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mewithoutYou is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based indie rock band.

History

The band consists of vocalist Aaron Weiss, guitarists Michael Weiss and Christopher Kleinberg, bassist Greg Jehanian and drummer Rickie Mazzotta. Though their sound is hard to classify accurately, mewithoutYou’s music is generally dominated by Aaron, who, rather than singing, talks (or wails) in dramatic, varied tones and pitches. The band usually strays from typical song structures, featuring effects-laden guitar, a very prominent and distorted bass tone and bombastic rhythms, resulting in a rather experimental style. In their most recent album, Brother, Sister, the band incorporates more varied instrumentation including various percussion instruments, accordion, and harp.

The band’s Christian roots can be seen through the biblical allusions found throughout the songs as well as in interviews with the band members. In one example Weiss calls Jesus his rabbi. The band name itself refers to how they feel decisions made without the guidance of God (notice how ‘You’ is capitalized) never turn out to be deep and meaningful. It is reminiscent of the parable of The Vine in the Gospel of John, especially Chapter 15, Verse 5:

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and
I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

The band was originally conceived as a side project. The Weiss brothers and Kleinberg were playing together in another band called The Operation (who released one album, 2001’s There Is Hope for a Tree Cut Down, on Takehold Records), but Aaron wanted to start another band to experiment with new sounds. After picking up Rick Mazzotta on drums and Ray Tadeo on bass, Kleinberg and the Weiss brothers released their first EP (I Never Said That I Was Brave) in 2001 and shortly thereafter signed to Tooth & Nail Records after a show at Cornerstone Festival the same year. Around this time Tadeo had moved on, Daniel Pishock picked up as the bass player, and The Operation disbanded soon afterward. mewithoutYou’s debut full-length album, [A→B] Life, was released in 2002. The band garnered more attention for their second release, 2004’s Catch for Us the Foxes, which was produced by Brad Wood (Smashing Pumpkins, Fire Theft). In December of 2004 Pishock had made a decision to retire as the bassist for the band and former Operation frontman, Greg Jehanian, was selected to replace him. In 2005, mewithoutYou won mtvU’s “Left Field” award for most original artist. Their third album, Brother, Sister, again produced by Wood, was released on September 26th, 2006.

mewithoutYou has released videos for “Bullet to Binary” from [A→B] Life, “January 1979″, “Disaster Tourism”, and “Paper Hanger” from Catch for Us the Foxes and “Nice and Blue, Pt. 2″ from Brother, Sister (the latter directed by Shane Drake).

Current Members

• Aaron Weiss - Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Accordion
• Michael Weiss - Guitar
• Rickie Mazzotta - Drums
• Greg Jehanian - Bass Guitar, Vocals
• Christopher Kleinberg - Guitar

Former Members

• Daniel Pishock - Bass Guitar
• Ray Taddeo - Bass Guitar
• Steve Smoker - Bass Guitar

Discography

• I Never Said That I Was Brave EP, 2001 (Kickstart Audio)
• [A→B] Life, 2002 (Tooth & Nail Records)
• Catch for Us the Foxes, 2004 (Tooth & Nail Records)
• Brother, Sister, 2006 (Tooth & Nail Records)

External links

• Official Website of New Album
• Official Website
• Interview with Aaron Weiss dated January, 2007
• Interview with Aaron Weiss dated May 25th, 2005
• Four Word Letter · mewithoutYou Fan Site.
• Tooth & Nail Records · Record label to which mewithoutYou is currently signed.
• mewithoutYou on PureVolume
• mewithoutYou on MySpace