His Name Is Alive
| His Name Is Alive | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Livonia, Michigan, United States |
| Genres | Experimental rock, dream pop |
| Labels | Silver Mountain Media, 4AD, Ryko, Sony, High Two, Kill Rock Stars, Warner Bros. Records |
| Website | www.hisnameisalive.com |
| Members |
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His Name Is Alive is an American experimental rock band/project from Livonia, Michigan, United States. After several self-released cassettes, they debuted on 4AD Records in 1990, starting a long run at the label. Throughout the band's long history, leader Warren Defever has been the only constant member, with a variety of musicians and singers contributing over the years.
Defever began recording in his basement in 1985, while still in high school. His initial work consisted primarily of Defever alone recording the music to a 4-track recorder, with friend Angie Carozzo providing vocals. After Defever went off to college and met Karin Oliver, she became the band's primary vocalist.
The group's work resulted in a self-released cassette. Defever sent the tape to 4AD in hopes of being signed to the label. Despite label president Ivo Watts-Russell's rejection of the band, Defever continued to send him tapes, with improved versions of the songs appearing on each new tape. Ivo signed the band in 1989, believing that (along with his This Mortal Coil partner John Fryer) he could re-mix the songs into a proper album 4AD could release. Livonia appeared in the summer of 1990, and became one of the label's biggest sellers of the year. "He took it apart, and he didn't put it back together," Defever would later comment on Ivo's production style.
A second album of songs similarly recorded in Defever's home studio (which he later dubbed Time Stereo) and remixed in England by Ivo and Fryer, Home Is In Your Head, appeared in 1991. Over most of the rest of the 1990s, Defever improved Time Stereo to record more professionally, and the band became a favorite of 4AD's devoted fanbase.
In 1993, HNIA released Mouth by Mouth, their third full length for 4AD, and embarked on their first full North American tour with Defever on guitar, Karin Oliver on vocals, and Trey Many on drums. This album and tour showed a different side of HNIA to their fans, marking the first time Defever had full control of the mixing and assembly of a HNIA release. Mouth by Mouth was a more ambitious noisy pop record that lacked some of the earlier sparse gothic sounds people came to expect from the first two releases. Defever's wide musical taste became more apparent as Mouth by Mouth showcased his love for obscure '60s pop, reggae, Japanese noise and free jazz.
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