Biography:

Menomena are an experimental rock band from Portland, Oregon, made up of Brent Knopf on guitar, keyboards, glockenspiel; Justin Harris on bass, guitar, baritone sax and alto sax; and Danny Seim on percussion. All members of the band share singing duties.

Menomena began as a side project of Danny Seim’s late 90’s solo project Lackthereof, a project which still continues.

They self-released their first album, I Am the Fun Blame Monster!, in 2003 and had the album released nationwide by FILMguerrero in 2004 (I Am the Fun Blame Monster is an anagram for The First Menomena Album). In August of 2006, Menomena signed with Barsuk Records although the band still maintains a relationship with their old label, FILMguerrero.
Menomena released their next album in 2007, titled Friend and Foe.
The band’s name was chosen for “the way it rolls off the tongue, sexually, or something” and has no specific meaning, although it is often assumed to refer to the Piero Umiliani song “Mah Nà Mah Nà”, a staple of The Muppet Show. A recent audioclip from SpotDJ had Brent stating that the band name was a contraction of the words “Men” and “Phenomena”. This is most likely a joke.

Discography:

I Am the Fun Blame Monster! CD/LP 2004
Under an Hour CD 2005
Friend and Foe CD/LP 2007

Scissors and Blue split EP w/ Societa Anonima 2001
Rose EP 2001
Wet and Rusting EP 2006
Posh Isolation / Tung Track 7″ 2005

Wet and Rusting / Gay A 7″ 2007

www.music.podshow.com

www.myspace.com/menomena

www.menomena.com

Menomena began as a side project of Seim’s late ’90s solo project Lackthereof, a project which still continues.

The band formed in late 2000, when Knopf graduated from Dartmouth College and returned to Portland to collaborate with Harris and Seim.

The name “Menomena” was chosen for “the way it rolls off the tongue, sexually, or something” and has no specific meaning, although it is often assumed to refer to the Piero Umiliani song “Mah Nà Mah Nà”, a staple of The Muppet Show. A recent audioclip from SpotDJ had Brent sarcastically stating that the band name was a contraction of the words “Men” and “Phenomena”.

Menomena played their first show at The Meow Meow, a now-defunct all ages venue in Portland, in July 2001. The trio opened their debut performance with a cover version of “The Abandoned Hospital Ship” by The Flaming Lips.

Shortly after joining the roster of High Road Touring, a San Francisco-based booking agency, Menomena drove a 1977 Dodge Sportsman RV on their first U.S. tour in 2004. The aging vehicle suffered many breakdowns along the way. Knopf detailed these issues in an interview with Spin (magazine), “Systems that failed (and had to be replaced) during the tour included the following: tires, muffler, brake master cylinder, exhaust manifold, windshield wipers, horn, side-view mirrors (both fell off). Oh, and did I mention that there were two fires? Not one. Two. This vehicle promptly earned the moniker ‘RV Danger.’”. RV Danger (most likely a reference to Seattle band Harvey Danger) was later immortalized in a tour poster illustrated by Tyler Stout, who has collaborated with the band on numerous occasions. Other notable tours in Menomena’s early career were with Gang Of Four, The National, and The Long Winters.

After several releases and national tours, Menomena signed with Barsuk Records in August 2006. The band still maintains a relationship with their original label, FILMguerrero. It was stated that FILMguerrero will continue be involved in their back catalog and possibly with future vinyl releases.

Menomena signed a contract with Germany-based record label City Slang, to release their album Friend and Foe across Europe on August 31, 2007. The band toured Europe twice that year, and their adventures were extensively chronicled by Seim in a Blog for a Portland-based website called Local Cut.