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Jared Warren
Jared Warren
Background information
Birth Name Jared Warren
Occupation Musician
Genres Alternative Rock, Punk Rock, Sludge Metal, Heavy Metal
Instrument(s) Bass, Vocals
Years active 1990 - Present
Labels K, Kill Rock Stars, Wantage USA, Ipecac, Gold Metal, Joyful Noise, Hydra Head
Associated acts Karp, The Whip, Big Business, Melvins, Tight Bros From Way Back When, White Shit, Unwound

Jared Warren is a musician originating from Washington state. Active since the early 1990s, he would be known early on for the seminal sludge/noise rock band Karp. In the 2000s, among other projects he would be known for his band Big Business and his ten-year tenure with The Melvins, which remains one of the longest tenures with the band as a bassist. He is also currently the bassist for a reunited Unwound, since 2022.

Since his career began in 1990, he has performed on three albums with Karp, six with Big Business and five with Melvins among a plethora of other releases.

Biography[]

Karp[]

Karp was formed around 1990 by the trio of Warren, Jernigan and Smith, all of whom went to the same high school together in Tumwater. Describing the town as a place where no one was into music and finding a mutual friendship through music, the trio began writing heavy sounding music and finding their sense of humor, one of their first 7" records being a subtle jab at the Tumwater T-Birds, the football team of their high school.

In 1994 the band would release, among a host of single and split releases, their debut album Mustaches Wild on K Records. The band would be offered to tour the United States supporting Beck that same year. Finding their momentum the band had followed up with a second album entitled Suplex the next year and toured Japan in support of the album. The next year the band released their third and final album in the form of the literally titled Self Titled LP in April 1996. The band would remain touring over the next year, releasing one last single in 1998 (Prison Shake) before disbanding the same year.

NY-based documentarian Bill Badgley (from the rock band Federation X) released a Karp documentary, entitled Kill All Redneck Pricks, a preview of which was shown in Seattle on 22 October, 2009. This followed with touring the documentary around the United States and eventually releasing it as a double DVD with extras.

The Tight Bros. & The Whip[]

Following the dissolution of Karp, Warren would join Tight Bros. From Way Back When as a lead vocalist, releasing two albums and touring with Melvins. In 2002, Warren, along with former Karp bandmate Scott Jernigan and Joe Preston, would form The Whip. The band would go on to play shows around the Washington area and work towards making an EP or LP, with one single being released the next year on Wantage USA. However tragedy would strike as drummer Scott Jernigan would pass away on 10 June 2003 in a boating accident, ending the band unexpectedly.[1]

On 20 March 2020 Wantage USA would release a full album's worth of material by The Whip, culled from the 7" sessions recorded by Justin Trosper, a session recorded by Preston and a live recording by Mike Ziegler.

Big Business[]

  • For more details, feel free to visit the Riffipedia page on Big Business.

Big Business formed in February 2003 in Seattle by Jared Warren and Coady Willis. Both members at the time of formation were working bars in Seattle and didn't have bands they were actively playing in at the time so the duo began to work together as they "needed some fun in a big way".[2]

Putting out their first demo entitled Tour E.P. 1 in collaboration with Wantage USA the band began playing out in the Seattle and Olympia area, sharing the stage with the likes of Melvins, Mudhoney, Dwarves and High on Fire among others.[3] That same year on 10 November 2004, after signing with Hydra Head Records on 4 August, the band released their debut album Head For The Shallow to critical praise. The band would tour heavily throughout 2005, sharing the stage with the likes of These Arms Are Snakes and Pelican before beginning the next year touring alongside High on Fire in the early 2006 leg of their Blessed Black Wings tour. New songs would be composed and eventually released that same year as Tour E.P. II but a major change came to the band that same year.

Big Business would begin recording their second album in July of 2006 but a few months beforehand both members relocated from Seattle to Los Angeles upon meeting and joining The Melvins as respective bassist and second drummer. This second album was recorded back-to-back with the Melvins album (A) Senile Animal before both bands embarked on an extensive tour of the United States and Europe that year.

Big Business' second studio album Here Comes The Waterworks was released on 6 March 2007 to critical praise, with a release party at All Star Lanes with Qui. The band had worked with David Scott Stone on the record with the intent of him touring but ultimately things fell through, with Dale Crover performing guitar with the band on some live dates at this point.[4] With further touring to follow eventually Totomoshi musician and producer Toshi Kasai would join the group in April 2008, morphing Big Business into a trio.[5]

The band would work through a host of trials and tribulations in recording and constant touring but eventually finish their third album by January 2009.[6] Mind The Drift was released on 31 March 2009 to positive reviews and a full tour of the USA alongside Tweak Bird in support. In the meantime the band would work on a third record with Melvins and eventually add a second guitarist in Scott Martin on 10 August 2010, further morphing the band's sound and making them a quartet.[7]

Now as a four-piece the band would evolve their sounds further, live and in studio, eventually composing the hook-laden Quadruple Single and releasing it on their own imprint Gold Metal Records in 2011. However this incarnation of Big Business would be short-lived as Toshi Kasai would depart from the group the next year, reverting them to a trio. The next year the band would hold a press conference exclaiming the bands fourth album Battlefields Forever, released on 31 October 2013 via Gold Metal,[8][9] an album that saw critical praise. The trio would keep to the road with this lineup until Martin would amicably part in 2014, reverting Big Business back to the iconic duo they had initially formed. Two studio outtakes would see release the next year in the form of True Gold.

2016 would be a triumphant and trying year for the band as one tour would be canceled for medical reasons while at the same time that summer the group released their fifth album (And first in nearly a decade as a duo) Command Your Weather via Gold Metal and Joyful Noise. In an interview with Vice, Coady Willis described the reversion to a duo as "[Going back to a two-piece again] felt like we really pulled together and did something good. We felt hopeful at the same time. We were really excited about it, and it felt like a new beginning.".[10]

In 2017 and announced for a 2018 release the group is releasing a vinyl box set entitled Solid Gold Metal, featuring the first three albums and all three tour EPs along with new artwork and liner notes. The band has since followed with the Summer Safari tour in 2017, followed by a West Coast USA tour in 2018 and a fourth tour EP in the works. On 30 January 2019 just before a tour with Clutch the band would announced their sixth album The Beast You Are with a 12 April release via Joyful Noise.[11] The Beast You Are would attain positive reviews, with the band touring with the likes of Sleep that summer. Big Business have remained active as a touring act into the 2020s.

Melvins[]

For more details, feel free to visit the Riffipedia page on Melvins.

In early 2006, Crover confirmed rumors of the members of the band Big Business joining the Melvins. The initial plan was to get bassist Jared Warren but opted to recruit drummer Coady Willis as well. Commenting on adding another drummer, Crover said this about Big Business drummer Coady Willis: "He's left-handed, so we want to do this 'mirror image' type of thing. We've kind of fused our two drum sets together, and we're going to try and do some crazy thing with it. We're sharing these big toms in between us."

The first show with the "Double-Drum" lineup was on September 6, 2006 at The Library in Sacramento, California. The band toured the U.S. in the fall of 2006 in support of their recent album, (A) Senile Animal to widespread critical acclaim. The Melvins also toured briefly the United Kingdom in mid-December 2006. New songs such as "Billy Fish" and "Suicide in Progress" would show up by the 2007 touring cycle. In July 2008, the second album with Warren and Willis entitled Nude with Boots was released to critical praise. Nude With Boots would rank #1 on Stonerrock.com's Top 28 Albums of 2008.[12]

The Melvins joined with New Orleans' super group Down and Weedeater for a North American tour in the summer and fall of 2009. The Melvins released their follow up to Nude with Boots entitled The Bride Screamed Murder, on June 1, 2010. It ended up being their first album to chart on the Billboard 200, reaching #200 by selling 2,809 copies in the first few weeks.[13]

The Melvins started 2011 with a series of unique shows entitled Spaceland Residency. Four of the shows were every Friday at Spaceland in California. January 7 featured the current line-up playing Colossus of Destiny, Lysol, and Eggnog. Jan 14 featured a Melvins 1983 set followed by the band playing Houdini. Jan 21 featured a two-piece Melvins set followed by the current lineup playing Bullhead. Jan 28 featured the band playing a normal set followed by Stoner Witch. This would eventually lead to the Endless Residency tour in 2011 where the band performed the four albums and eventually do the same tour in Europe in 2013.

In early 2011 they had the unfortunate distinction of being on tour first in Christchurch, New Zealand at the time of the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake then in Tokyo, Japan at the time of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[14]

The Melvins would release a live album via Ipecac entitled Sugar Daddy Live on May 31, 2011. It would eventually spawn a split series with eleven other bands in the form of thirteen releases via Ammphetamine Reptile Records over the span of three years.

The Melvins would shift into multiple lineups but the quartet lineup remained active as well and released a digital EP, The Bulls & The Bees, in March on Scion A/V (With a vinyl edition via Amphetamine Reptile).


Everybody Loves Sausages, an album of cover songs performed with special guests (Such as Scott Kelly, J.G. Thirlwell, Mark Arm, Jello Biafra and HAZE XXL to name a few.), was released by Ipecac on April 30, 2013.[15][16][17] This album featured four tracks with Warren and Willis. The double-drum would perform one date in 2014 and a final tour together in 2015. In 2016, Basses Loaded would see release with the song "Choco Plumbing", the last known song with Warren and Willis.

Other Endeavors[]

  • Warren, along with Coady Willis and Andy Coronado would start a punk rock band called White Shit, putting out three releases between 2009 and 2010.
  • In 2020, Warren participated in a long form career spanning interview on Conan Neutron's Protonic Reversal, speaking about the Whip reissues, Big Business, his time with the Melvins and much more.[18]
  • In September 2022, Sara Lund from Unwound revealed in an interview with Pitchfork that Warren was recruited to play bass on the band's reunion tour, replacing late bassist Vern Rumsey.[19][20]

Bands[]

  • Karp - Bass, Vocals (1990 - 1998)
  • The Tight Bros. From Way Back When - Vocals (1998 - 2001)
  • The Whip - Bass, Vocals (2002 - 2003)
  • Big Business - Bass, Vocals (2003 - Present)
  • Melvins - Bass, Vocals (2006 - 2015)
  • White Shit - Bass, Vocals (2009 - Present?)
  • Unwound - Live Bass (2022 - Present)

Selected Discography[]

With Karp[]

  • Mustaches Wild (1994, K Records)
  • Suplex (1995, K Records)
  • Self Titled LP (1996, K Records)

With Tight Bros From Way Back When[]

  • Take You Higher (7" Single) (1998, Ten-in-One)
  • Runnin' Thru My Bones (Studio Album) (1999, Kill Rock Stars)
  • Lend You A Hand (Studio Album) (2001, Kill Rock Stars)

With The Whip[]

  • Freelance Liaison / Sheep and Goat Judgement (2003, Wantage USA)
  • The Whip (2020, Wantage USA)

With Big Business[]

  • Head For The Shallow (2004, Hydra Head)
  • Here Come The Waterworks (2007, Hydra Head)
  • Mind The Drift (2009, Hydra Head)
  • Quadruple Single (EP) (2011, Gold Metal)
  • Battlefields Forever (2013, Gold Metal)
  • Command Your Weather (2016, Gold Metal / Joyful Noise)
  • The Beast You Are (2019, Gold Metal / Joyful Noise)

With Melvins[]

With White Shit[]

  • Sculpted Beef (Studio Album) (2009, Post Present Medium)
  • White Shi'ite (10" EP) (2009, Wantage USA)
  • NCAACP EP (Split with Megafuckers) (2010, Limited Appeal)
  • Carry Me (7" Single) (2010, Post Present Medium)

External Links[]

References[]

  V·T·E Melvins
Current Members Buzz OsborneDale CroverSteven McDonald
Past Members Mike DillardMatt LukinLori BlackJoe PrestonMark DeutromKevin RutmanisTrevor DunnJared WarrenCoady WillisJeff Pinkus
Albums Gluey Porch TreatmentsOzmaBullheadLysolHoudiniPrickStoner WitchStagHonkyThe MaggotThe BootlickerThe CrybabyElectroretardHostile Ambient TakeoverPigs of The Roman EmpireNever Breathe What You Can't See(A) Senile AnimalNude With BootsThe Bride Screamed MurderFreak PukeEverybody Loves SausagesTres CabronesHold It InThree Men And A BabyBasses LoadedA Walk With Love and DeathPinkus Abortion TechnicianWorking With GodFive Legged DogBad Mood RisingThrobbing Jazz Gristle Funk HitsTarantula Heart
Select Extended Plays and Splits Six SongsEggnogNight GoatKing Buzzo (EP)Dale Crover (EP)Joe Preston (EP)Interstellar OverdriveSmash The StateSludge GlamorousHurray For Me Fuk YouThe Bulls & The BeesHigh Desert OverdoseSteven McDonald (EP)SabbathHot FishBangersEscape From LAWhite Lazy BoyMulletSlithering SlaughterThe Devil You Knew, The Devil You KnowControlling Data For a Better Feeling Future
Live Albums & Videos Your Choice Live Vol. 12Salad of a Thousand DelightsTora Tora ToraAlive At The F*cker ClubLive At Slim's 8-Track TapeColossus of DestinyA Live History of Gluttony and LustThe EndMelvins Vs. MinneapolisPick Your BattlesEndless ResidencySugar Daddy LiveMelvins Live At Third Man RecordsAround The USA in 51 Days: The Movie!The Colossus of Destiny: A Melvins TaleLive Stream Obscene
Compilations Singles 1-1226 SongsNeither Here Nor ThereMangled Demos From 1983Sieg Howdy!The Making Love DemosChicken Switch
Associated Bands and Artists Nirvana • Fantomas • Butthole Surfers • Redd Kross • Mr. Bungle • AltamontPorn (The Men Of)ShrinebuilderOFF!Crystal FairyCrystal Fairy (Album)Big BusinessBilly AndersonAcid KingSawed OffMelvanaDrumbWe Reach: The Music of The Melvins
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