The Prids

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The Prids

Country	Portland, Oregon, United States
Years active	1998–present
Genres	Post-Punk New Wave Indie
Labels	Five03 Luminal This-A-Way
Members	David Frederickson - guitar, vocals Mistina Keith - bass, vocals Joey Maas - drums Eric Hold - keyboards
Past members	Lee Zeman - drums (2002-2005) Jairus Smith - drums, keyboards (1998-2003) Trenor Rapki - keyboards (1998-2002)
Website(s)	theprids.com

1 The Prids
2 References
- 2.1 Other related artists from Portland, Oregon

[edit] The Prids

[edit] What Is A Prid?

The Prids are a band from Portland, OR. The quartet's music can be categorized as a blend of dark new wave and post-punk, influenced by bands such as The Chameleons, The Smiths, Joy Division and New Order, Depeche Mode, The Sound, and Sonic Youth. In the burgeoning American post-punk revival, they are the Pacific Northwest's vanguard band, comparable to Interpol in New York City and I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness in Texas.

Founded in Saint Joseph, Missouri in the late '90s by David and Mistina, they continued to develop in Omaha, Nebraska and Lincoln, Nebraska (where they befriended and were influenced by Eighties post-punk band For Against, whose guitarist Harry Dingman III created the artwork for Prids EP "Duracraft", before relocating to Portland, Oregon.

The Prids follow a strong DIY ethic similar to that of Fugazi including recording their own records in their house in Portland, Oregon - with the exception of the latest release, Until the World Is Beautiful (Five03 Records). In addition, former Prids drummer Lee Zeman screenprints all of their t-shirts and stickers and the band books their own tours, prints their own buttons, and drives their own van around the country.

[edit] Of Note...

All four members live a strict vegan lifestyle and hold strong political beliefs, which influence their writing style. Being politically driven, The Prids take a stance on animal rights ^[1]and don't deliver the stereotypical music usually fueled by vegetarian artists. Their move from Lincoln to Portland was driven by their desire to be surrounded by fellow compassionates. In addition, The Prids spend their time and energy performing at benefits for animal rights groups such as SHAC7^[2] and shops such as Food Fight (vegan grocery)^[3]. Additionally, local Portland artists design their record covers such as Mike Scheer^[4], who has also done covers for Built to Spill, Treepeople and Steve Fisk.

With the exception of drummer, Joey Maas who lives in Seattle, WA, The Prids reside communally in Portland in a house dubbed "The Compound". David and Mistina are one of the famous "former couples" bands in rock history, like X and Fleetwood Mac, and the two continue to live, write and record together. In fact, the name, "The Prids" comes from a pet name that the two had for each other.

The Prids have toured the U.S. several times^[5] and supported international acts such as The Faint, TV on the Radio, The Rapture, Jarboe (formerly of Swans) and Built to Spill^[6]. They are also renowned in their hometown of Portland. Their music is played on dozens of college radio stations as well as national stations, and they have been interviewed on The Joey Reynolds show on WOR Radio^[7] as well as KPSU^[8] ^[9] in Portland and other local stations. The Prids have received national and local press praising their work in publications such as Spin.com^[10], Punk Planet, L.A. Weekly, Seattle Stranger, and West Coast Performer.