Stephen Immerwahr is an American bass guitarist and vocalist best known as a founding member of the

slowcore Slowcore is a subgenre of alternative rock and indie rock. The music of slowcore artists is generally characterized by bleak lyrics, downbeat melodies, slower tempos and minimalist arrangements. Slowcore is often used interchangeably with the ...

group Codeine.

Biography

Stephen Immerwahr began his foray into music in 1988, originally serving as an assistant engineer to bands such as

Soul Asylum Soul Asylum is an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their 1993 hit "Runaway Train" won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The band was originally called Loud Fast Rules, with a lineup consisting of Dav ...

and

Living Colour Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band currently consists of guitarist Vernon Reid, lead vocalist Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish (who replaced Muzz Skillings in 1992). S ...

. In 1989, Immerwahr formed Codeine with drummer

Chris Brokaw Chris Brokaw (born August 1, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his work with the bands Come and Codeine. Life and career While studying at Oberlin College, Brokaw met many people who became figures on the American indie rock scene ...

and guitarist John Engle.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 679-680 Codeine pioneered the

and

sadcore Sadcore is a subgenre occasionally identified by music journalists to describe examples of alternative rock characterised by bleak lyrics, downbeat melodies and slower tempos, or alternatively, songs with deceivingly upbeat melodies that are simu ...

subgenres of indie rock,Mason, Stewart
Codeine Biography
,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, Retrieved 26 June 2011 Retrieved April 15, 2016 but with a more experimental attitude than other bands in the genre, such as Low,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

and Red House Painters. Codeine released their first album ''

Frigid Stars LP ''Frigid Stars LP'' is the debut album by American indie rock band Codeine. It was released in August 1990 on Glitterhouse in Europe and in Spring 1991 on Sub Pop in the US. The album was released to generally positive reviews and is regarded ...

'' on the German label

Glitterhouse Glitterhouse Records is a German independent record label and mail order company based in Beverungen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded in the mid-1980s. From the late 1980s until the mid-1990s it was the European branch of the American la ...

in August 1990. Codeine's final release was the full-length album ''

The White Birch ''The White Birch'' is the second and final album by the New York City band Codeine. Released in April 1994, the album is considered by many to be the band's best album and a clear influence on Low, among other bands. Background On their debut ...

'', released in May 1994. Following his work in Codeine, would later exit a career in music to become a research scientist. In February 2012, Codeine announced they would perform on the request of

Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mog ...

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the song came from Reed's observation of Andy Warh ...

sister event,

I'll Be Your Mirror "I'll Be Your Mirror" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico. It appeared on their 1967 debut album ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. It also surfaced as a single a year earlier with "All Tomorrow's Parties" in 1966. Lou Reed wrote the so ...

, on 26 May 2012 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

at Alexandra Palace, along with other shows, to commemorate a comprehensive reissue of their recordings by

The Numero Group The Numero Group is an archival record label that creates compilations of previously released music, reissues original albums, and creates album reconstructions from a variety of musical genres. The label, known as Numero, was founded in 2003 b ...

in June 2012. Codeine's final reunion show was at Le Poisson Rouge in New York on 15 July 2012.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Immerwahr, Stephen Living people American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American rock singers Codeine (band) members Slowcore musicians Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from New York City Year of birth missing (living people)