MewithoutYou

MewithoutYou
mewithoutYou 2005
Background information
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Genres	Indie rock,post-hardcore,art rock,spoken word
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Tooth & Nail, independent, Run For Cover, Big Scary Monsters
Associated acts	The Operation, Norma Jean
Website	mewithoutyou.com
Members	Aaron Weiss Michael Weiss Richard Mazzotta Brandon Beaver
Past members	Greg Jehanian Daniel Pishock Ray Taddeo Christopher Kleinberg

MewithoutYou, stylized as mewithoutYou, is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band consists of vocalist Aaron Weiss, guitarists Michael Weiss and Brandon Beaver, bassist Greg Jehanian and drummer Rickie Mazzotta. The band's music is generally dominated by spoken-word vocals and free-ranging drums, bass, and guitar.

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, [A→B] 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.