John McEntire
Encyclopedia
John McEntire is an American recording engineer, drummer
and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known for being in Tortoise
and The Sea and Cake
, as well as being a highly in-demand producer and engineer.
McEntire started playing drums at age 10. Throughout high school, he performed in several award-winning marching bands and studied privately for seven years. He went on to attend Oberlin College
initially as a percussion major, but eventually switched to study in the school's then newly created program for Technology in Music and Related Arts.
, The Sea and Cake
, and The Red Krayola. His drumming work as a sideman can be heard on recordings, such as Since by Richard Buckner
, Enantiodromia and Life on the Fly by Azita
, Near-Life Experience
by Come
, Kernel by Seam
, Chicago Wednesday by Jandek
, and The Spectrum Between by David Grubbs
.
While attending Oberlin, he briefly played with Mark Edwards in My Dad Is Dead
in 1988, and then joined Bastro
with David Grubbs
and Bundy K. Brown in 1989. In 1991, he relocated along with Grubbs and Brown to Chicago where they changed their musical direction and became the first incarnation of Gastr Del Sol
. Their debut album, The Serpentine Similar, was released in 1993. McEntire and Brown left to play in Tortoise in 1994, yet McEntire continued to make contributions to Gastr Del Sol's later recordings and performances.
McEntire had also played in Seam
, The Stokastikats, and The Oily Bloodmen. He was a principal musician on Jim O'Rourke's
Terminal Pharmacy and has appeared on many other solo O'Rourke projects.
in Chicago
.
He produces and engineers most of the recordings for his own bands, as well as many of the solo efforts by bandmates Sam Prekop
, Archer Prewitt
, Jeff Parker
, and Doug McCombs
. He has also has engineered, produced, and/or mixed albums and tracks for many artists including: Bell Orchestre
, Stereolab
, Bright Eyes, Teenage Fanclub
, Sylvain Chauveau
, Kaki King
, Tom Ze
, The Ex, Smog
, Trans Am
, Eleventh Dream Day
, Cougar
, Antibalas, The For Carnation
, Dianogah
, U.S. Maple
, Chicago Underground Duo
, Spookey Ruben
, Blur
, Pivot
, The Fiery Furnaces
, The Car Is on Fire
, Small Sins
, Broken Social Scene
, Coldcut
and Jaga Jazzist
.
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known for being in Tortoise
Tortoise (band)
Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1990.-Music:Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization, and the group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in...
and The Sea and Cake
The Sea and Cake
The Sea and Cake is an indie rock band with a pronounced jazz influence, which formed in the mid-1990s in Chicago out of the ashes of local bands The Coctails and Shrimp Boat. The group's name came from a willful reinterpretation of "The C in Cake", a song by Gastr del Sol...
, as well as being a highly in-demand producer and engineer.
McEntire started playing drums at age 10. Throughout high school, he performed in several award-winning marching bands and studied privately for seven years. He went on to attend Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
initially as a percussion major, but eventually switched to study in the school's then newly created program for Technology in Music and Related Arts.
Musical career
McEntire is a current member of TortoiseTortoise (band)
Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1990.-Music:Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization, and the group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in...
, The Sea and Cake
The Sea and Cake
The Sea and Cake is an indie rock band with a pronounced jazz influence, which formed in the mid-1990s in Chicago out of the ashes of local bands The Coctails and Shrimp Boat. The group's name came from a willful reinterpretation of "The C in Cake", a song by Gastr del Sol...
, and The Red Krayola. His drumming work as a sideman can be heard on recordings, such as Since by Richard Buckner
Richard Buckner
Richard Buckner is an American singer-songwriter born in California. After living in Edmonton, Alberta for a number of years, he currently resides in Brooklyn, NY...
, Enantiodromia and Life on the Fly by Azita
Azita
Azita Youssefi is an experimental musician and artist based in Chicago. She is usually associated with the Chicago no wave scene, which included bands like the Flying Luttenbachers, U.S. Maple and Bobby Conn.-Background:...
, Near-Life Experience
Near-Life Experience
Near-Life Experience is a 1996 album by Boston indie rock band Come. -History:After Come's 1994 release Don't Ask Don't Tell, bassist Sean O'Brien and drummer Arthur Johnson left the band to pursue other careers...
by Come
Come (US band)
Come was an American alternative rock band from 1990-2001. Come was formed in Boston by Thalia Zedek , Chris Brokaw , Arthur Johnson , and Sean O'Brien .-Band history:...
, Kernel by Seam
Seam (band)
Seam was an American indie rock band active from 1991 to 1999, led by Sooyoung Park, former frontman of Bitch Magnet. Park currently plays in Ee...
, Chicago Wednesday by Jandek
Jandek
Jandek is the musical project of an anonymous outsider musician who operates out of Houston, Texas. Since 1978, Jandek has self-released over 60 albums of unusual, often emotionally dissolute folk and blues songs without ever granting more than the occasional interview or providing any biographical...
, and The Spectrum Between by David Grubbs
David Grubbs
David Grubbs , guitarist, pianist, and vocalist, was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet and The Wingdale Community Singers....
.
While attending Oberlin, he briefly played with Mark Edwards in My Dad Is Dead
My Dad Is Dead
My Dad Is Dead, is a recording project of musician Mark Edwards. The project began in Cleveland, Ohio in 1985. My Dad Is Dead has released eleven full-length albums on labels such as St. Valentine's, Scat Records, Homestead Records and Emperor Jones....
in 1988, and then joined Bastro
Bastro
Bastro was an American post-hardcore band in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's main line-up consisted of David Grubbs on guitar, Clark Johnson on bass guitar, and John McEntire on drums.-History:...
with David Grubbs
David Grubbs
David Grubbs , guitarist, pianist, and vocalist, was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet and The Wingdale Community Singers....
and Bundy K. Brown in 1989. In 1991, he relocated along with Grubbs and Brown to Chicago where they changed their musical direction and became the first incarnation of Gastr Del Sol
Gastr del Sol
Gastr del Sol was a Chicago band consisting, for most of their career, of David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke. Between 1993 and 1998 they put out seven albums ranging in genre from post-rock to musique concrète....
. Their debut album, The Serpentine Similar, was released in 1993. McEntire and Brown left to play in Tortoise in 1994, yet McEntire continued to make contributions to Gastr Del Sol's later recordings and performances.
McEntire had also played in Seam
Seam
Seam may refer to:* Seam , the line where two or more layers of fabric are held together by stitches* Seam , a stratum of coal or mineral that is economically viable; a bed or a distinct layer of vein of rock in other layers of rock...
, The Stokastikats, and The Oily Bloodmen. He was a principal musician on Jim O'Rourke's
Jim O'Rourke (musician)
Jim O'Rourke is an Irish-American musician and record producer. He was long associated with the Chicago experimental and improv scene...
Terminal Pharmacy and has appeared on many other solo O'Rourke projects.
Production/engineering work
McEntire is an accomplished producer and engineer having mixed and remixed countless recordings by many artists. He also owns and operates Soma Electronic Music StudiosSoma (studio)
Soma Electronic Music Studios is a recording studio owned and operated by John McEntire in Chicago, Illinois.Artists who have recorded there include:Bundy K...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
He produces and engineers most of the recordings for his own bands, as well as many of the solo efforts by bandmates Sam Prekop
Sam Prekop
Sam Prekop is a rock/pop musician in the band The Sea and Cake. He also has released three solo albums. Prekop first gained recognition in the band Shrimp Boat from 1988 to 1993. Many artists have performed in the Sam Prekop band, such as Chad Taylor, Josh Abrams, Jim O'Rourke, and Archer Prewitt...
, Archer Prewitt
Archer Prewitt
Archer Prewitt is an American musician and cartoonist associated with the independent music scene in Chicago, Illinois.- Music :...
, Jeff Parker
Jeff Parker (musician)
Jeff Parker is an American jazz and rock guitarist based in Chicago. Parker is best known as an experimental musician, working with avant-garde electronic, rock, and improvisational groups....
, and Doug McCombs
Doug McCombs
Douglas McCombs plays bass and guitar with the instrumental rock band Tortoise and leads the instrumental band Brokeback. He is also the longtime bassist for the rock band Eleventh Dream Day.-References:...
. He has also has engineered, produced, and/or mixed albums and tracks for many artists including: Bell Orchestre
Bell Orchestre
Bell Orchestre is a six-piece instrumental band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.In late 2003, they recorded their first album, at the same time and in the same studio that Arcade Fire recorded Funeral. However, Arcade Fire's popularity was just beginning to break when they asked Bell Orchestre to...
, Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
, Bright Eyes, Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub are an alternative rock band from Bellshill, Scotland. The band is composed of Norman Blake , Raymond McGinley , Gerard Love and Francis MacDonald , with songwriting duties shared equally among Blake, McGinley and Love...
, Sylvain Chauveau
Sylvain Chauveau
Sylvain Chauveau is a critically acclaimed instrumental music and electronic music artist and composer from Bayonne, France.-Background:Sylvain Chauveau was born in Bayonne, France , and now lives in Brussels, Belgium...
, Kaki King
Kaki King
Kaki King is an American guitarist and composer. King is known for her percussive and jazz-tinged melodies, energetic live shows, use of multiple tunings on acoustic and lap steel guitar, and her diverse range in different genres.In February 2006, Rolling Stone released a list of "The New Guitar...
, Tom Ze
Tom Zé
Tom Zé is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who was influential in the Tropicália movement of 1960s Brazil. After the peak of the Tropicália period, Zé went into relative obscurity: it was only in the 1990s, when the musician and label head David Byrne discovered an album recorded...
, The Ex, Smog
Smog (band)
Bill Callahan , is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, who has also recorded and performed under the band name Smog. Callahan began working in the lo-fi genre of underground rock, with home-made tape-albums recorded on four track tape recorders...
, Trans Am
Trans Am (band)
Trans Am is a three-piece band which originated in Bethesda, Maryland that was one of the originators of "post-rock" in the mid 90s. Their work centers on a cerebrally robotic, usually instrumental, semi-danceable, minimalistic format, with influences including Krautrock, heavy metal, hardcore...
, Eleventh Dream Day
Eleventh Dream Day
-History:The band was founded by guitarists Rick Rizzo and Janet Beveridge Bean, who met at a place fondly known as 1069. This was a house/practice space/hang out in Louisville where at the time Janet was practicing with the band she was in with Tara Key and Tim Harris; the Zoo Directors. They...
, Cougar
Cougar (band)
Cougar is an instrumental post-rock band from Madison, Wisconsin formed in 2003. Formerly on the Madison-based record label Layered Music , Cougar is now signed to London label Ninja Tune...
, Antibalas, The For Carnation
The For Carnation
The For Carnation are a post-rock band from Louisville, Kentucky who formed in 1994. The band was formed by Brian McMahan, who is the only constant group member. McMahan's previous band Slint hinted at the distinctive sound and sombre aesthetic he would create in The For Carnation...
, Dianogah
Dianogah
Dianogah is a Chicago, Illinois based indie rock outfit formed in 1995, noted for their use of two bass guitars. Members include Kip McCabe, Jay Ryan and Jason Harvey. Dianogah's first full-length album, As Seen From Above, was recorded by Steve Albini, who also produced their second full-length...
, U.S. Maple
U.S. Maple
U.S. Maple was an American noise rock band. The group formed in Chicago in 1995. The band consists of Al Johnson , Mark Shippy , Pat Samson , and Todd Rittmann — who banded together with the intent of becoming the deconstructionists of rock and roll.-Formation and first single:U.S...
, Chicago Underground Duo
Chicago Underground Duo
Chicago Underground Duo is an avant-garde jazz duo consisting of cornetist Rob Mazurek and drummer/percussionist Chad Taylor. They formed in 1997, having both been members of Chicago Underground Orchestra...
, Spookey Ruben
Spookey Ruben
Spookey Ruben is a Toronto-based musician, composer and video director. Due to his father's work as a space engineer Spookey grew up in Germany, Holland, and Washington, D.C. He spent his teenage years playing in array of hardcore and speed metal bands...
, Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
, Pivot
Pivot (Australian band)
PVT is an experimental rock band based in London and Sydney.-About:PVT are a 3-piece band based in London and Sydney. They are currently signed to Warp Records. Band members are Richard Pike, Laurence Pike and Dave Miller...
, The Fiery Furnaces
The Fiery Furnaces
The Fiery Furnaces are a U.S. indie rock band formed in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York. The band's primary members are Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger. The siblings are originally from Oak Park, Illinois, a near-western suburb of Chicago.- Band biography :...
, The Car Is on Fire
The Car Is On Fire
The Car Is on Fire is a three-piece pop outfit from Warsaw, Poland. The band was formed in early 2002 and took its name from the first words on Godspeed You! Black Emperor's album f♯a♯∞....
, Small Sins
Small Sins
Small Sins is the Toronto-based indie rock act of Thomas D'Arcy, former member of The Carnations. The Small Sins were once known as The Ladies and Gentlemen, but due to legal reasons they had to change their name...
, Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed in 1999 by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. Most of its members currently play in various other groups and solo projects, mainly based around the city of Toronto...
, Coldcut
Coldcut
Coldcut are an English dance music duo, comprising Matt Black and Jonathan More. Their signature style is electronic dance music, featuring cut up samples of hip hop, breaks, jazz, spoken word and various other types of music, as well as video and multimedia.-1980s:In 1986, computer programmer Matt...
and Jaga Jazzist
Jaga Jazzist
Jaga Jazzist is an experimental jazz band from Norway that rose to prominence when the BBC named their first album, A Livingroom Hush , the best jazz album of 2002. The core of the band are brothers and main songwriters Lars and Martin Horntveth...
.