Pedro the Lion 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 from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, United States.

David Bazan David Bazan (; born January 22, 1976) is an American indie rock singer-songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona who now resides in Seattle, Washington. Bazan is the lead singer and creative force behind the band Pedro the Lion and was the lead singer o ...

formed the band in 1995 and represented its main creative force, backed by a varying rotation of collaborating musicians. In 2006 Pedro the Lion was dissolved as Bazan went solo; Bazan reformed the band and resumed performing under the Pedro the Lion moniker in late 2017. Releasing five full-length albums and five EPs over 11 years, the band is known for its first person narrative lyrics with political and religious themes.

History

Pedro the Lion was formed by

in 1995. The name of the band comes from a character that would have been interwoven into the band's first album. In 1997 they released their debut EP ''Whole'' with Bazan playing nearly every instrument, a format he continued on the band's first two full-length albums, ''

It's Hard to Find a Friend ''It's Hard to Find a Friend'' is the debut full-length album by Pedro the Lion. It was originally released on November 3, 1998 on Made in Mexico records. A re-mastered version of the original recording was released on October 16, 2001 on Jade Tre ...

'' (1998), and '' Winners Never Quit'' (2000). ''Winners'' marked Pedro the Lion's first

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

. After its completion, Bazan has claimed he initially decided not to continue writing concept albums. However, in the process of writing his next full-length ''

Control Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controlling ...

'', he realized he had inadvertently created a narrative link "about 70% of the way through

he album He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

and decided to finish it in the same vein. The album's thematic content criticizes American

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

, which Bazan notes was largely inspired by the sentiments surrounding the World Trade Organization protests in 1999. ''Control'' also saw Casey Foubert of

-based Seldom join Pedro the Lion to play bass on the album. Additionally, he co-wrote "Penetration" and "Second Best", the third and eighth tracks, respectively, on the album, which was released in 2002. '' Achilles Heel'' followed, released on May 24, 2004, and marked the beginning of Bazan's partnership with TW Walsh as the band's primary writers and musicians. Bazan described the tracks in the fourth full-length from Pedro the Lion as a return to the songwriting characterized by ''Friend'' and the ''Secure'' EP in the sense that there was no "pretense of anything bigger", an allusion to his previous concept albums. In early January 2006, Pedro the Lion formally announced that they had split. The split was amicable; Bazan and Walsh continue to be good friends. Bazan said that their friendship has even been strengthened by the breakup. Bazan toured in support of ''

Fewer Moving Parts ''Fewer Moving Parts'' is David Bazan's debut EP, released in limited quantities on June 13, 2006. It was re-released on 22 May 2007 on Barsuk Records. The EP was considered a stopgap release to tide fans over until his full-length solo debut. ...

'', his solo debut EP. Walsh returned to his career as a Web application developer and is busy with his band,

The Soft Drugs Timothy William "TW" Walsh (born January 26, 1975 in Melrose, Massachusetts, United States) is an American songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, mixing engineer and mastering engineer. In August 2003, Walsh officially joined ...

, and their debut release, ''In Moderation''. David Bazan released his debut solo LP, ''

Curse Your Branches ''Curse Your Branches'' is the first full-length album by David Bazan, the front-man of the indie rock band Pedro the Lion. It was released on September 1, 2009, on Barsuk Records. It is rated 82/100 by critics on Metacritic, earning it the distin ...

'', on

-based

Barsuk Records Barsuk Records ( ) is an independent record label based in Seattle, Washington, that was founded by the members of the band This Busy Monster, Christopher Possanza and Josh Rosenfeld, in 1998 to release their band's material. Its logo is a draw ...

in 2009. The Pedro The Lion catalog was remastered for vinyl by TW Walsh and reissued in 2012. Bazan is a member of Overseas with Will Johnson of Centro-matic and

Bubba & Matt Kadane In American usage, "Bubba" is a term of endearment mainly given to boys. Being formed from the word "brother", it often indicates that someone is a "little brother". Etymology and history The linguist Ian Hancock has described similarities betw ...

Bedhead BedHead is a comedy web series created by Jon Dalgaard, Claire Phillips, Tom Keele, Reece A. Jones & Benjamin Mathews. Filmed in Sydney, Australia, the series allows the audience to hear the thoughts of two old friends, Paul and Sarah, who end u ...

and The New Year. Their self-titled debut album was released on June 11, 2013. Beginning in spring 2017, Bazan began forming a new band which he initially envisioned billing as "David Bazan Band" or something similar. In October 2017, Bazan announced that Pedro the Lion would be reforming beginning with several shows in December 2017. Asked if there would be new material Bazan explained that the band will initially be playing Pedro the Lion's existing catalog along with limited performances of songs from

Headphones Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding sound. Headphones let a single user listen to an au ...

and Bazan's solo catalog, with new material to follow.

Discography

Pedro the Lion at the Bumbershoot festival

Albums

*''

'' – Made In Mexico/ Jade Tree – 1998 *'' Winners Never Quit'' – Jade Tree – 2000 *''

'' – Jade Tree – 2002 *'' Achilles Heel'' – Jade Tree – 2004 *'' Phoenix –'' Polyvinyl and Big Scary Monsters – 2019 *'' Havasu –'' Polyvinyl and Big Scary Monsters – 2022

EPs

*''Whole EP'' – Tooth & Nail – 1997 *'' The Only Reason I Feel Secure'' – Made In Mexico / Jade Tree – 1999 *''Progress'' –

Suicide Squeeze Suicide Squeeze Records is a Seattle, Washington-based independent record label that releases rock, pop, and metal music. Suicide Squeeze releases content on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital. The label has also released comedy and performance a ...

– 2000 *''Tour EP '04'' – Self-released / Jade Tree – 2004 *''Stations'' – 2004

Compilations

* "The Longer I Lay Here" (live) – ''Exploitation of Sound Vol. 1'' – Hero Music – 1999 * "Breadwinner You" – ''The Unaccompanied Voice: An A Capella Compilation'' – Secretly Canadian – 2000 * "Rapture", "Backwoods Nation" – ''Location Is Everything Vol. 1'' – Jade Tree – 2002 * "I Do" (live) – ''Location Is Everything Vol. 2'' – Jade Tree – 2004 * "Discretion" – "Take Action! Volume 04" – Sub City Records – 2004 * "I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day" (new rendition) – ''Maybe This Christmas Tree'' – Nettwerk – 2004

Singles

The band released various 45 rpm singles in limited quantities:

Personnel

Soundtracks

*The band is featured in the 2004 Christian music documentary ''Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?''

References

External links

Pedro the Lion official siteJade Tree (record label)Extensive feature article and interview with Fine Print MagazineSuicideSqueeze.net
{{Authority control Suicide Squeeze Records artists Indie rock musical groups from Washington (state) Tooth & Nail Records artists Musical groups from Seattle Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups disestablished in 2006 Musical groups reestablished in 2017 Jade Tree (record label) artists Sadcore and slowcore groups Emo musical groups from Washington (state)