THE DANDY WARHOLS

The Dandy Warhols started their carrier in 1992 in Portland (their hometown), where they were considered as the base of the « arty » musical wave. At the start of it all, the group was put together with fantastic Courtney Taylor-taylor as the leader (singer and guitarist), Peter Holmström (guitarist), beautiful Zia McCabe (Moog and keyboardist) and Eric Hedford (Drummer).

In the 90’s, during their first shows, they called themselves the Andy Warhol’s Wet Dreams and the posters presented them as an “art pop heavy psychedelic rock band”. The Velvet Underground was their first source of inspiration and so was the Stooges and Iggy Pop. When talking of their musical heritage, we do recognize the influences of the west coast at the end of the 60’s also. To set an example, we could talk of the Acid rock in St Francisco that we find in their jam sessions over drugs and alcohol..

Their first album “Dandys rule, OK?” in 1995 helped them to start a reputation in other cities than Portland thanks to university radios (always quite popular in the USA). At this point the major Capitol spotted them and signed them up; this is when the group came out with “Dandy Warhols comes down” in 1997. It is a real success in England thanks to the single, “Not if you were The Last Junkie On Earth”, the shocking “Boys Better”, and “Pete Interational Airport” that served as music for a Nike ad. By then, The Dandy Warhols start giving out concerts to Europe and Australia, where they become very popular. Their peculiar look and behavior arouses imagination.

“Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia” (co-produced by Dave Sardy who worked with artists from Johnny Cash to Marilyn Manson to Rage Against The Machine or even The Rolling Stones and Chris Cornell) attracted very decent critics and 3 years later, even boosted their reputation in Europe. The son “Bohemian Like You” is used in European and Australian ads for Vodafone and also as the soundtrack of Buffy. Thus, allowed them to invest into new material and a recording studio.

In 2003, Capitol demand a best seller to the group. That year, “Welcome To The Monkey House” is out co-produced by Courtney Taylor-Taylor and ex Duran Duran Nick Rhodes. They are obliged to re do the whole album thanks to a very large budget and also enough to do the video clip of the song “Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth ». Despite all their efforts, their public decreases, disappointed by the new style of the band: Sort of synthetic rock (even as the first part of David Bowie)

The next year, Ondi Timoner Dig’s documentary is released and it draws a parallel between Brian Jonestown career and The Andy Warhols. Thus reveals the tensions between the two groups. The press, mostly in Europe, turns their back on the Dandy Warhols and put themselves on Anton Newcombes’ side. During this period, each member of the group start taking time for themselves. During which Zia McCabe gives birth to her child. This didn’t mean the end of the group: With “Odditorium To The Warlords Of Mars” they make a gigantic come back to their origins proving that nothing was ever lost.