In Remembrance: Pedro The Lion
Not the loudest roar in the jungle, but a memorable one.
I don’t plan this – honest to god,
I’m actually running out of ideas, but this week we have yet another
one man band – Pedro The Lion. After 10 years and four albums,
David Bazen, the visionary behind the project decided to call it quits.
But not before solidifying himself a position in the indie hall of fame
and performing with countless amazing musicians.
Bazan began recording as Pedro The
Lion in late 1995 and by spring of 1997 had released his first record,
the Whole EP on Christian record label, Tooth & Nail.
The EP’s lo-fi sound and powerful lyrics brought it limited praise
and foreshadowed the band’s undeniable potential. During these
early years everything was pretty low key, Bazan recording the songs
himself and working primarily alone as far as writing and recording.
In 1998, It’s Hard to Find a Friend,
the first LP by Pedro The Lion was released. Released this time
on Made in Mexico Records, It’s Hard to Find a Friend fared
well among critics and started to gain the band some well-deserved publicity.
Working alone, with the exception of Jonathon Ford of Unwed Sailor,
who contributed bass to the record, Bazan was still recording all the
instruments and writing himself. The record was later re-mastered
and re-issued on his longtime record label, Jade Tree Records.
A year later, Pedro The Lion released a short second EP named The Only Reason I Feel Secure. The EP secured average reviews and was later re-issued by Jade Tree. Soon thereafter, Pedro The Lion signed with Jade Tree Records and released their second LP, Winners Never Quit, in 2000. Bazar recorded all of the album’s instrumentation this time, but while touring to support the album enlisted the help of Trey Many and Josh Golden. The album also featured a bonus track that starred Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie.
Just three months after the less than
spectacular release of Winners Never Quit, Pedro The Lion released
yet another EP. Progress was released on Suicide Squeeze.
Of the EP’s four new songs, two were live radio sessions.
In 2002, Pedro The Lion Released their third LP, Control. Unlike earlier releases, Casey Foubert of Crystal Skulls, recorded about half of the albums instrumentation. Foubert also contributed some of his songwriting abilities to the album, co-writing several of the albums songs; something that Bazan had never allowed contributors or touring members to do in the past. The album scored positively among critics and after the release Pedro The Lion went on tour to support it. During this tour, T.W. Walsh would be a touring musician with the band. He and Bazan would soon become good friends and Walsh would become an un-official full-time member of Pedro from then on.
Pedro The Lion released their fourth
and final album in spring of 2004. Achilles Heel received
mixed reviews. This may have been due, in part, to the change
in the group’s lineup. Previously, Bazan had nearly all of the
creative control and done most of the recording, but with this album
there was much more input from the other musicians involved, especially
T.W. Walsh. Less than two months after the albums release, the
group decided to self-release a short tour EP that they would sell exclusively
on tour, however it was later made available in some stores and was
also made available as a digital download courtesy of Jade Tree.
Later that year the group also released a final EP titled, Stations.
In 2005, with the help of T.W. Walsh
and several other musicians Bazan had played with over the years, Headphones
was formed. With the intention to use this band as a new creative
outlet for his newfound interest in synthesizers, Headphones released
a single self-titled album before going on hiatus later that year.
Pedro The Lion announced their breakup
in early 2006 after nearly two years without any new releases.
Following the breakup, Bazan started to work on solo material, eventually
releasing an EP and a highly successful album in 2009. He is currently
playing a small acoustic tour throughout the Midwest.
Posted by Andrew Scott on Dec 02, 2009 @ 1:00 pm