MewithoutYou - History

History

The band was originally conceived as a side project. The Weiss brothers and former guitarist Christopher Kleinberg were playing together in another band called The Operation with current bassist Greg Jehanian (who released one album and one EP, 2001's There Is Hope for a Tree Cut Down & 1999's Invisible Man EP, on Takehold Records), but Aaron wanted to start another band to experiment with new sounds. With the help of Ricky Mazzotta, Ray Taddeo, and his brother Mike, Aaron formed what is now formally known as mewithoutYou. At first the band was a four piece, with Aaron Weiss on both bass and vocals. However, in only a few months Chris Kleinberg joined to play third guitar. The band released their first EP (I Never Said That I Was Brave) in 2001 and shortly thereafter signed to Tooth & Nail Records after a show at Cornerstone Festival the same year. Around this time Taddeo had moved on, and Daniel Pishock was recruited to be the first official and permanent bass player of the band. The Operation disbanded soon afterward, and mewithoutYou's debut full-length album, Life, was released in 2002. The band garnered more attention for their second release, 2004's Catch for Us the Foxes, which was produced by Brad Wood (Smashing Pumpkins, Sunny Day Real Estate). In December 2004 Pishock had made the decision to retire as the bassist to pursue a career in teaching and explore other musical ventures, and former Operation frontman, Greg Jehanian, was selected to replace him. In 2005, mewithoutYou won mtvU's "Left Field" award for most original artist for their song "January 1979." Their third album, Brother, Sister, again produced by Wood, was released on September 26, 2006. In late 2007, guitarist Christopher Kleinberg left the band, to pursue a degree in medicine. Pete Syoum filled in for guitar in the fall of 2007, but later Kleinberg returned to play with the band on their 2008 Summer tour since school was not in session. Kleinberg also played some shows on their, It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright, tour in June 2009.

Aaron Weiss provides narration for the Forgive Durden album entitled, "Razia's Shadow: A Musical" which was released October 28, 2008. He also provides vocals for Norma Jean's "Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste" and Indie/Hip Hop project Bella Futuro's "70 X 7".

As of September 2008 the band has finished recording the follow-up to Brother, Sister titled, It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright. The title of the album is taken from parable 518 in the book 'The Golden Words of a Sufi Sheikh" by Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. In this he writes, "It's all false, It's all a dream, It's all crazy, It's all over, It's all right, Let's see what's next". The latest album is a departure from Weiss' trademark shouting and the band's raucous grooves. The mile-a-minute rants, thick with lyrical angst, are traded for simpler melodies with lyrics about anthropomorphic food and animals. Similarly, the band has scaled back their edgier post-hardcore sound, at times trading riffs for chords and guitars for pianos and harp. Even a classical composer was called into their Fishtown, Philadelphia studio for various arrangements on several tracks. The album was produced by Dan Smith (Danielson, Sufjan Stevens) and Brian McTear and was mixed by Brad Wood.

They tour in a 42-foot 1976 MC8 Charter bus that runs on vegetable oil. Before July 2009 the side of the bus read "Altus Bulldogs." The bus has since been painted in a light beige and marked with paintings of flowers and vines by artist Salihah Moore.

In a June 2011 interview with Kick/Snare/Hat, drummer Rickie Mazzotta stated that mewithoutYou were writing for their fifth studio album. The band booked studio time at the end of July and through August. They also added Brandon Beaver of Buried Beds to play second guitar, as stated on their blog by Rickie Mazzotta.

On August 10, 2011, Chris Kleinberg and wife Nikki had a baby girl, Jubilee Kleinberg. Because of this, the August 13 show in Philadelphia, PA was one of the first local shows where Kleinberg did not join the band on stage since his departure in 2007.

Later in August, Mazzotta stated in an interview that the band has parted ways with Tooth & Nail Records due to perceived restrictions placed on them by the label. They hinted at starting their own label as they prepared to release their fifth album. Other band members, however, expressed satisfaction with and gratitude and affection toward their old label, citing different reasons for ceasing to work with them: namely, having completed their contract, the declining relevance of record labels in the current music world, and simply the excitement to try something new.

In February 2011, Alternative Press announced that the band's fifth album is due spring 2012, and will be produced by Daniel Smith. Thirteen songs were recorded in the studio sessions with eleven planned for the album plus one or two b-sides. On March 1, 2012 the band announced that their new album, titled Ten Stories, was released on May 15, 2012. One fan has reported that through conversation with Greg Jehanian and Mike Weiss, it was revealed that Hayley Williams of Paramore provides guest vocals on one new track, rumored to be "Fox's Dream of the Log Flume." The album art, created by Vasily Kafanov, is to be revealed as a series of puzzle pieces through the band's Facebook page.

On May 8, 2012 the band announced on their blog that a pre-release of Ten Stories could be streamed in its entirety on Spotify.