Kurt Vile
| Kurt Vile | |
|---|---|
Vile performing at Roskilde Festival in 2011
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kurt Samuel Vile |
| Also known as | El Cabrito Matador |
| Born |
January 3, 1980 Lansdowne, Pennsylvania |
| Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US |
| Genres | Indie rock, indie folk, lo-fi |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, trumpet, banjo, keyboards |
| Years active | 2003-present |
| Labels | Matador, Gulcher, Mexican Summer |
| Associated acts | Kurt Vile & The Violators, The War on Drugs |
| Website | www |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Jaguar | |
Kurt Samuel Vile (born January 3, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is best known both for his solo work and as the former lead guitarist of rock band The War on Drugs. Both in the studio and during live performances, Vile is accompanied by his backing band, The Violators, which currently includes Jesse Trbovich (bass, guitar, saxophone), Rob Laakso (guitar, bass) and Kyle Spence (drums).
Influenced by Pavement, Neil Young, Tom Petty, and John Fahey, Vile began his musical career creating lo-fi home recordings with frequent collaborator Adam Granduciel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Focusing on his solo career, Vile released two albums, Constant Hitmaker (2008) and God Is Saying This to You... (2009), compiling various home recordings dating back to 2003. Vile signed to Matador Records in 2009, and released his third album, Childish Prodigy, that same year. The album was his first recorded in a studio and with the full participation of The Violators.
In 2011, Vile released his fourth studio album, Smoke Ring for My Halo, which significantly increased his exposure. His fifth studio album, Wakin on a Pretty Daze, was released in 2013, with Laakso replacing Granduciel in his backing band. In 2015, Vile released his sixth studio album, b'lieve I'm goin down....
At the age of fourteen, Kurt Vile was given a banjo by his father, with Vile noting, "I kind of wished [it] was a guitar. So I'd kind of just play it like a guitar anyway. I was really into writing pretty primitive tunes, and really into recording. I pretty much knew I was going to do music [with my life] then." Vile began writing songs on the banjo, describing his first self-penned track as: "a joke song. It was a good instrumental; I knew all these chords, but then I was quoting a cartoon as the lyrics on top of it. I had seen this cartoon about Superman and Lex Luthor; it was like the back history of why Lex Luthor hated Superman. They used to be friends, and then some giant stone of kryptonite fell and it made Lex Luthor's hair fall out, and he was like, "You made all my hair fall out!" It was a really stupid cartoon, but that was my song, 'You Made All My Hair Fall Out'."
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Wikipedia