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Subtle (band)

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Subtle (band)

Subtle was an alternative hip hop sextet from Oakland, California. It consisted of Adam Drucker (Doseone), Jeffrey Logan (Jel), Dax Pierson, Jordan Dalrymple, Alexander Kort, and Marty Dowers. The band was formed in 2001. While considered by the artists to be "genreless", Subtle had close ties to the hip hop and indie music scene. Although both Doseone and Jel are members of Anticon collective, Subtle was not on the Anticon label roster. Subtle was signed to Lex Records.

The six member band consisted of:

Subtle began in 2001 when Dax Pierson, an employee at the Amoeba Music record store in Berkeley, CA., met Adam Drucker at the record store. Drucker is a founding member of the Anticon collective/record label. They decided to try to make some music together. The first time they got together, Pierson also invited Alexander Kort to the session, whom Pierson had collaborated on performing, composing and improvising a score for some classic silent films (Marty Dowers was also a part of these collaborations). Later that year, Pierson was invited to an open mic show and invited other musicians to form a one-time group for a predominately improvised twenty-minute performance. Members of that performance's group were, woodwind/synth player Marty Dowers, drummer/guitarist Jordan Dalrymple, and cellist Alexander Kort—all of whom Pierson had previously played with. Dowers and Darlrymple were also fellow employees at Amoeba Music. Everyone enjoyed playing together so much, they decided to continue on as a group and added sixth member mpc/drum machinist Jeff Logan, another founding member of Anticon and along with partner in crime, Adam Drucker, member of the duo, Themselves.

Over the course of 2002 and 2003 Subtle released their four 'season' EPs (Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring). A selection of tracks from these recordings (stated by the band to be the best songs of the EPs) were eventually collated on the compilation album Earthsick. Both of these projects were composed mostly of homemade recordings and were all released on Doseone's own label, A Purple 100.

'Winter' consisted solely of one 37-minute track which was entirely improvised, at midnight on winter solstice. Similar to this, Earthsick included four untitled, previously unreleased tracks, all of which were completely improvised with no overdubs. Chronologically, the improvised Earthsick recordings took place the year following the recording of the music that makes up 'Winter'.

In 2003 the band signed to Lex Records and, in 2004, released their first proper full-length, A New White. This album spawned the single "F.K.O.", which stands for "Fuck Kelly Osbourne". Introduced on the record, and a recurring character in much of Subtle's work, is 'Hour Hero Yes', an aspiring middle-class poet and rapper. He is mentioned throughout the two Subtle LPs and both remix compilations, as well as in the 13 & God song "Ghostwork". Album and video artwork, as well as art on Subtle's official website, suggest Hour Hero Yes to be a bald man with a black and white striped face—an image which is embodied by a bust that serves as a centerpiece prop during live Subtle shows. Their live shows are particularly noted for their theatricality, incorporating hand-painted backdrops, set props, "costumes", and theatrical monologues that go alongside the musical performances.

In 2006 the band released Wishingbone, a sister album to A New White containing remixes of tracks from that album as well as new material and remixes by Subtle themselves. Three music videos were released on the DVD included with the album, all of which were produced by animation company SSSR. SSSR also created the video for 'The Mercury Craze'.

While on tour to promote A New White in 2005, the band's van went off the road after hitting a patch of black ice on a highway in Iowa. The driver, live sound engineer Patrick Scott and five members of the band sustained minor injuries, while a member, Dax Pierson, was seriously injured. Dax's upper spine was severely damaged in the accident, leaving him a quadriplegic. Dax continues to contribute to the band, but as of now, does not tour.

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