Your Favorite Band's Side Project

Introduction

One of the best things about music is the collaboration and connection it brings. Whether you’re just singing along to your favorite album, or jamming out with a group of your friends, music has a way of bringing people together. A great example of this is how many amazing bands started out as one-off-collaborations or as side projects. This article will discuss which of your favorite band members can be found making music elsewhere, just how many of these “side projects” they have, and what the motivation is for a musician to branch out into a new group. Without any further ado, let’s get started. 

Pantera’s Lead Singer - Phil Anselmo

We all know Anselmo as the frontman of Heavy Metal supergroup, Pantera, but Phil sure knew how to keep himself busy! He’s been in quite the handful of bands, but the most popular is Superjoint Ritual. Superjoint Ritual is another metal/hardcore band founded in 1990 by Anselmo himself. It wasn’t until almost a whole decade later, after Pantera disbanded, that they recorded their first album. They recorded three studio albums before they went their separate ways in 2004. Besides Pantera and Superjoint Ritual, Anselmo has also been in bands like Samhain (the very first band he joined), and many more. He also owns a recording company called Housecore Records, which he founded in 2001. Anselmo’s goal when starting his record company was to bring a more “home-made” feeling to the music scene, getting rid of the overproduced sound he felt was present in a lot of music. He wanted to allow himself, and other musicians, to create and express themselves more freely. Whether it’s his work running Housecore Records, or making music with any number of his bands, you can tell Phil Anselmo is passionate about what he does.

The Gorillaz - Blur’s Response to the “Boy Band Explosion”

You may have heard of Damon Albarn, frontman and lead singer of 1988 rock band Blur, but did you know he’s also half of the creative duo that started The Gorillaz? It all started when he and comic book artist, Jamie Hewlett, decided to live together. One of the things the roommates would do together was watch MTV, and they weren’t fans of what they saw. It was the late 1990’s - boy bands were just starting to take over mainstream music, and Albarn and Hewlett both felt that these groups were overly manufactured. So what did they do? They manufactured a band all their own, produced their own “band members” and got to work writing. The two came up with in-depth characters, and stories for each of them. Hewlett was in charge of bringing them to life with his comic drawing skills, and Albarn was in charge of giving them their voice & their sound. They use the multi-genre music of the band, along with the character’s personalities, backstories, and overall design, to comment on the state of music and the world around us. 

The Postal Service - Death Cab for Cutie meets DNTEL

The Postal Service is an indie pop band that made their debut in 2003. It all started when Ben Gibbard, lead vocalist from Death Cab for Cutie, was invited to record backing vocals for Jimmy Tamborello’s (aka DNTEL)  album Life is Full of Possibilities (2001). The two enjoyed creating together so much that they started working on an EP of remixes. They used songs from artists like The Flaming Lips, and invited Jenny Lewis to do background vocals on some of the tracks. This EP was met with such wide approval that the group decided to keep going, leading to the release of their album, Give Up (2003). There had been talk of another album starting back in 2007, but both Gibbard and Tamborello just didn’t have enough time to sit down and write together. Unfortunately for fans, by the time 2012 rolled around both artists agreed that it was very unlikely that there would ever be a second album from the group. That being said, Gibbard and Tamborello still enjoy collaborating together and will bounce ideas off one another from time to time. 

Jack White and his Passion Projects

Back in 2001 Jack White and his at-the-time-wife, Meg White decided to start a little band called The White Stripes. For a while before this, he had been a member of a few underground bands, but after finding little success, he discovered that he had a much better time playing alongside his wife Megan. Their third album together, White Blood Cells (2001) brought them their breakthrough, meanwhile, Jack began collaborating with other musicians. One of these musicians was Brenden Benson, and the two enjoyed working together so much that they decided to form The Raconteurs in 2005. Three years later, while touring with The Raconteurs, Jack lost his voice. On the nights that he couldn’t sing, he had Alison Mosshart from The Kills, who had been doing background vocals for them, perform his parts. Because of this, Jack found yet another person he enjoyed working with, and along with Mosshart he started the band, The Dead Weather. On top of being a part of three different rock bands, Jack White also owns the record label Third Man records. Not only does Third Man Records work alongside musicians such as Billie Eilish and Neil Young, they also help local school kids learn how to record their own music. Clearly, Jack White is a dedicated musician who loves what he does, and also loves sharing his passion with the people around him. 

Atoms For Peace - A real who’s-who of the rock scene

Atoms For Peace is an electronic rock band whose member line up might sound a little familiar. There’s Radiohead songwriter, and founder of Atoms For Peace, Thom Yorke (vocals/guitar/piano,) Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers (bass guitar,) Joey Waronker from both Beck and R.E.M. (percussion) and Mauro Refosco from Forro in the Dark (percussion.) After reading that list of names, you’d probably be surprised to hear that Atoms For Peace actually started out as a solo project! It all began back in 2009 when Yorke wanted to perform songs from his solo album, The Eraser (2006). It was while performing his originals that he realized that they didn’t really sound good being played acoustically, so he got some friends together and started the band. They all started writing together, and eventually Amok (2013), their debut album was born! The rest, as they say, is history.

Conclusion

Music is one of those things that just brings people together, and it’s hard to deny when you see all of these people from different bands and creative projects coming together to bring an idea to fruition. From the members of Gorillaz (who, fun fact, did NOT like each other when they first met) or writing something with your wife or best friend, you just can’t escape it. I hope that the music you find with us here at Hollow Bone helps you feel connected to something. Thanks for reading!

-Bee Zak 

Hollow Bone Records Employee