His Name Is Alive

His Name Is Alive is a band from Livonia, Michigan, essentially the personal project of musician Warren Defever.

Defever began recording as His Name Is Alive in 1986, inspired by art rock bands such as This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins. In the early years of the band the vocalists were first Angie Carozzo and later Karin Oliver, a classmate of Defever in his freshman year at Eastern Michigan University before he dropped out to concentrate on music. Three cassettes were released, which attracted the attention of influential British record label 4AD. Livonia, His Name Is Alive's first album, was released in 1990.

1991 saw the release of Home Is In Your Head. Here Defever moved from the ethereal atmospherics of Livonia to sparser arrangements. The album is noteworthy for its grim tone and the conciseness of its 23 tracks (some only a minute long).

Mouth By Mouth appeared in 1993 and saw Defever give more of a role to outside musicians, including new drummer Trey Many. Half of the tracks on the album were actually provided by the band The Dirt Eaters, of which Defever was a member. The album features a more alternative sound, in contrast to the art rock of earlier efforts.

In 1996, after three years of recording, Stars On E.S.P. was released. Here the band changed styles yet again, providing an album full of oldies and surf-influenced lo-fi rock. 1998's Ft. Lake was similar, but new vocalist Lovetta Pippen contributed two soul-influenced tracks.

In 2000 Defever, after dismissing longtime vocalist Karin Oliver and moving Lovetta Pippen to the forefront, made the controversial move from rock to rhythm and blues and jazz. Someday My Blues Will Cover The Earth, delayed for over a year so that the design firm v23 could finish its ambitious artwork, saw the light in 2001. Last Night followed in 2002.

In late 2002 it was announced that His Name Is Alive were no longer a member of 4AD, with some rumors indicating the band was dropped, and others that it was an amicable parting. The activity of His Name Is Alive continues, however, through self-released and independent albums. By late 2003, a timeSTEREO CD release of a new, primarily instrumental His Name Is Alive album, Brown Rice - so named after Defever's new studio, was available for sale at select shows and was later made available via the timeSTEREO site in 2004. Detroit River, a collection of remixes and alternate takes of recent material, was sold at shows in 2004.

Independent releases

Defever is a prolific musician, and His Name Is Alive's output is by no means limited to 4AD, though its most accessible albums were released by the label. In 1993 King Of Sweet a collection of three homemade cassettes limited to 2000 copies, was released by independent label Perdition Plastics. It remains highly sought by collectors.

After recording Stars On E.S.P., a grueling effort which required three years, Defever jokingly spoke of having an album which would appear in the event he was killed or incapacitated. This Emergency Album, recorded in 1998, was to be released by 4AD as a limited edition item, but instead appeared in 2000 self-released.

With his friend Davin Brainard, Defever provides a great deal of His Name Is Alive through his home record label timeSTEREO.

External links

• [1] (http://www.timestereo.com) timeSTEREO
• [2] (http://www.hisnameisalive.com) Official His Name Is Alive site
• HNIA (http://quimby.gnus.org/html/group/hisnameisalive.html) at the Eyesore Database