The Dark Fantastic
Encyclopedia
The Dark Fantastic was an American band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1997. They began as a solo project of Mark Pickerel
Mark Pickerel
Mark Pickerel is best known as the original drummer for the Screaming Trees, a rock group from Ellensburg, WA, that formed in 1985. Other members of the band included the versatile singer Mark Lanegan and the Conner brothers...

 while he was still a member of Truly
Truly
Truly is an American rock band formed in the wake of the grunge era. It featured former Soundgarden bassist Hiro Yamamoto, one-time Screaming Trees drummer Mark Pickerel, and singer Robert Roth...

. Following the disbanding of Truly, Pickerel turned his project into a band, enlisting guitarist Jesse Roberts and bassist Mike Elkins in 1997. They released their self-titled debut album in 1999 and their second album entitled Goodbye Crooked Scar in 2001, both through Up Records
Up Records
Up Records is a Seattle based independent record label founded in 1994 by Chris Takino and Rich Jensen.Some of the label's best known artists are 764-Hero, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Quasi and Tad.Chris Takino died of leukemia in 2000...

, before disbanding.

Formation and self-titled debut album (1990–1999)

Musician Mark Pickerel
Mark Pickerel
Mark Pickerel is best known as the original drummer for the Screaming Trees, a rock group from Ellensburg, WA, that formed in 1985. Other members of the band included the versatile singer Mark Lanegan and the Conner brothers...

 had previously been the drummer of Seattle rock band Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period...

, playing on their first five studio albums, before departing the band in 1991. He formed Truly
Truly
Truly is an American rock band formed in the wake of the grunge era. It featured former Soundgarden bassist Hiro Yamamoto, one-time Screaming Trees drummer Mark Pickerel, and singer Robert Roth...

 with former Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...

 bassist Hiro Yamamoto
Hiro Yamamoto
Hiro Yamamoto is an American bassist who was a founding member of grunge band Soundgarden, along with Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell in 1984...

 and former Storybook Krooks singer Robert Roth
Robert Roth (Musician)
Robert Roth is best known as a songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of 90's Sub Pop and Capitol Records band Truly. The band have recently have reunited with all original members to play in shows in Seattle, London and Azkena Rock Festival 2008 alongside Ray Davies, the Sex Pistols, Dinosaur Jr...

, who also performed guitar duties, in 1990 and continued with the group following his departure from the Screaming Trees. It was during Pickerel's time in Truly that he formed The Dark Fantastic as a solo project. Following the release of Truly's last album, Pickerel added guitarist Jesse Roberts and bassist Mike Elkins to the lineup, to turn the solo project into a band, in 1997.

With producer Martin Feveyear
Martin Feveyear
Martin Feveyear is a British record producer and audio engineer based in Seattle, Washington. Beginning as a singer-songwriter and musician, Feveyear soon began recording work for artists in both the UK and US before moving to Seattle at the age of 25. Together with Christian Fulghum , he opened...

, they began working on their debut album, with Pickerel's former Screaming Trees band mate Van Conner
Van Conner
Van Conner is an American rock musician. In 1984 he co-founded the band Screaming Trees with his brother Gary Lee Conner and close friends Mark Lanegan and Mark Pickerel. On the 25 June 2000 Screaming Trees announced their official breakup...

 contributing bass to the songs "Wind Forever" and "As You Were Leaving." For the recording of the album, Feveyear also contributed keyboards while Pickerel handled vocals, drums, percussion and additional guitars. Released through Up Records
Up Records
Up Records is a Seattle based independent record label founded in 1994 by Chris Takino and Rich Jensen.Some of the label's best known artists are 764-Hero, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Quasi and Tad.Chris Takino died of leukemia in 2000...

, The Dark Fantastic was met with positive reviews. Reviewing for Allmusic, Becky Byrkit stated that Pickerel is "still as much the brisk indie guitar player and risk-taker as before" and that "the tunes are generally fine even-handed melodies, with some crunchy, button-punching studio technics [...] plus some liberally atomized melancholia just to keep you serious." M. Tye Comer, of CMJ
College Music Journal
College Music Journal, commonly known as CMJ, is a music events/publishing company which hosts an annual festival in New York City, the CMJ Music Marathon, as well as a weekly magazine of and for the music industry and college radio stations in the United States and Canada. It publishes top 30...

commented that Pickerel "leans heavily on dark and dusty Southwestern forms, but he also dabbles in Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...

-esque pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

, sludgy
Sludge metal
Sludge metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that melds elements of doom metal and hardcore punk, and sometimes incorporates influences from southern rock, stoner rock and grunge. Sludge metal is typically abrasive; often featuring shouted vocals, heavily distorted instruments and sharply contrasting...

 indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

" and "Gary Numan
Gary Numan
Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music...

-inspired synth pop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...

" and that the The Dark Fantastic "is an impressive debut, spearheaded by a soulful, season musician."

Goodbye Crooked Scar and disbanding (2000–2001)

Pickerel did session work for a number of musicians, Neko Case
Neko Case
Neko Case is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers....

 and Jim Carroll
Jim Carroll
James Dennis "Jim" Carroll was an author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work The Basketball Diaries, which was made into the 1995 film of the same name, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Carroll.-Biography:Carroll was born to a...

 among others, before beginning work on The Dark Fantastic's second album. Working again with Martin Feveyear, the album featured additional vocals by Vanessa Veselka. Released in 2001, The Dark Fantastic's second album entitled Goodbye Crooked Scar was met with positive reviews. Charles Spano, reviewing for Allmusic, commented that "Goodbye Crooked Scar focuses that psychedelia
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...

 on hard desert rock
Palm Desert Scene
The Palm Desert Scene is a group of closely related bands and musicians from Palm Desert in Southern California. Their hard rock sound – which is often described as desert rock – contains elements of psychedelia, blues, Heavy metal and other genres, such as hardcore, as well as...

 with a wholly unique Far Eastern vibe" and that "Mark Pickerel sings like Brian Wilson chanting beautiful eulogies for lost loves and lives," while he also complimented Roberts' and Elkin's contributions to the album. Reviewing for PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...

, Eden Miller stated that "The Dark Fantastic brings maturity to their angst-filled music" describing the album as "elegantly melancholy" and that "Goodbye Crooked Star is an unexpected surprise." By the end of the year, The Dark Fantastic disbanded. Following the disbanding of the group, Pickerel released his debut studio album Snake in the Radio
Snake in the Radio
Snake in the Radio is the debut release from Mark Pickerel's group known as Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands.- Album information :The album which was recorded between September 2004 and November 2005, involved collaborations with several artists, including Johnny Sangster of Dear John Letters'...

in 2006, credited as Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands, and the follow up Cody's Dream in 2008.

Musical style

The Dark Fantastic's music has been described as dark, haunting, psychedelic desert rock drawing influences from Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

, Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...

 and Neko Case
Neko Case
Neko Case is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers....

. Pickerel also gained a number of comparisons to Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...

 for his vocals.

Band members

Former members
  • Mark Pickerel
    Mark Pickerel
    Mark Pickerel is best known as the original drummer for the Screaming Trees, a rock group from Ellensburg, WA, that formed in 1985. Other members of the band included the versatile singer Mark Lanegan and the Conner brothers...

    – vocals, guitar, drums, percussion (1997–2001)
  • Jesse Roberts – guitar (1997–2001)
  • Mike Elkins – bass (1997–2001)
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