Dead Sara, London

Dead Sara biography

Dead Sara is an American alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2002, the band currently consists of Emily Armstrong, Siouxsie Medley and Sean Friday. Best known for their single "Weatherman" from their debut eponymous album Dead Sara; they released their second album, Pleasure to Meet You, in 2015. They signed with Atlantic Records in 2017, and released an EP, Temporary Things Taking Up Space in 2018. Armstrong and Medley met through a mutual friend in 2002, at ages 16 and 15 respectively. The pair began writing songs together in 2003, and in 2004 completed their first studio recording with the song "Changes". Their first live performance as a band was in March 2005 at The Mint nightclub in Los Angeles, with Armstrong playing bass. Having briefly gone by the name Epiphany, in mid-2005 they changed their name to Dead Sara as a reference to the Fleetwood Mac song "Sara" and its lyric "...said Sara", which the band misheard as "dead Sara". Both Armstrong and Medley have publicly cited Stevie Nicks, the singer and writer of the song "Sara", as a primary influence. Around this time Medley began styling her first name as "Siouxsie", as a nod to the Sioux Indians tribe and the Native American heritage of one of her great-grandparents (rather than a reference to the musical artist Siouxsie Sioux). In 2007, Dead Sara began their first tour as the opening act for Endless Hallway. They released the six-song EP The Airport Sessions on Viscount Records in 2008. After numerous changes to the drummer and bass player positions, the band’s line-up finally coalesced in 2009 with Sean Friday on drums and Chris Null on bass, both of whom previously played with Sonny Moore (currently known as Skrillex). In 2009 Armstrong was commissioned by Hole frontwoman Courtney Love to sing backing vocals on Love's 2010 album Nobody's Daughter. In 2011, when singer Grace Slick was asked by The Wall Street Journal which contemporary female singers she admires, Slick named Armstrong. In 2010, the band started their own label, Pocket Kid Records, set up as a subsidiary of Interact-TV, Inc. and owned by Armstrong and Medley. In April 2012, the band released their debut eponymous album through the label, Pocket Kid Records, produced by Noah Shain. The album peaked at No. 16 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart. Soon after, "Weatherman" was used by Fiat in their "Fiat 500 Abarth Burning Up the Desert" advertisement. Dead Sara received the "Best New Rock Group" award at the third annual Vegas Rocks! Magazine Music Awards 2012 on August 26, 2012. They were also nominated for a Radio Contraband Rock Radio Award as Indie Artist of the Year in 2012, and were voted the 98.7 FM 2012 Close to Home Artist of the Year, defeating No Doubt in the final round. "Weatherman" topped the Loudwire "10 Best Rock Songs of 2012" list, beating several major bands including Three Days Grace, Stone Sour, and Deftones. Both Armstrong and Medley were nominated as top ten finalists in the Loudwire 2012 top vocalist and top guitarist awards respectively. Additionally, Armstrong was nominated for the Loudwire 2012 Rock Goddess of the Year award. The band went into the studio at the beginning of 2014 to work on their second album, once again with producer Noah Shain. The record did not see the light of day until the following year due to alleged issues with Epic Records. The band and the label parted ways sometime in 2014. In December 2014, Dead Sara announced that they would be releasing their second album Pleasure to Meet You in March 2015, on their own Pocket Kid Records label. The band also announced they would be using PledgeMusic for those who wanted to pre-order the album. One track, "Suicidal", was given as a free download to all those who pre-ordered the album or bought any of the various memorabilia and other merchandise from the PledgeMusic campaign. The album's release was followed by a short headlining tour. Bassist Chris Null then left the band. In 2015, Dead Sara's cover of Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box," recorded for Infamous Second Son, won the award for "Best Song, Original or Adapted" at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR) annual awards program. In another trailer for Infamous: Second Son, their own song "Weatherman" was also used. Dead Sara signed with Atlantic Records in 2017, and announced plans for a new EP. The six-song EP Temporary Things Taking Up Space was released on June 8, 2018. http://www.deadsara.com

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