel Petersen of Omaha, Nebraska, who also played bass, guitar and keyboards in The Faint. The music of Broken Spindles ranged from instrumental electronic songs to sparse piano pieces to rock-in ...

. They signed to

and released a few singles, but were unable to establish widespread sales. After adding Matt Bowen, the Faint released ''

Media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

''. At the end of 1998, Jacob Thiele joined the band, and shortly thereafter, Matt Bowen was replaced by Ethan Jones. They toured the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, playing what would become the songs that would comprise the next album, ''

Blank-Wave Arcade ''Blank-Wave Arcade'' is the second studio album by the new wave band The Faint. It was released on November 1, 1999. This album is the 28th release of Saddle Creek Records Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, ...

'', which had a more dance and techno influenced sound and was an underground hit.Lazy-i // Interview
, ''The Faint: men in black'', (2001-08-15). Retrieved 2008-05-09. Before recording the album, however, Jones left the band and was replaced on bass guitar by Joel Petersen, who played both bass and guitar on the album. Partway through the creation of ''

Danse Macabre The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ) (from the French language), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory of the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of ...

'', the Faint added Dapose, a

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

guitarist formerly of LEAD. Their next album, recorded with

Mike Mogis Michael Riley Mogis (born May 16, 1974) is an American producer/engineer and multi-instrumentalist who, along with his brother A.J. Mogis, founded Presto! Recording Studios (previously known as Dead Space Recording and, earlier, Whoopass Record ...

and released in 2004, was called ''

Wet from Birth ''Wet from Birth'' is the fourth studio album by the American band The Faint, released on September 14, 2004. The U.S. release uses HDCD encoding, but the package is not labeled as HDCD. Track listing In popular culture *The instrumental br ...

''. Conor Oberst claimed in an August 2020 interview with

Pitchfork Magazine ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

that The Faint were offered a major label record deal, but turned it down out of loyalty and commitment to

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 ...

, which at the time was still a collaborative project between members of The Faint,

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 ...

and Bright Eyes. In May 2008, the Faint announced that they had split from

, and that their fifth studio album would be self-released under their own label, blank.wav. The album, entitled ''

Fasciinatiion ''Fasciinatiion'' is the fifth studio album by the American rock band The Faint. It was released in the US on August 5, 2008. The album is their first full-length album released outside of Saddle Creek Saddle Creek Records is an American ...

'', was released on August 5, 2008 in the U.S. The first single from the album was "The Geeks Were Right", which was released on

Boys Noize Alexander Ridha (born 22 August 1982), better known by his stage name Boys Noize, is a Berlin-based German-Iraqi electronic music record producer, songwriter, and DJ. It is similar to the name of Ridha's label, Boysnoize Records, which he estab ...

Records. It was also announced that the band would tour North America with British electronic group

Ladytron Ladytron are a largely British electronic band formed in Liverpool in 1999. The group consists of Helen Marnie (lead vocals, synthesizers), Mira Aroyo (vocals, synthesizers), Daniel Hunt (synthesizers, guitar, vocals), and Reuben Wu (synthesize ...

during the spring. Since the release of ''

'', two of the band members,

and

have been quietly, with little advertising, performing under the name Depressed Buttons, playing remixes of other artists, and DJing for various small clubs and venues. The band performed an original song "Teach Me Teacher" on the children's show

Yo Gabba Gabba! ''Yo Gabba Gabba!'' is a children's musical television series created by Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz. The series is about five costumed toys come-to-life and their friend DJ Lance Rock ( Lance Robertson). It is co-produced by Magic Stor ...

in the third-season episode "School", which originally aired September 19, 2010. On October 30, 2012,

released a deluxe edition of ''

'' with the original album remastered, bonus and unreleased tracks, and a DVD of archival footage, live projections from that era's tour dates, and live footage. The band announced that it would play ''

'' in its entirety along with fan favorites during a tour of 24 cities across North America. In 2016, Graham Ulicny (of

Reptar Reptar is a fictional character from the American animated television series ''Rugrats''. It is a green '' T. rex'' (and sometimes appears in red-violet and lilac) with rounded, blue spike-like appendages on his back, which intentionally causes ...

) replaced Jacob Thiele on keyboards. Thiele died on February 13, 2020.

Band members

– vocals, keyboards, guitar (1995–present) *

– drums, percussion (1995–present) *

Dapose The Faint is an American indie rock band. Formed in Omaha, Nebraska, the band consists of Todd Fink, Graham Ulicny, Dapose and Clark Baechle. The Faint was originally known as Norman Bailer and included Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes (band), Brigh ...

(Michael Dappen) – guitar (2001–present) *Graham Ulicny – keyboards, vocals (2016–present)

Former members

– guitar, vocals (1995) * Matt Bowen – bass, keyboards (1995–1998) * Ethan Jones – bass (1998-1999) * Jacob Thiele – keyboards, vocals (1998–2016, died 2020) *

– guitar (1995–2008), bass, programming (1999-2008)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:300 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:120 top:0 right:30 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:lines value:black legend:Studio albums Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1995 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1995 LineData = at:02/06/1995 color:black layer:back at:24/10/1998 color:black layer:back at:01/11/1999 color:black layer:back at:21/08/2001 color:black layer:back at:14/09/2004 color:black layer:back at:05/08/2008 color:black layer:back at:08/04/2014 color:black layer:back at:15/03/2019 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Fink text:"Todd Fink" bar:Oberst text:"Conor Oberst" bar:Petersen text:"Joel Petersen" bar:Dapose text:"Dapose" bar:Bowen text:"Matt Bowen" bar:Jones text:"Ethan Jones" bar:Thiele text:"Jacob Thiele" bar:Ulicny text:"Graham Ulicny" bar:Baechle text:"Clark Baechle" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Fink from:01/01/1995 till:end color:vocals bar:Fink from:01/01/1995 till:01/09/1995 color:keys width:3 bar:Fink from:01/09/1995 till:end color:keys width:7 bar:Fink from:01/09/1995 till:end color:guitar width:3 bar:Baechle from:01/01/1995 till:end color:drums bar:Oberst from:01/01/1995 till:01/09/1995 color:guitar bar:Oberst from:01/01/1995 till:01/09/1995 color:vocals width:3 bar:Bowen from:01/01/1995 till:01/12/1998 color:bass bar:Bowen from:01/01/1995 till:01/12/1998 color:keys width:3 bar:Petersen from:01/01/1995 till:01/06/1999 color:guitar bar:Petersen from:01/06/1999 till:01/06/2008 color:guitar width:3 bar:Petersen from:01/06/1999 till:01/06/2008 color:bass bar:Jones from:01/12/1998 till:01/06/1999 color:bass bar:Thiele from:01/11/1998 till:01/06/2016 color:keys bar:Thiele from:01/11/1998 till:01/06/2016 color:vocals width:3 bar:Dapose from:01/04/2001 till:end color:guitar bar:Ulicny from:01/06/2016 till:end color:keys bar:Ulicny from:01/06/2016 till:end color:vocals width:3

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Remix albums

Compilation albums

EPs

Singles

Retail singles

Promotional singles

Splits

*''Music Me All Over'' (Split 7") (as Norman Bailer) (Rolling Hill Records and Lumberjack) *'' The Faint/Ex-Action Figures'' (Split 7") (1999 · Saddle Creek)

Remixes

* Radio 4 - ''Dance to the Underground'' (2002 · City Slang) *

Joy Electric Joy Electric is the brand label for a series of electropop/synthpop productions by Ronnie Martin. Martin began producing music under the Joy Electric name in 1994, after the demise of Dance House Children, a band Ronnie was in with his brother ...

- ''We Are Rock'' (2002 ·

BEC Recordings BEC (Brandon Ebel Company) Recordings is a Christian rock record label that is an imprint of Tooth & Nail Records. The label was formed in 1997 in partnership with the EMI Christian Music Group. The label promotes bands with more adult Christia ...

) *

Yeah Yeah Yeahs The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O (born Karen Lee Orzolek), guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complem ...

- '' Y Control'' (2004 ·

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

) *

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

- '' Meet Your Master'' (2007)

Compilation appearances

*''Nothing Left Fanzine No. 8 CD Sampler'' (1998) **Song: "Acting: On Campus Television" *''Messages: Modern Synthpop Artists Cover OMD'' (2001 · Ninthwave) **Song: "

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it be ...

" *''

Saddle Creek 50 ''Saddle Creek 50'' is a compilation by Saddle Creek Records in honor of being the label's 50th album release. It was released in 2003 and features one album track and one non-album track by each of the bands then recording for the label. Track l ...

'' (2002 · Saddle Creek) **Songs: "Worked Up So Sexual", "Take Me to the Hospital" *'' Liberation: Songs to Benefit PETA'' (2003 ·

Fat Wreck Chords Fat Wreck Chords (pronounced "Fat Records") is a San Francisco, California-based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by NOFX lead singer Michael Burkett (better known as Fat Mike) in 1990. The label has released mater ...

) **Song: "Agenda Suicide" *'' Lagniappe: A Saddle Creek Benefit for Hurricane Katrina'' (2005 · Saddle Creek) **Song: "Hypnotised" *'' Injustice: Gods Among Us Soundtrack'' (2013 ·

WaterTower Music WaterTower Music (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label and run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based o ...

) **Song: "This Is Is Is Is Pain"

Other projects

Vverevvolf Grehv

''Vverevvolf Grehv'' (pronounced as Werewolf Grave) is the brainchild of Dapose. The music of Vverevvolf Grehv combines the brutality of

, the tempos of

speed metal Speed metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It ...

and the sonic decimation of

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

with the complexities of electronic music genres such as

snare rush ''Snare rush'' is a term often used in electro culture to refer to impossibly fast rolls. A snare rush can vary in tempo considerably, from 16th notes even to 2048th notes. At that sort of speed, the effect is a buzzing sound, but with a detec ...

and IDM. He is influenced by

Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...

’s work, the writings of

Howard Bloom Howard Bloom (born June 25, 1943) is an American author. He was a music publicist in the 1970s and 1980s for singers and bands such as Prince, Billy Joel, and Styx.Relapse Records Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists. History The label was ...

2008

Broken Spindles

Broken Spindles Broken Spindles was a band solely consisting of Joel Petersen of Omaha, Nebraska, who also played bass, guitar and keyboards in The Faint. The music of Broken Spindles ranged from instrumental electronic songs to sparse piano pieces to rock-infl ...

'' was a band solely consisting of Joel Petersen of Omaha, Nebraska, who also played bass, guitar and keyboards in The Faint. The music of Broken Spindles ranged from instrumental electronic songs to sparse piano pieces to rock-influenced pop songs. Broken Spindles originally started in 2001 as the soundtrack for a friend's film.

References

External links

The Faint
on FreeIndie * {{DEFAULTSORT:Faint, The Conor Oberst Indie rock musical groups from Nebraska Post-punk revival music groups Musical groups from Omaha, Nebraska Remixers Astralwerks artists Saddle Creek Records artists 1995 establishments in Nebraska