Thessalonian Dope Gods
Encyclopedia
The Thessalonian Dope Gods (a.k.a. "TDG") are an American
hard rock
group, formed in late 1984 by Warren, Ohio high-school friends Randy "RK" Wilson (programming, vocals) and Edward Shimborske III
/ ES3 (vocals, lyrics).
and in area clubs, thanks to local DJ Michael Seday. In the meantime, Wilson relocated to Chicago with the more commercially viable band, Swoo, while Shimborske entered Toledo University and pursued a writing career.
, a label created by Shimborske and Seday, though the band made several appearances on various national compilations. Serving as Sin Klub's president and director of A&R
while attending school and publishing his writing meant Shimborske was unable to devote 100 percent of his time to the Dope Gods. Nevertheless, the duo maintained a small cult following, and, in 2003, re-emerged with their sophomore release, High Idol Pulsation.
), partnered with video-production company Run-And-Gun Studios (TV Land
, Gameboy Advanced), and produced a plethora of remixes (Nitzer Ebb
). Shimborske, on the other hand, kept busy with Sin Klub and issued a series of critically acclaimed releases from regional favorites like Environmental Hazzard (Cleveland), Section 315 (Pittsburgh), False Face Society (Toledo), The Vagiants (Winnipeg), Bleed For Me (Buffalo), Chicken Dog (Toledo), Dead Heroes (Detroit), Geminus Sect (Hickory, NC), Crashdog
(Chicago), and Five Horse Johnson
(Toledo). He later formed Grappler Unlimited with Cleveland International mogul Steve Popovich
, issuing CDs by Bunjie Jambo (Pittsburgh), Porn Flakes (Toledo) and Thieveland (Cleveland).
(Clutch), Mark Pistel
(Consolidated), Evolotto, Keith Bergman and Micah Shimborske (of the PB Army), Steve Pound (Chicken Dog, Gone Daddy Finch), Todd Evans (Gwar
, Mobile Death Camp), Mahlon Orrin (Koufax (band)
), Next2Nothing, (Black Dahlia Murder), Sage Francis
, Ron Holzner (Debris Inc, Trouble, Place of Skulls), Kevin Kekes (Damien, Chastain, Southern Gentlemen), Brad Coffin (Five Horse Johnson
) and members of Chrome Helmet and Highbinder. To date, TDG releases have also featured artwork from internationally celebrated illustrators Dan Yaccarino (Oswald) and Michael William Kaluta
(The Shadow)
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
group, formed in late 1984 by Warren, Ohio high-school friends Randy "RK" Wilson (programming, vocals) and Edward Shimborske III
Edward Shimborske III
Edward Shimborske III is an American record executive, music producer, singer/songwriter, graphic artist, journalist/author, radio personality, lyricist and voice-over artist...
/ ES3 (vocals, lyrics).
Origin
After playing in separate, ragtag rock-based groups, Wilson and ES3 created the TDG as an after-school electronic project with a hard-rock edge, recording in Wilson’s bedroom a few times a week. Their work resulted in several demo tapes from 1985-1990—most of which featured quirky sample-heavy instrumentals—and caught the attention of WMMS, who aired a song during a local-music show. The project’s demos (seeped in Faustian block-prints and Industrial Workers of the World symbols) soon garnered positive press from Alternative Press, the Bowling Green News, and various underground zines. As encouraging press poured in, the duo’s garage-industrial-rock demos began getting extensive airplay on WXUTWXUT
WXUT is a radio station broadcasting an alternative rock format. Licensed to Toledo, Ohio, USA, the station serves the University of Toledo campus. WXUT shares the 88.3 frequency with WXTS-FM, which broadcasts when WXUT is off the air. The station is currently owned by the University of...
and in area clubs, thanks to local DJ Michael Seday. In the meantime, Wilson relocated to Chicago with the more commercially viable band, Swoo, while Shimborske entered Toledo University and pursued a writing career.
Beginnings
The TDG garnered a growing base of followers in the industrial and goth scenes, yet kept a broad-minded, eclectic approach to the music, recording their official debut in Chicago in the early 1990s. With a revolving cast of musicians, a darkly aggressively pulse and introspective lyrics straddling Jungian concepts, theology and evolutionary psychology, the duo kept a steady musical pace, despite their distant locations. The brut of the band’s recordings were issued by Sin Klub EntertainmentSin Klub Entertainment
Sin Klub Entertainment was a Toledo, Ohio based record label owned by Thessalonian Dope Gods vocalist Edward Shimborske III and Michael Seday. The label was created in the 1980s for the purpose of promoting area bands, but evolved into a larger Midwest independent record label...
, a label created by Shimborske and Seday, though the band made several appearances on various national compilations. Serving as Sin Klub's president and director of A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
while attending school and publishing his writing meant Shimborske was unable to devote 100 percent of his time to the Dope Gods. Nevertheless, the duo maintained a small cult following, and, in 2003, re-emerged with their sophomore release, High Idol Pulsation.
Solo pursuits
Both Wilson and ES3 have continually produced other acts while on hiatus from the TDG. Throughout the 1990s, Wilson engineered at several studios in Chicago, performed live, worked as a studio musician (Liz PhairLiz Phair
Phair's entry into the music industry began when she met guitarist Chris Brokaw, a member of the band Come. Brokaw and Phair moved to San Francisco together, and Phair tried to become an artist there...
), partnered with video-production company Run-And-Gun Studios (TV Land
TV Land
TV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
, Gameboy Advanced), and produced a plethora of remixes (Nitzer Ebb
Nitzer Ebb
Nitzer Ebb is a British EBM group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Vaughan "Bon" Harris , Douglas McCarthy , and David Gooday .-Band name:...
). Shimborske, on the other hand, kept busy with Sin Klub and issued a series of critically acclaimed releases from regional favorites like Environmental Hazzard (Cleveland), Section 315 (Pittsburgh), False Face Society (Toledo), The Vagiants (Winnipeg), Bleed For Me (Buffalo), Chicken Dog (Toledo), Dead Heroes (Detroit), Geminus Sect (Hickory, NC), Crashdog
Crashdog
Crashdog was one of the first Christian punk bands and was active primarily in the early 1990s. Most of their albums were released by Grrr recordS, which has also been home to Headnoise, Resurrection Band, and Glenn Kaiser, among others....
(Chicago), and Five Horse Johnson
Five Horse Johnson
Five Horse Johnson is an American blues-rock band, formed in 1995 from Toledo, Ohio. They have toured with such popular groups as Clutch and Halfway to Gone. The band combines hard rock, blues and other influences into a blend of stoner rock/blues music they call their own...
(Toledo). He later formed Grappler Unlimited with Cleveland International mogul Steve Popovich
Steve Popovich
Steve Popovich , was an American record company executive.Popovich was born in Nemacolin, Pennsylvania, and in 1962 started in the warehouse at Columbia Records Cleveland...
, issuing CDs by Bunjie Jambo (Pittsburgh), Porn Flakes (Toledo) and Thieveland (Cleveland).
Collaborations
The TDG typically write and demo all their material first, then select various musicians to learn and replay the material. Thus far, the duo has collaborated with Neil FallonNeil Fallon
Neil P. Fallon is the lead singer and occasional rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and percussionist for the rock band Clutch, and lead singer for The Company Band...
(Clutch), Mark Pistel
Mark Pistel
Mark Pistel is a producer, engineer, programmer, remixer and song writer, who has been working in the genres of Electronic music, Experimental music, Break Beat, Hip-Hop, and Dance, since 1988....
(Consolidated), Evolotto, Keith Bergman and Micah Shimborske (of the PB Army), Steve Pound (Chicken Dog, Gone Daddy Finch), Todd Evans (Gwar
Gwar
Gwar is a satirical heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia, United States, in 1984. The band is best known for its elaborate science fiction/horror film inspired costumes, obscene lyrics and graphic stage performances, which feature humorous enactments of politically and morally taboo...
, Mobile Death Camp), Mahlon Orrin (Koufax (band)
Koufax (band)
Koufax are an indie rock band whose members are from mainly Toledo, Ohio. The band's self-titled debut EP was released in 1999 on independent label Doghouse Records, and got them noticed by The Get Up Kids, who signed them to their label, Vagrant Records subsidiary Heroes and Villains...
), Next2Nothing, (Black Dahlia Murder), Sage Francis
Sage Francis
Paul "Sage" Francis is a hip-hop artist from Providence, Rhode Island.-Biography:Born Paul Francis in Miami, Florida, Sage Francis is a rapper/writer/performer from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of the independent hip-hop record label Strange Famous Records...
, Ron Holzner (Debris Inc, Trouble, Place of Skulls), Kevin Kekes (Damien, Chastain, Southern Gentlemen), Brad Coffin (Five Horse Johnson
Five Horse Johnson
Five Horse Johnson is an American blues-rock band, formed in 1995 from Toledo, Ohio. They have toured with such popular groups as Clutch and Halfway to Gone. The band combines hard rock, blues and other influences into a blend of stoner rock/blues music they call their own...
) and members of Chrome Helmet and Highbinder. To date, TDG releases have also featured artwork from internationally celebrated illustrators Dan Yaccarino (Oswald) and Michael William Kaluta
Michael William Kaluta
Michael William Kaluta, sometimes credited as Mike Kaluta or Michael Wm. Kaluta , is an American comic book artist and writer.-Early life:Born in Guatemala to U.S...
(The Shadow)
Future
The TDG are currently mixing their fourth full-length, writing a concept album, compiling a CD of covers they’ve already recorded and recording demos for their fifth full-length release. Since 2006, the duo have owned and operated Ape Studios in Toledo, Ohio, a three-story complex located downtown with full audio and video capability.Discography
| Year | Record | Song(s) | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Exposed I: Various Artists (compilation) | “Phybl” | Sin Klub Entertainment |
| 1992 | Urban Witchcraft (full-length) | “Urban Witchcraft” | |
| “Murder Incorporated” | |||
| “Sin & Fear Divine" | |||
| “Be Nice” | |||
| “The Destruction of Sennacherib” | |||
| “Wednesday's Child” | |||
| “On a Clear Day... / Crack Vile” | |||
| “Because of Color” | |||
| “I Say Good Bye” | |||
| “Gerald Needs Flesh (Live)" | |||
| “Hesitation” | |||
| 1995 | Exposed 2: Spreading the Disease—Various Artists (compilation) | “R.I.P. Liz ‘69” | |
| 1997 | TV Terror: Felching A Dead Horse—Various Artists (compilation) | “And Then There’s Maud” | Re-Constriction / Cargo |
| 2000 | Exposed 3: Hot-Doggin’ Tha Midwest—Various Artists (compilation) | “Polaris Tongue” | Sin Klub Entertainment Sin Klub Entertainment Sin Klub Entertainment was a Toledo, Ohio based record label owned by Thessalonian Dope Gods vocalist Edward Shimborske III and Michael Seday. The label was created in the 1980s for the purpose of promoting area bands, but evolved into a larger Midwest independent record label... |
| 2003 | High Idol Pulsation (full-length) | “Meat of the Hoof” | Sin Klub Entertainment Sin Klub Entertainment Sin Klub Entertainment was a Toledo, Ohio based record label owned by Thessalonian Dope Gods vocalist Edward Shimborske III and Michael Seday. The label was created in the 1980s for the purpose of promoting area bands, but evolved into a larger Midwest independent record label... / Cargo |
| “Burying the Equilibrium” | |||
| “Only God Is Meaner” | |||
| “Bring in the Witches” | |||
| “12-Gauge Deed” | |||
| “Licking the Stitches, Loving the Bone” | |||
| “I Got You” | |||
| “Handful of Stars, Mouthful of Retch” | |||
| “Scarehead” | |||
| “Rattle” | |||
| “Soup of the Daycare Center” | |||
| 2003 | None More Black: Black Sabbath tribute Various Artists (compilation) (unreleased) | “Digital Bitch” (Black Sabbath cover) | IS Entertainment |
| 2003 | The Harder the Better: Volume 5 -- Various Artists (compilation) | “Curses” | Turkey Vulture Records |
| 2004 | Interbreeding II: Industrial Mutation—Various Artists (compilation) | “Only God Is Meaner (Seventh Plague Remix)” | BLC / Metropolis Records Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based record label, distributor, and mail-order store specializing in the post-industrial field such as electro-industrial, synthpop, futurepop, darkwave, and gothic musical genres.... |
| 2004 | TDG Web Exclusive | “Bring In the Witches (Consolidated Remix)” | TDG website |
| 2005 | Plant Waves: A Robert Plant Tribute—Various Artists (compilation) | “Too Loud” (Robert Plant cover) | Mr. Shark Music |
| 2009 | All Manner of Beast (full-length) | “Volunteer Weapon Inspector” | Good Eye Shimmy |
| “Young Nun” | |||
| “The Uglier Side” | |||
| “Superfrontal Tea Brake” | |||
| “1,000 x No” | |||
| “Sleeping Father” | |||
| “Doom An Evil Deed, Liven A Mood” | |||
| “Swim With the Dolphins, Run With the Bulls” | |||
| “The Greatest Story Never Told” | |||
| “Gangbang Mantra” |