Meg & Dia

Meg and Dia
Dia (left) and Meg (right) on Nov. 5, 2007.
Background information
Origin	Draper, Utah, United States
Genre(s)	Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Acoustic
Years active	2004–present
Label(s)	Doghouse Warner Bros. Records
Associated acts	The Yellow Butterfly Project
Website	Official website
Members
Dia Frampton Meg Frampton Nicholas Price Carlo Gimenez Jonathan Snyder

Meg & Dia is an American Indie Rock band formed in 2004. It was founded by sisters Meg and Dia Frampton, and is now a five-piece act with additional members Nicholas Price, Jonathan Snyder and Carlo Gimenez. Meg & Dia (also then known as The Meg & Dia Band) released its first album, Our Home Is Gone, in 2005. At the time, the band consisted of just the two Frampton sisters, and the album's tracks were mostly acoustic songs. Meg played guitar and provided back-up vocals while Dia sang. A year later, they released their second album, Something Real, which was their first album released under Doghouse Records. Meg & Dia are generally considered an Indie rock band, while many of their songs are classified as Indie pop or acoustic.

History

The Frampton sisters

Meg and Dia were raised in Draper, Utah, and are the founding members of the band. When they were children, Meg received a karaoke machine and Dia received a guitar as Christmas gifts. They later realized that Dia was the more natural singer and Meg the guitar player. Dia began singing at local county fairs and retirement centers while Meg taught herself to play songs that were on the radio.^[1] Their father was a DJ in Korea,^[2] and the girls often listened to his extensive record collection.^[3]

The Meg & Dia Band

While attending the University of Utah, Meg became active in the music scene, and wrote and sang songs. She was involved with several local punk rock bands. She called Dia (who was in Las Vegas) and suggested that the two play together. Dia subsequently came down to Salt Lake City to properly form the two-person Meg & Dia Band.^[4]

Our Home Is Gone

Meg & Dia self-released their debut album, Our Home Is Gone, in 2005. Only 1,000 copies were ever produced. The album featured a mostly acoustic style of music, as it was only Meg and Dia in the band. They toured extensively in support of it, sharing stages with such national acts as Limbeck, The Format, Melee, An Angle, Koufax, and Steel Train. After a few acoustic shows playing the songs from their debut album, they decided they needed a bigger sound. They recruited drummer Nicholas Price, and later guitarist Kenji Chan in 2005. Nick was Meg's car mechanic after she was involved in a minor car accident.^[3] After Nick joined, Meg and Dia found bassist Aaron McMurray.

Something Real

After Aaron McMurray left the band, Meg & Dia recruited bassist Jonathan Snyder through MySpace. Jonathan was acquainted with employees at Doghouse Records, and in the fall of 2005, the band was signed to the label. In January 2006 recorded a second album, Something Real, with producer Stacy Jones of American Hi-Fi. As a teaser for the album, Meg & Dia released an EP titled What Is It? A Fender Bender, on both iTunes and the Tower Records website in July of 2006. What Is It? A Fender Bender featured Monster and Indiana, and would also be part of their upcoming album. That album was soon-after released on August 08, 2006. Something Real is made up both new works and revamped versions of acoustic songs from Our Home is Gone. The songs Indiana, Masterpiece, and Nineteen Stars were rerecorded with a full band, while parts of Timmy were incorporated into the song Roses. In September 2006, it was announced on the Meg & Dia MySpace page that guitarist Kenji Chan was leaving the band to focus on his solo career. His departure was on amicable terms. The band found a replacement in Canadian guitarist Carlo Gimenez via YouTube,^[5][6] and the band was once again a five-piece act.

Promotion through MySpace

The band gained popularity through self-promotion via MySpace; they were selected as the official MySpace band on the Warped Tour 2006. Being selected as the official MySpace band came about in a peculiar way; technical staff were supposed to shut down Meg & Dia's official MySpace due to a virus script posted by a fan. However, the technical difficulties resulted in the band gaining the attention of Tom Anderson, co-founder of MySpace, who then entered them into a contest to become the official MySpace band at Warped Tour; Meg & Dia won.^[7] Meg & Dia played at Warped Tour 2006 in the MySpace tent, which had a dirt floor in lieu of a stage.^[8] Meg & Dia returned the following year, playing the Hurley.com stage in the 2007 Warped Tour.^[9] The band continued touring and played alongside Anberlin, Jonezetta, and Bayside on a national tour in early 2007, and with Say Anything and Saves The Day in Spring 2007.

2007 and the present

On February 19, 2007 it was confirmed that Meg & Dia have signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records. The song Roses was featured on the soundtrack for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In September, Meg and Dia provided back-up vocals for The Rocket Summer for their "Yahoo! Who's Next?" debut. They also confirmed they start recording their next album in April or May of 2008.^[10] The video for "Monster" was nominated for the MTVU Viral Woodie Award in 2007. It advanced past the first round, but lost in the final round to We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands by The Academy Is....^[11] Meg & Dia is currently on tour with The Spill Canvas, PlayRadioPlay!, and Treaty of Paris. The band has announced a 2008 tour with Angels & Airwaves.^[12] On their MySpace blog, the band announced that this will likely be their last tour until they finish the new album for 2008. Meg & Dia are also involved in To Write Love on Her Arms and peta2. The band appeared in an anti-fur ad^[13] and also sponsored a fashion contest on the peta2 website.^[14] Their song, “The Mighty R-E-A-L” is the official anthem for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer. ^[15]

Members

Dia Frampton

Dia Frampton (born October 2, 1987) is the lead singer of the band. She attended Shadow Ridge High School in Las Vegas, Nevada; she graduated in 2005 then moved to Salt Lake City with her sister to further their music career. She cites as influences Rufus Wainwright, Steel Train, Joni Mitchell, The Mars Volta, Rocky Votolato, Ben Folds, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, The Cranberries, and Cursive.^[16] During live performances, Dia plays percussion instruments, such as the cowbell and tambourine. She is also known for appearing on stage barefoot.

Meg Frampton

Jonathan playing with Meg

Meg Frampton (born April 3, 1985) plays rhythm guitar and does back-up vocals for the band. She attended Dixie High School in St. George, Utah and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. She enjoys reading 18th century British literature. She lists East of Eden, Atlas Shrugged, Forever Amber, Frannie and Zooey, The Great Gatsby, Indiana, Lolita, Nine Stories, Pride and Prejudice and works by Ernest Hemingway as some of her favorites, and gets lots of inspiration from the books she reads. She also writes most of the songs in the albums, and finds comfort in her novels.^[17] On stage, she usually plays a blonde Fender Telecaster, though she has also played a black Gibson Les Paul in the past. For acoustic songs, she plays a Taylor acoustic or a Gibson Hollowbody in sunburst. Meg often performs wearing cap sleeve dresses.

Nicholas Price

Nicholas Price (born May 27, 1984) is the drummer for the band. He was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah and began playing drums at the age of 14. He was also in the 2004 University of Utah's Drumline. Drumming influences: John Bonham, Chad Smith, Jose Pasillas, Jimmy Chamberlin, Dave Grohl, Joe Morello, Stewart Copeland. Nick plays Destructive Drums.

Jonathan Snyder

Jonathan Snyder (born July 29, 1986) is the bassist of the band. He was born and raised in Bergen County, NJ. He began playing bass at age 13 in a local pop punk band Duckhunt. After some member changes and heavy life experiences, Duckhunt became Madison based in Dumont, NJ. The band toured for the better part of four years, including Hellogoodbye's first East Coast stint, until they amicably broke up in September 2006. Meg & Dia found Jonathan through Aric Phillips who worked for Doghouse Records, their label, at the time. Nick contacted him through Myspace and he became a member of the band.^[6] On stage, Jonathan plays a Fender Jazz Bass.

Carlo Gimenez

Carlo Gimenez (born September 1, 1982) is the lead guitarist for the band. He was born to Filipino parents and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He began playing guitar at the age of 9. He states influences as Paul Gilbert, Joe Satriani and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Carlo was found by the band through YouTube, by Nick browsing videos. Carlo had several videos of himself playing, which impressed Nick, who sent him messages asking him to join.^[6] On stage, Carlo plays a Gibson SG. He is a huge fan of the Back to the Future movies, often referencing them during soundchecks with the line "You guys probably weren't ready for that...but your kids are gonna love it!" after he warms up with a solo.

Personnel and former members

Personnel

• Mike Kaminsky - Management
• Mo Powers - Tour Manager
• Dave Shapiro - Booking
• Nikki Herceg - Press
• Keren Poznansky - Press^[3]

Former band members

• Ryan Groskreutz - Bass
• Kenji Chan - Guitar
• Aaron McMurray - Bass
• Andrew Grosse - Bass (Warped Tour 2006)

Influences

Meg and Dia have stated in interviews that many of their songs are influenced by literature, and that it has had a big influence on their lives.^[5][18] Many of their songs are based on books: "Monster" was based on the Cathy Ames character in East of Eden by John Steinbeck; "Indiana" was based on Indiana by George Sand; and "Rebecca" was based on Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. "Tell Mary" was also based on a book.^[17][18] "Courage Robert" was influenced by and written about Robert Schumann, a famous piano player.^[6]

Side projects

The Yellow Butterfly Project

In July of 2005, Ian Shane Tyler decided that he should hang out with Dia Frampton one last time just before she left town. Ian invited Dia over to his house and recorded a song named "Yellow Butterfly". After recording their song, Dia and Ian decided on a name for their new project, and dubbed the project "The Yellow Butterfly Project" or otherwise known as Dia & Ian. So far, this side project has produced only one song (Yellow Butterfly).^[19] Dia sometimes starts shows with a solo keyboard rendition of "Yellow Butterfly".

Discography

Albums

• Our Home Is Gone
• Something Real

EPs

• What Is It? A Fender Bender
• Warped Tour Sessions
• If You're Poor Find Something to Sue Somebody For

Music Videos

• Monster^[20]
• Roses^[21]

References

External links

• Meg & Dia Official Website
• Meg & Dia at Myspace
• Meg & Dia at PureVolume
• Meg & Dia at Last.fm
• MegandDia.org - The Unofficial Meg & Dia Site
• Doghouse Records