Sean Nelson

Sean Nelson
Sean Nelson at the 2015 EMP Pop Conference
Background information
Birth name	Sean Nelson
Born	(1973-06-12) June 12, 1973 (age 43) Washington, United States
Origin	Seattle, Washington, United States
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer, filmmaker, journalist, music critic
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards
Years active	1993–present
Associated acts	Harvey Danger, The Long Winters

Sean Nelson (born June 12, 1973) is an American musician, journalist, music critic and filmmaker. He is best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock group Harvey Danger and is currently the arts editor for The Stranger.

Nelson is a graduate of Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA and was a classmate of Paul DePodesta.

Nelson formed Harvey Danger in 1993 and played with the band through to its farewell show in 2009. In addition to being the band's lead singer, he was also its songwriter and keyboardist. The band's debut album Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? was released in 1997 and was certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 copies. The album contained the hit single "Flagpole Sitta", which was later used as the theme song for the British sitcom Peep Show.

In 2001, Nelson formed a second band, The Long Winters, with John Roderick. He left the band in 2004, and Roderick has continued the group as a largely solo effort.

Nelson has also recorded and performed with Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists, Robyn Hitchcock, Nada Surf, The Minus 5, and others. In 2006, he recorded Nelson Sings Nilsson, an album of songs by the late American composer Harry Nilsson, accompanied by a 25-piece-orchestra. Nelson was also a member of the short-lived side project The Vernacular, along with Chris Walla and Nathan Good of Death Cab For Cutie.

On June 4, 2013, Nelson released his first official batch of recordings to bear his name, Make Good Choices, which includes contributions from Chris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie), Peter Buck (R.E.M./Minus 5), Matt Pence & Scott Danbom (Centro-Matic), Howard Draper (Shearwater), Dave Depper (Loch Lomond, Fruit Bats), Rachel Blumberg (The Decemberists/M. Ward), Adam Selzer (Norfolk & Western), Steve Fisk (player: Pell Mell, Pigeonhed; producer: Nirvana, Beat Happening, Unwound), and others. Sessions arose over the course of several years between Nelson and his collaborators' other projects.