Ween
Ween live in Edmonton, November 2007
Background information
Origin	New Hope, Pennsylvania, USA
Genres	Alternative rock, experimental rock, neo-psychedelia, lo-fi
Years active	1984–2012
Labels	Elektra, Chocodog, Sanctuary, Rounder
Associated acts	The Green-Lipped Mussels
Website	ween.com
Past members
Dean Ween Gene Ween Dave Dreiwitz Claude Coleman Jr. Glenn McClelland

Ween was an American experimental rock band. They formed in 1984 in New Hope, Pennsylvania when central members Aaron Freeman (Gene Ween) and Mickey Melchiondo (Dean Ween) met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being less known in American pop music. The band's style is eclectic, and while they could generally be referred to as rock music, one of their defining tendencies has always been toward experimentation with various styles, often incorporating a strong element of humor and absurdity. Both Gene and Dean are skilled multi-instrumentalists who frequently have overdubbed various instruments on their recordings, though they also record with the regular touring band as well. Gene is normally the lead vocalist and Dean the lead guitarist. Lead singer Freeman announced to Rolling Stone on 29 May 2012 that he was "retiring Gene Ween",^[1] and a few days later, Ween's manager, Greg Frey, told fans on Facebook that Freeman had decided to "end his musical relationship with Ween," in order to "more fully explore and pursue his solo career".^[2]

Early years[link]

Their earliest home recordings were drug fueled and free-spirited, drawing on influences as far-reaching as R. Stevie Moore, Syd Barrett, The Beatles, Queen, Frank Zappa, Prince, Butthole Surfers, The Residents, and the lo-fi punk movement. They self-released six cassettes in the late eighties: Mrs. Slack, The Crucial Squeegie Lip, Axis: Bold as Boognish, Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death, The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD, and Prime 5. Around this time, Gene also released his own tape, Synthetic Socks, which featured Dean on a few songs. Ween were often compared in their early years to other offbeat artists such as Frank Zappa and Tom Waits, though they would eschew such comparisons. Ween's public debut was a "Purple Haze" cover closing a 1987 talent show featuring Lauren "Rainbow" Fihe on drums. Ween gained local recognition by playing bars in New Hope, PA such as John & Peter's on Main Street, and still frequent the establishment to this day.

Major releases[link]

Ween signed to Twin/Tone Records in 1989 and released their first album GodWeenSatan: The Oneness. Produced by Andrew Weiss, it was made up of an eclectic 26 tracks.

The band recorded a second album on a four-track cassette recorder from January to October 1990, in an apartment called the Pod, located in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania. This album, The Pod, was released in 1991, named after the apartment where it was recorded. The duo's use of drum machines, pitch-tweaked guitars and vocals and drug-laced humor became a trademark part of their sound. The cover of The Pod was a parody of the cover of the 1975 Leonard Cohen album, The Best of Leonard Cohen, but with the head of Mean Ween (sometime bassist Chris Williams) in place of Cohen's.

Pure Guava, the first of a series of releases on the Elektra label, featured their highest charting single, "Push th' Little Daisies" (1992) which gained them media and MTV attention, as the video was a highlighted target on MTV's Beavis and Butt-head reflecting the annoying quality but high popularity of the song.

Chocolate and Cheese followed in 1994, featuring tracks influenced by 70s pop/rock and soul, such as "Freedom of '76" and "Voodoo Lady," the latter of which appeared on the Road Trip and Dude, Where's My Car? soundtracks. The "Freedom of '76" music video was directed by Spike Jonze. At this time, Ween began to expand their live and studio line-up, providing both a crisper production sound in the studio and an easier live setup (up until this time, Ween had been using DAT tapes to provide backings for their songs). Chocolate and Cheese was also produced by Andrew Weiss, who has gone on to produce the majority of Ween's albums and become the duo's primary collaborator in the studio.

Ween turned to Nashville studio musicians for the recording of 12 Golden Country Greats (1996) which only contained ten tracks. According to Aaron, "That's why it's called 12 Golden Country Greats, even though there's only 10 songs on there. The 'greats' are those Nashville session guys."

The nautically themed album The Mollusk followed in 1997. Some fans and critics consider the album to be a culmination of Ween's penchant for satire, deconstruction, and their appreciative mastery of genres, including 1960's Brit-pop, sea shanties, Broadway show tunes, and especially progressive rock. In 2007, Melchiondo himself named The Mollusk his favorite among Ween's oeuvre.^[3]

The band's desire to pursue alternate forms of media led to the MP3-only release Craters of the Sac (1999), presented by Dean for online download and free trade. Elektra Records released a live compilation titled Paintin' the Town Brown: Ween Live 1990-1998 in 1999.

This was followed by White Pepper (2000), their pop-themed album and final studio set for Elektra. The track "Even If You Don't" was made into a music video directed by the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Shortly after the release of White Pepper Ween started the Internet radio station WeenRadio, which was awarded third best Internet music site by Rolling Stone.^[4]

Ween signed to Sanctuary Records in 2003 and released Quebec, their first studio set in three years.

In 2004, they released Live in Chicago, a DVD and CD set that compiled tracks from two energetic live performances.

In February 2006, Dean and Gene, along with their band, rented an old farmhouse and converted it into a working studio. After writing over 50 songs and recording rough versions through 2006, they picked through them and, with Andrew Weiss as producer, re-recorded album versions for what would become The Friends EP and the full-length La Cucaracha which was released October 23, 2007 on Rounder Records.

Ween formed their own label in 2001, Chocodog Records, which oversaw the release of several self-produced live sets. Paintin' the Town Brown, which was compiled and mastered by the band, was meant to be the first Chocodog release. According to Dean Ween, once the album was completed, Elektra realized the sales potential of the CD and denied Ween the right to release it through Chocodog. Later, Ween released the first official Chocodog album, Live in Toronto (a live recording from the 1996 tour, in which Ween performed with Bobby Ogdin & The Shit Creek Boys). The limited-pressing CD, available exclusively through the band website, became an instant collector's item. Subsequent Chocodog releases (Live at Stubb's and All Request Live) were produced in higher volumes to meet demand. In 2005, the label released Shinola, Vol. 1, the first installment of a rarity compilation series, and announced plans to re-release the 1987 cassette tape by Gene, Synthetic Socks.

Co-founders Gene (left) and Dean (right) Ween in 2009

On September 21, 2008, Dean Ween announced on the official Ween website that they planned to release a CD-DVD combo before Christmas of that year. He stated, "This time we’re going to be going all the way back to the days when we were still a duo with a cassette deck in the early 90’s. It’s probably the brownest CD on the Chocodog label yet." That CD was titled At the Cat's Cradle and was recorded live at the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on December 9, 1992. The duo emulated their early performances, using only a Digital Audio Tape (DAT) player for their backing tracks. The package also included a DVD featuring some video of performances from the same era.^[5]

On March 10, 2009, Dean Ween announced on the official Ween website that he and Gene had started to rehearse once again. He added that fans should expect to see a "new look" Ween soon.^[6] A potential new album was most likely postponed, as no further news about it surfaced.

On February 3, 2010, Ween released a new song, "DC Won't Do You No Good", that became available through a Target Cancer website.

On July 28, 2010, the National Post featured an article with an interview with Dean Ween, in which it was stated that the band is due in the studio this winter to start work on its twelfth album.

On August 11th, 2011, Dean quietly released a two-disc, MP3-only collection of songs called The Caesar Demos, named after the band's original working title for Quebec, to friends on his Facebook page. In his comment, he stated the songs were all recorded between 2001 and 2003 while drummer Claude Coleman, Jr. was recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident, and that many of the tracks featured only himself and Gene. In addition to a handful of recordings that eventually made the album, the demos feature several alternate takes as well as a number of songs that have remained unreleased.^[7][8]

On May 29, 2012, Freeman announced the end of Ween, saying, "It's been a long time, 25 years. It was a good run."^[9] Melchiondo appeared to be unaware of this, stating on his Facebook page "This is news to me, all I can say for now I guess."^[10]

Style and influences[link]

Ween's musical style incorporates elements of genres ranging from country rock,^[11] hard rock,^[11] punk rock,^[12] progressive rock,^[12] psychedelic rock,^[11] heavy metal^[12] and speed metal,^[11] to country pop,^[13] country folk,^[13] honky tonk,^[13] flamenco,^[12] funk,^[12] pop,^[12] psychedelic pop^[11] and soul.^[12] Their lyrics are usually humorous in tone,^[14] and their influences include Prince,^[15] Thin Lizzy,^[15] Queen,^[15] The Spinners,^[15] Pink Floyd,^[15] Beastie Boys,^[15] The Beatles,^[15] David Bowie,^[15] Butthole Surfers,^[15] The Dead Milkmen,^[15] Led Zeppelin,^[15] Meat Puppets,^[15] Motörhead,^[15] Steely Dan,^[15] Talking Heads,^[15] They Might Be Giants,^[15] Violent Femmes,^[15] Frank Zappa,^[15] Jimi Hendrix,^[15] Bob Seger,^[15] Van Halen,^[15] Hank Williams, ^[16] The Residents,^[15] America^[15] UFO, Bruce Springsteen.^[15]

Ween joined members of Japanese group Boredoms to form noise rock group Z-Rock Hawaii, and Dean is also a member of hardcore band Moistboyz which sometimes features Dave Dreiwitz during live performances.

The band Big Dumb Face has cited Ween as an influence on their music,^[17][18] as has producer Mike E. Clark.^[19]