Death From Above 1979: reunited and it feels so good
The Coachella festival’s 2011 lineup was announced earlier this week, revealing a surprising performance by Toronto’s previously defunct noise-rock duo Death From Above 1979. The Coachella gig marks Death From Above 1979’s first show since bassist Jesse F. Keeler and singer-drummer Sebastien Grainger split to pursue other projects.
And successful projects at that: Keeler formed electro group MSTRKRFT while Grainger formed The Mountains, and also released solo EPs and recently performed with Broken Social Scene at their Olympic Island concert this past summer. What’s most interesting about the announcement, however, is the fact that Keeler and Grainger’s initial split was supposedly less than pleasant, making the news of a reunion even more salacious to fans.
In 2006, Keeler took to the band’s MySpace message boards (oh, how the mighty have fallen), announcing that DFA79 was kaput:
Over the last 3 years of touring, Sebastien and I had grown apart to such an extent that the only real time we spoke was just before we would play and during interviews. We both changed so much that the people we were by the end of it, probably wouldn’t have been friends if they were to meet for the first time again. It’s a totally normal function of growing up.
In a candid 2008 interview, Grainger told Eye Weekly that the breakup was “entirely personal” and that he felt “a lot of frustration and anger, but a lot of relief” as well. The reunion is surprising, but for the fans, at least, it feels so good.
• Death from above 1979 to reunite at Coachella [Globe and Mail]
UPDATE: Sebastien Grainger has posted a statement on the band’s Web site that expresses an almost maniacal enthusiasm for the reunion, an odd reverence for the number 11 and an Obama-esque call to action. Say “yes!” (Sebastien’s key catch-word, apparently) to the statement by checking it out here.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/culture/death-from-above-1979-reunited-and-it-feels-so-good/&title=Death From Above 1979: reunited and it feels so good&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Death-From-Above-1979.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_53164" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="Still alive back in 2005: Death From Above 1979 (Image: Mai Le)"][/caption]
The Coachella festival’s 2011 lineup was announced earlier this week, revealing a surprising performance by Toronto’s previously defunct noise-rock duo Death From Above 1979. The Coachella gig marks Death From Above 1979’s first show since bassist Jesse F. Keeler and singer-drummer Sebastien Grainger split to pursue other projects.
And successful projects at that: Keeler formed electro group MSTRKRFT while Grainger formed The Mountains, and also released solo EPs and recently performed with Broken Social Scene at their Olympic Island concert this past summer. What’s most interesting about the announcement, however, is the fact that Keeler and Grainger’s initial split was supposedly less than pleasant, making the news of a reunion even more salacious to fans.
In 2006, Keeler took to the band’s MySpace message boards (oh, how the mighty have fallen), announcing that DFA79 was kaput:
Over the last 3 years of touring, Sebastien and I had grown apart to such an extent that the only real time we spoke was just before we would play and during interviews. We both changed so much that the people we were by the end of it, probably wouldn’t have been friends if they were to meet for the first time again. It’s a totally normal function of growing up.
In a candid 2008 interview, Grainger told Eye Weekly that the breakup was “entirely personal” and that he felt “a lot of frustration and anger, but a lot of relief” as well. The reunion is surprising, but for the fans, at least, it feels so good.
• Death from above 1979 to reunite at Coachella [Globe and Mail]
UPDATE: Sebastien Grainger has posted a statement on the band’s Web site that expresses an almost maniacal enthusiasm for the reunion, an odd reverence for the number 11 and an Obama-esque call to action. Say “yes!” (Sebastien’s key catch-word, apparently) to the statement by checking it out here.){kind=link}