Kevin Ridel is an American musician and songwriter most notable for being the lead singer and primary songwriter of '90s

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, an ...

band

Ridel High Ridel High are a mid 1990s American power pop band formed in Los Angeles by lead singer and songwriter Kevin Ridel. Kevin Ridel was the lead singer for Avant Garde which featured Rivers Cuomo of Weezer. Ridel High was named in tribute to both si ...

(

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

) and 2000s alternative rock band

AM Radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transmis ...

(

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

Early life and influences

At age 14, Ridel was playing in bands in Connecticut. In 1989 he moved from Connecticut to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a rock singer and songwriter.

Career

Bands

Ridel's first band was the '80s hair metal band Avant Garde, formed with

Rivers Cuomo Rivers Cuomo ( ; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter of the rock band Weezer. Cuomo was raised in a number of Buddhist communities in the Northeast U.S. until the age of 10, wh ...

(who would later form the band

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing ...

). Ridel was the lead singer. Avant Garde, later renamed Zoom, were active from 1985 to 1989. After Avant Garde ended Ridel moved to Los Angeles where he started the band Lunchbox. Ridel has made music with the Los Angeles bands

(

), Peel ( Beyond Music) and

(

Ridel High

In 1995 Ridel formed the band Ridel High, which released a 2 track vinyl single on Morpheus Records in 1995. The band then released the album ''Hi Scores'', and then ''Emotional Rollercoaster'' (1997) both with

Joey Cape Randal Joseph Cape (born November 16, 1966) is an American singer and musician. Active since 1989, Cape is best known as the frontman of the California punk rock band Lagwagon. Cape released his first solo album, ''Bridge'', in 2008. His secon ...

's label My Records. During this time the band played shows around LA with such bands as

That Dog That Dog (styled as that dog.) is a Los Angeles-based rock band that formed in 1992 and dissolved in 1997, reuniting in 2011. The band originally consisted of Anna Waronker on lead vocals and guitar, Rachel Haden on bass guitar and vocals, her s ...

Size 14 Size 14 was an American rock band in the late 1990s based out of Hollywood that gained some notoriety with the novelty song "Claire Danes Poster". This song appeared on the '' Dude, Where's My Car? soundtrack''; other Size 14 songs appeared on mov ...

Summercamp Summercamp is an alternative rock quartet from Santa Barbara, California, United States, where, in 1987, vocalist/guitarists Tim Cullen and Sean McCue met in high school. Another fellow student, bass guitarist Misha Feldmann, joined soon after; a ...

. ''Emotional Rollercoaster'' rereleased by

in 1998, where it was not successful. In 1999 the band split up, releasing the album ''Recycle Bin'' containing song that had been recorded for their 3rd album. After the split of Ridel High, Ridel went on to form Peel with Ridel High guitarist Steve LeRoy. Leroy was later replaced as guitarist by Matt Fuller. Ridel reformed

with Fuller in 2013. The band performed live in 2013 and 2014 on the Boozacarooza Cruise with

Nerf Herder Nerf Herder is an American rock band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 1994 by Parry Gripp (vocals, guitar), Charlie Dennis (bass) and Steve Sherlock (drums). They describe themselves as a " geek rock" band, and are known for simplisti ...

AM Radio

In 2001 Ridel formed AM Radio. Cuomo was AM Radio's manager, and the band toured the United States and Japan with Cuomo's band Weezer. In 2001 after signing to

Elektra records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

AM Radio released the album Radioactive. The band had recorded tracks for a 3rd album for Elektra which was not released. These tracks would appear on the 2005 album "Reactive". Ridel's band AM Radio have toured the US, Canada and Japan, supporting the bands Weezer,

Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major-label reco ...

Eve 6 Eve 6 is an American rock band formed in 1995 in Southern California, best known for their hit singles "Inside Out," "Leech," " Here's to the Night," and "Promise." They disbanded in 2004, returned for numerous tours in 2007 with a new lineup ...

, Rooney,

Ben Kweller Benjamin Lev Kweller (born June 16, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. A former member of Radish, Kweller has released six solo albums and appeared on several collaborations. Early life Ben Kweller was born in Sa ...

and

The Psychedelic Furs The Psychedelic Furs are a post-punk band founded in London in February 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from the British post-punk scen ...

. Their song "I Just Wanna Be Loved" was featured on the ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar/G ...

'' soundtrack – Talon Mix, and also placed on an episode. Another song "Taken for a Ride" was featured on

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

Madden NFL 2004 ''Madden NFL 2004'' is the 15th installment of the ''Madden NFL'' series of American football video games. Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is on the cover. Gameplay New features in ''Madden 2004'' include a new owner mode option ...

'', placed on an episode of '' One Tree Hill'', and used on a television trailer for FOX feature film '' The Girl Next Door''. The song "Pretty Stupid", was featured on the DVD for ''

Wonderfalls ''Wonderfalls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Todd Holland and Bryan Fuller that was broadcast on the Fox television network in 2004. The show centers on Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), a recent Brown University gra ...

''. AM Radio's album ''Reactive'' was released on Fiveman Army (FAEC Inc.). The band was signed with

Sony Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...

, and released the album ''Shine'' in 2013.

Solo

Ridel sang on two songs on the video game ''

Elite Beat Agents ''Elite Beat Agents'' is a rhythm video game developed by iNiS and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It was released in North America, Europe and South Korea. As the second of three rhythm games developed by iNiS specifically for the DS, ...

'', and covered

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

' song "You Really Got Me" for a national Japanese television ad for Soft Bank.

Bands

* Peel * Avant Garde

Albums

External links

Official Site

Official Myspace

SONIC Management
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridel, Kevin American alternative rock musicians Living people 1969 births Ridel High members