Gene Ween
Encyclopedia
Aaron Freeman best known as Gene Ween, is a musician and a founding member of the experimental
alternative rock
group Ween
. Freeman, along with childhood friend Dean Ween
(Mickey Melchiondo), started the group in the mid-1980s.
, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
, where they both grew up. Both of them talked about bands they liked and playing their own music. Gene had a bunch of tapes he recorded of himself that he traded with Dean. Soon, they hung out and began jamming, recording most of what they put together. Ween's music slowly progressed from a bedroom-style recording project, eventually signing to a major record label and transformed into a full live band.
In addition to his work with Ween, Gene keeps up a solo career. Freeman has performed solo concerts with artists such as Jon Anderson
of Yes
. Around 2008, Freeman launched the Gene Ween Band, where he plays alongside Ween bassist Dave Dreiwitz
, guitarist Scott Metzger
and drummer Joe Russo
.
Freeman has been public with his disdain of the jam band
music scene, which Ween is associated with after playing several large festivals; in addition, Phish
has often covered the Ween song "Roses Are Free" in concert since 1998. Freeman told Now magazine: "I like Trey [Anastasio
] as a person, but as far as the music goes, all that jam band shit makes me want to puke. I’m just not that kind of dude, and I don’t think Mickey is either."
album deal with their breakup.
In October 2004, Dean Ween explained via their official website that they had to cancel an upcoming tour in order to address a "problem within the band, that requires an immediate intervention, for the health, welfare, and safety of one of its members." Freeman admitted that leading up to that point in time, "it was pretty easy for me to get wasted a lot to deal with some things. I had a couple of really heavy years. It was drinking and benzos (valium), which is really nasty." Bizarre behavior by Freeman at a January 24, 2011 show in Vancouver has caused concern to re-emerge among the band's followers about Freeman's well-being.
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
group Ween
Ween
Ween is an American alternative rock group. They formed in 1984 in New Hope, Pennsylvania when central members Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being generally unknown in American pop music...
. Freeman, along with childhood friend Dean Ween
Dean Ween
Dean Ween is the stage name of Michael "Mickey" Melchiondo, Jr., American guitarist and half of the alternative rock group Ween.-Biography:...
(Mickey Melchiondo), started the group in the mid-1980s.
Career and work with Ween
Gene and Dean met in an eighth grade typing class in 1984, in New HopeNew Hope, Pennsylvania
New Hope, formerly known as Coryell's Ferry, is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA. The population was 2,528 at the 2010 census. The borough lies on the west bank of the Delaware River at its confluence with Aquetong Creek. A two-lane bridge carries automobile and foot traffic across the...
, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, where they both grew up. Both of them talked about bands they liked and playing their own music. Gene had a bunch of tapes he recorded of himself that he traded with Dean. Soon, they hung out and began jamming, recording most of what they put together. Ween's music slowly progressed from a bedroom-style recording project, eventually signing to a major record label and transformed into a full live band.
In addition to his work with Ween, Gene keeps up a solo career. Freeman has performed solo concerts with artists such as Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson is an English singer-songwriter and musician best known as the former lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes...
of Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
. Around 2008, Freeman launched the Gene Ween Band, where he plays alongside Ween bassist Dave Dreiwitz
Dave Dreiwitz
-Biography:Dave Dreiwitz was born on January 2, 1966 in New York City, New York to traditional jazz musician parents, Richard and Barbara Dreiwitz. In 1985 at the age of nineteen, Dave joined the Hoboken, NJ based psych rock band Tiny Lights, his first professional band out of high school...
, guitarist Scott Metzger
Scott Metzger
Scott Metzger is an American guitarist.-Biography:Scott Metzger is a Brooklyn, New York based guitarist...
and drummer Joe Russo
Joe Russo (musician)
Joe Russo is an American drummer and half of the Benevento/Russo Duo. He plays with a number of other bands, including A Big Yes and a Small No, Fat Mama, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, Danjaboots, Bustle In Your Hedgerow, Electron , Younger Brother, Shpongle, Tom Hamilton's American Babies, the...
.
Freeman has been public with his disdain of the jam band
Jam band
-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...
music scene, which Ween is associated with after playing several large festivals; in addition, Phish
Phish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
has often covered the Ween song "Roses Are Free" in concert since 1998. Freeman told Now magazine: "I like Trey [Anastasio
Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...
] as a person, but as far as the music goes, all that jam band shit makes me want to puke. I’m just not that kind of dude, and I don’t think Mickey is either."
Personal life
Freeman is from a Jewish family. He married long-time girlfriend Sarah Poten in 1996; they have one daughter together, born around 1999. The pair divorced in the early 2000s; many of Freeman's songs on Ween's 2003 QuebecQuebec (album)
-Personnel:*Dean Ween – bass, guitar, drums, guitar , keyboards, vocals, sitar , vocoder*Gene Ween – synthesizer, guitar , bass, guitar , keyboards, vocals, omnichord, drum machine...
album deal with their breakup.
Substance abuse
Freeman has acknowledged a history of drug use, but does not often divulge specifics.In October 2004, Dean Ween explained via their official website that they had to cancel an upcoming tour in order to address a "problem within the band, that requires an immediate intervention, for the health, welfare, and safety of one of its members." Freeman admitted that leading up to that point in time, "it was pretty easy for me to get wasted a lot to deal with some things. I had a couple of really heavy years. It was drinking and benzos (valium), which is really nasty." Bizarre behavior by Freeman at a January 24, 2011 show in Vancouver has caused concern to re-emerge among the band's followers about Freeman's well-being.
Selected discography
- Synthetic SocksSynthetic SocksSynthetic Socks is a very early recording by Gene Ween, released on TeenBeat Records in 1987. It is almost entirely the product of Gene Ween making personal recordings in his bedroom ....
(19871987 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
) - GodWeenSatan: The OnenessGodWeenSatan: The Oneness-Personnel:Dean Ween - Guitar, VocalsGene Ween - Guitar, Vocals, liner notesWeen - ArrangerGreg Frey - Engineer, Recording TechnicianTheo VanRock - MixingAndrew Weiss - Producer, Mixing-Song information:...
(19901990 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...
) - The PodThe Pod* "The Stallion " was not listed on the covers of original Shimmy Disc releases, although the song is present as track #5.-Liner notes:From the Shimmy-Disc CD:-Personnel:* Dean Ween - Guitar, Vocals, Engineer...
(19911991 in musicSee also:* 1991 in music Record labels established in 1991-Summary:The year 1991 is the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", becomes the most popular U.S. album of the year...
) - Pure GuavaPure Guava-Personnel:Dean Ween - Guitar, Vocals, EngineerGene Ween - Vocals, EngineerMean Ween - VocalsGuy Heller - Vocals on "Flies On My Dick"Scott Lowe - Vocals, Whistle Larry Curtin - Vocals , Whistle Howie Weinberg - Mastering...
(19921992 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1992.-January–February:*January 11**Nirvana's Nevermind album goes to #1 in the US Billboard 200 chart, establishing the widespread popularity of the Grunge movement of the 1990s....
) - Chocolate and CheeseChocolate and CheeseChocolate and Cheese is Ween's fourth studio album, originally released by Elektra Records in 1994. It was the first Ween album to eschew the crude four-track home recordings of their first three albums and utilize a professional recording studio...
(19941994 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.-January–February:*January 25 – Alice in Chains release their Jar of Flies album which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first ever EP to do so....
) - 12 Golden Country Greats12 Golden Country GreatsThe original version of "Powder Blue" runs for 4:16 and ends with a sample from Muhammad Ali. Ween were denied permission to use the sample by the Ali lawyers, but Elektra pressed the album accidentally...
(19961996 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...
) - Z-Rock HawaiiZ-Rock HawaiiZ-Rock Hawaii was released in 1996 by Gene Ween and Dean Ween of the band Ween, and the Japanese artists Yamantaka Eye, Seiichi Yamamoto, Yoshimi P-We, and Yoshikawa Toyohito of Boredoms.- Track listing :#"Chuggin'#"Bad to the Bone"#"In the Garden"...
(19971997 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...
) - The MolluskThe Mollusk* "She Wanted to Leave / " contains the main song, "She Wanted to Leave", as well as a reprise of "I'm Dancing in the Show Tonight".- Personnel :* Dean Ween - Guitar, Vocals, Engineer* Gene Ween - Vocals, Engineer* Kirk Miller - Sound Effects...
(19971997 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...
) - White PepperWhite Pepper-Singles:* "Even If You Don't" was released as a single on Mushroom Records with the B-side "Cornbread Red".* "Stay Forever" was released as a single on Mushroom Records with "The Grobe" and "Who Dat?"-Musicians featured on the record:* Dean Ween* Gene Ween...
(20002000 in musicSee also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
) - QuebecQuebec (album)-Personnel:*Dean Ween – bass, guitar, drums, guitar , keyboards, vocals, sitar , vocoder*Gene Ween – synthesizer, guitar , bass, guitar , keyboards, vocals, omnichord, drum machine...
(20032003 in music-January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested...
) - Shinola, Vol. 1Shinola, Vol. 1Shinola, Vol. 1 is the tenth studio album by the band Ween. Released by Chocodog on July 19, 2005, Shinola is a collection of odds and ends that the band put together over the years....
(20052005 in music-Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996.-January:...
) - The Friends EP (20072007 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2007.-January:*January 1 - George Shearing is knighted for services to music in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Evelyn Glennie becomes a Dame...
) - La CucarachaLa Cucaracha (album)-References:**...
(20072007 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2007.-January:*January 1 - George Shearing is knighted for services to music in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Evelyn Glennie becomes a Dame...
)