John Darnielle: Difference between revisions

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==Early life==

Born in [[Bloomington, Indiana]], Darnielle grew up in [[San Luis Obispo, California|San Luis Obispo]] and then [[Claremont, California]] with an abusive stepfather.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rodrick|first=Stephen|title=God & Worshipper: A Rock-and-Roll Love Story, of Sorts|url=https://nymag.com/arts/popmusic/features/55031/|website=NYMag.com|date=February 27, 2009 |publisher=New York Magazine|access-date=April 27, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2011/04/spin-interview-john-darnielle/|title=The SPIN Interview: John Darnielle|last=Gross|first=Joe|date=April 1, 2011|website=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|access-date=January 31, 2023}}</ref> The Mountain Goats' 2005 album ''[[The Sunset Tree]]'' is dedicated to his stepfather and frequently references the dysfunction of his upbringing.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wilson|first=Carl|author-link=Carl Wilson (writer)|date=May 7, 2005|title=He's finally confessed, so hold on|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/hes-finally-confessed-so-hold-on/article18226562/|newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]]|access-date=January 31, 2023}}</ref>

 

 

Darnielle attended [[Claremont High School (California)|Claremont High School]], located in the [[Pomona Valley]] region of [[Southern California]]. For a short time after high school, he lived in [[Portland, Oregon]], where he developed an addiction to intravenous [[methamphetamine]] and other hard drugs (as referenced in ''[[We Shall All Be Healed]]'').<ref>{{Cite web |title=Episode 366 - John Darnielle |url=http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_366_-_john_darnielle |access-date=March 11, 2022 |website=WTF with Marc Maron Podcast |date=March 4, 2013 |language=en-US}}</ref> Darnielle worked in the psychiatric ward at the [[Metropolitan State Hospital (California)|Metropolitan State Hospital]] in [[Norwalk, California]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-slow-climb-how-the-mountain-goats-john-darnielle-became-the-best-storyteller-in-rock-227793/|title=How John Darnielle Became Rock's Best Storyteller|first=Christian|last=Hoard|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=April 7, 2015}}</ref> Darnielle attended [[Pitzer College]] from 1991 to 1995, graduating as a double major in Classics and English.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Rosner|first=Helen|author-link=Helen Rosner|date=April 24, 2022|title=John Darnielle Wants to Tell You a Story|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/john-darnielle-wants-to-tell-you-a-story|url-access=limited|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|access-date=January 31, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=September 26, 204|title=John Darnielle '95 Novel ''Wolf in White Van'' Nominated for National Book Award|url=https://www.pitzer.edu/communications/2014/09/26/john-darnielle-95-novel-wolf-white-van-nominated-national-book-award/|work=Pitzer.edu|location=Claremont, California|access-date=January 31, 2023}}</ref>

==Musical career==

{{BLP sources section|date=October 2018}}

 

Darnielle has several series of songs with similar titles or storylines. A series entitled "Going To..." features small stories about various places and includes songs such as "Going to Cleveland", "Going to Maryland", "Going to Georgia", and "Going to Queens".<ref name="annotatedtmg">{{cite web|url=https://annotatedtmg.org/series.html#goingto|website=annotatedtmg.org|title=annotatedtmg.org/series.html#goingto|access-date=January 14, 2022}}</ref> This series explores the futility of running away from one's problems in stark and cryptic detail. There is no reoccurring main character or strong thematic subject linking these similarly titled tracks, and in a 1997 interview with KJHK-Lawrence, Darnielle has described the series as "real loose, though. it's real loose".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.themountaingoats.net/misc/kjhk.html |title=Interview with john darnielle on KJHK-lawrence |website=www.themountaingoats.net |access-date=January 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011019150430/http://www.themountaingoats.net/misc/kjhk.html |archive-date=October 19, 2001 |url-status=dead}}</ref> His "Alpha" series predates his musical career and began as a collection of poems called 'Songs from Alpha Primitive'.<ref name="tumblr">{{cite web|url=https://johndarnielle.tumblr.com/post/53493520474/why-did-you-write-so-many-alpha-songs-did-you|website=johndarnielle.tumblr.com|title=William Caxton Fan Club • why did you write so many alpha songs? did you...|date=117 |access-date=January 14, 2022}}[[Wikipedia:SPS|{{sup|[''self-published'']}}]]</ref> It is about a distressed couple's marriage and history, with such song titles as "Alpha Incipiens", "Alphabetizing", and "Alpha Rats Nest". The band's 2002 album ''[[Tallahassee (album)|Tallahassee]]'' was exclusively about the couple. "Their broader story", Darnielle writes, "involved an alcohol-soaked trek from California through Nevada and then bottom-crawling across the country until they wound up in northern Florida".<ref name="tumblr2">{{cite web|url=https://johndarnielle.tumblr.com/post/46335170309/the-sleeve-that-held-the-boarding-pass-from-my|website=johndarnielle.tumblr.com|title=William Caxton Fan Club • the sleeve that held the boarding pass from my...|date=238 |access-date=January 14, 2022}}[[Wikipedia:SPS|{{sup|[''self-published'']}}]]</ref> Unless otherwise specified in the lyrics, the songs are intended to be sung by either member of the couple.<ref name="tumblr3">{{cite web|url=https://johndarnielle.tumblr.com/post/51682027488/hi-jd-so-long-as-were-sharing-parents-react-to|website=johndarnielle.tumblr.com|title=William Caxton Fan Club • Hi JD: So long as we're sharing Parents React to...|date=136 |access-date=January 14, 2022}}[[Wikipedia:SPS|{{sup|[''self-published'']}}]]</ref> There are a number of songs, not all containing the word 'alpha', that are generally considered to be part of the series, and are explored in more detail on Kyle Barbour's site 'The Annotated Mountain Goats.<ref name="annotatedtmg2">{{cite web|url=https://annotatedtmg.org/series.html#alpha|website=annotatedtmg.org|title=annotatedtmg.org/series.html#alpha|access-date=January 14, 2022}}</ref>

 

===Collaborations===

 

 

In 2008, Darnielle collaborated with [[Kaki King]] on a six-track EP entitled ''[[Black Pear Tree]]''. The project was jointly released under King's name, and the Mountain Goats moniker.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12305-satanic-messiah-ep-black-pear-tree-ep/|title=The Mountain Goats / Kaki King: Satanic Messiah EP / Black Pear Tree EP Album Review|last=Powell|first=Mike|date=October 20, 2008|website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|access-date=January 31, 2023}}</ref> The Mountain Goats and Kaki King subsequently embarked on a co-headlining tour, billed as the ''Last Happy Night of Your Life Tour'', with the EP being sold as a tour-exclusive release throughout.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://glidemagazine.com/12595/kaki-king-announces-us-tour-with-mountain-goats/|title=Kaki King Announces U.S. Tour With Mountain Goats|date=September 21, 2008|access-date=December 21, 2023}}</ref>

 

Darnielle appeared on [[Kimya Dawson]]'s 2011 album ''[[Thunder Thighs]]'', featured on the song "Walk Like Thunder."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kimyadawson1.bandcamp.com/track/walk-like-thunder|title=Walk Like Thunder from Thunder Thighs by Kimya Dawson|website=[[Bandcamp]]|access-date=January 31, 2023}}</ref>

In 2012, Darnielle guest starred in [[John Hodgman]]'s [[podcast]] ''[[Judge John Hodgman]]'' serving as an expert witness<ref name="Judge John Hodgman Episode 73: Gavelbangers Ball">{{cite web|url=http://maximumfun.org/judge-john-hodgman/judge-john-hodgman-episode-73-gavelbangers-ball|title=Judge John Hodgman Episode 73: Gavelbangers Ball|author=MaxFun Intern|date=August 30, 2012|publisher=[[Maximum Fun]]|access-date=January 14, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Judge John Hodgman Episode 74: The Split Screen Decision">{{cite web|url=http://maximumfun.org/judge-john-hodgman/judge-john-hodgman-episode-74-split-screen-decision|title=Judge John Hodgman Episode 74: The Split Screen Decision|author=MaxFun Intern|date=September 6, 2012|publisher=[[Maximum Fun]]|access-date=January 14, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Judge John Hodgman LIVE at SF Sketchfest">{{cite web|url=http://www.maximumfun.org/content/judge-john-hodgman-live-sf-sketchfest|title=Judge John Hodgman LIVE at SF Sketchfest|author=MaxFun Intern|date=January 2, 2013|publisher=[[Maximum Fun]]|access-date=February 16, 2013}}</ref> and musical guest.<ref name="Judge John Hodgman LIVE at SF Sketchfest" />

 

 

In August 2022 Darnielle appeared as a guest on [[Margaret Killjoy|Margaret Killjoy's]] podcast "Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff". Darnielle appeared on the episodes "[[Diggers|The Diggers]], [[Levellers|the Levelers]], [[Ranters|the Ranters]] and John Darnielle" part one and two.<ref>{{cite tweet|user=magpiekilljoy|number=1561715690440105994|date=August 22, 2022|title=on this week's Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff, I talk to @mountain_goats about the Levellers, the Diggers, and the Ranters, some of the 17th century radicals who wanted to get rid of kings, farm communally, and abolish the concept of sin, respectively.|access-date=August 24, 2022}}</ref>

Darnielle has lived in [[Grinnell, Iowa]]; [[Colo, Iowa]]; [[Ames, Iowa]]; [[Chicago, Illinois]]; [[Portland, Oregon]]; and [[Milpitas, California]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}} He currently resides in [[Durham, North Carolina]] with his wife Lalitree Darnielle, a botanist and photographer (who was featured playing the [[banjo]] in the band's 1998 EP ''[[New Asian Cinema]]''<ref name="artistdirect">{{cite web|url=http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,1650670,00.html|author=artist direct|title=New Asian Cinema (album)|website=ARTISTdirect|access-date=January 14, 2022}}</ref>), and sons Roman and Moses.

 

 

 

===Activism===

[[Category:Claremont High School (California) alumni]]

[[Category:American Magic: The Gathering players]]