CRAIG WEDREN – BIO

Craig Wedren first gained notice as the dynamic, multi-octave-wielding frontman of Shudder to Think – one of the first Washington, D.C. bands to make the transition from the revered Dischord punk label to the majors during the grunge era. Indeed, Vanity Fair called Wedren “the Freddie Mercury of Dischord.” 

 

With its eccentric song structures and complex time signatures, Shudder to Think would prove a significant influence on math rock, post-hardcore, and emo – at the same time making fans of diverse luminaries spanning Jeff Buckley to Deftones to Cursive. The likes of Incubus and Pearl Jam have also been known to cover Shudder to Think in their live shows. As Shudder to Think wound down in the late-’90s, Wedren began to pursue new, vital sonic avenues of his own.

 

From 2005’s Lapland (Team Love) to 2017’s Adult Desire (his own Pink Ape label), Wedren has released a series of solo albums and related collaborative projects. At the same time, Wedren’s music has become an essential part of some of film and television’s most popular and lauded shows. Beginning with the soundtracks for the late-'90s films High Art and First Love, Last Rites along with his Shudder to Think bandmates, Craig’s composing resume has gone on to include extensively working with director Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right) and David Wain (Role Models, Wet Hot American Summer). Wedren would go on to create evocative, decidedly contemporary scores for cultural-touchstone films and television series including The School of Rock, Laurel Canyon, Reno 911!, GLOW (Netflix), Fresh Off the Boat (ABC), Shrill (Hulu), New Amsterdam (NBC) and, most recently, the wildly popular Showtime® series YELLOWJACKETS.

In recent years, Wedren’s endlessly creative spirit has also seen him release Adult Desire 360--a VR app comprised of 360° panoramic music videos featuring songs from his album Adult Desire; share the limited edition hard-bound book My '90s, featuring photos he took on his Polaroid Spectra in the 1990s and early 2000’s that documented his late nights and early mornings on the road with Shudder to Think and time with friends including Fugazi, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, members of The State and more; and Sabbath Sessions, his multi-episode podcast featuring musical meditations that represent his first explorations of ambient choral music, where Wedren’s technique of sampling and looping his famously elastic voice results in a unique kind of sound bath.