California's Shaun Fleming, the alter-ego for Dianne Coffee, has spent some important moments of his life in entertainment. At 15, he starred in the opening sequence of Jeepers Creepers II (2003) where he is quickly mauled by the title monster. In 2004, he worked as a voice actor on two animated films from Disney including The Lion King 1 1/2 (2004).Moving to NYC in 2005, Shaun became a founding member of the 60's psychedelia and avant-garde band Foxygen with friends Sam France, Jonathan Rado and Justin Nijssen. The band gradually became a hit in clubs and college radio culminating with their album "We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic" released in January of 2013. However, the group's raucous, highly active performances contributed to singer Sam France breaking his leg at a gig at First Avenue in Minneapolis on July 29th 2013.
This freed up Dianne Coffee who was on the back burner for Fleming since December of 2012. Fleming's "My Friend Fish" was released by Western Viynl in October in 2013. It's a stand-out album, featured at SXSW, that blends elements from soul, Motown, classic R&B with 1960's acts like Donovan and The Beatles.
References:
- Wikipedia, Dianne Coffee
- IMDB, Shaun Fleming
- Facebook, Dianne Coffee
The Psychic Ills, founded in 2003, do not sound like what you think a typical NYC act sounds like. There's no punk aesthetic, for one. It's almost entirely low key and down tempo music that is only briefly punctuated by frantic orchestral movements. This technique may symbolize the experience of emotional turmoil coming in the middle of a deep desire for tranquility - a jarring thing surrounded by waves of euphoric bliss. Each album sounds different and distinctive, sometimes using altogether different types of instruments such as electronic/drum machines on 2003's debut "Early Violence" to create this effect and also finding a way for each album to come from it's own sonic "place" with more of a retro approach as heard on "Dins" released in 2006.