MewithoutYou

{{More citations needed|section|date=December 2021}}

The band was originally conceived as a side project. The Weiss brothers, Aaron and Michael, together with guitarist Christopher Kleinberg, were playing together in another band, called the Operation, with bassist Greg Jehanian. Aaron wanted to start another project, to experiment with new sounds. With the help of Ricky Mazzotta, Ray Taddeo, and his brother Mike, Aaron formed what is now formally known as mewithoutYou. At first, the band was a four-piece, with Aaron on both bass and vocals. However, in only a few months, Chris Kleinberg joined to play third guitar. The band released their first EP, I Never Said That I Was Brave, in 2001 and shortly thereafter signed to Tooth & Nail Records after a show at Cornerstone Festival the same year. Around this time, Taddeo had moved on, and Daniel Pishock was recruited to be the first official bass player of the band. The Operation disbanded soon after, and mewithoutYou's debut full-length album, [A→B] Life, was released in 2002. The band garnered more attention for their second release, 2004's Catch for Us the Foxes, which was produced by Brad Wood. In December 2004, Pishock had made the decision to retire bass duties in order to pursue a career in teaching and explore other musical ventures, and former Operation frontman, Greg Jehanian, was selected to replace him. In 2005, they won mtvU's Left Field award for most original artist, for their song "January 1979". Their third album, Brother, Sister, again produced by Wood, was released on September 26, 2006. In late 2007, Kleinberg left the band to pursue a degree in medicine. Pete Syoum filled in on guitar in the fall of 2007, but later, Kleinberg returned to play with the band on their 2008 summer tour.

In September 2008, the band finished recording the follow-up to Brother, Sister, titled It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright. The name of the album is taken from parable 518 in the book The Golden Words of a Sufi Sheikh, by Bawa Muhaiyaddeen.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4gbhnNuEPbcC |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4gbhnNuEPbcC/page/n249 221] |quote=It's all false, It's all a dream, It's all crazy, It's all over, It's all right, Let's see what's next. |title=The Golden Words of a Sufi Sheikh |publisher=The Fellowship Press |access-date=February 6, 2012|isbn=9780914390732 |last1=Bawa Muhaiyaddeen |first1=M. R. |year=2006 }} The album was a departure from Weiss' trademark shouting and the band's rough grooves. The fast rants, thick with lyrical angst, were traded for simpler melodies with lyrics about anthropomorphic food and animals. Similarly, the band scaled back their edgier post-hardcore sound, at times trading riffs for chords and guitars for pianos and harp; a classical composer was called into their Fishtown, Philadelphia studio for various arrangements on several tracks.{{cite web|author=US |url=http://www.myspace.com/mewithoutyou/blog/529731416 |title=Please support our composer, Joshua Stamper |website=Myspace|date=February 23, 2010 |access-date=January 22, 2011}} The album was produced by Dan Smith and Brian McTear, and mixed by Brad Wood.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}}

The band toured in a 42-foot 1976 MC8 Charter bus that ran on vegetable oil.[http://www.synthesis.net/music/interview/item-4961/2006-12-07-jeremy_enigk_and_aaron_weiss Synthesis Interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218113247/http://www.synthesis.net/music/interview/item-4961/2006-12-07-jeremy_enigk_and_aaron_weiss |date=February 18, 2008 }} Jeremy Enigk and Aaron Weiss Catch Up as the World Waits, December 7, 2006mewithoutYou, [https://twitter.com/mewithoutYou/status/738864885124079616 "Been a lot of good years, adios nameless metal entity that made our band feasible with family and friends #sad"], Twitter

In 2011, they added Brandon Beaver of Buried Beds to play second guitar, as stated on their blog by Rickie Mazzotta.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}} In August 2011, Mazzotta stated in an interview that the band had parted ways with Tooth & Nail Records, due to perceived restrictions placed on them by the label. They hinted at starting their own label as they prepared to release their fifth album.[http://propertyofzack.com/post/9635412288/propertyofzack-interview-mewithoutyou] mewithoutYou leaves Tooth & Nail Other band members, however, expressed satisfaction with and gratitude and affection toward their old label, citing different reasons for ceasing to work with them: namely, having completed their contract, the declining relevance of record labels in the current music world, and simply the excitement to try something new.{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}}

In February 2011, Alternative Press announced that the band's fifth album, due in early 2012, would be produced by Daniel Smith.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}} Thirteen songs were recorded in the studio sessions, eleven planned for the album, and two b-sides.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/in_the_studio_mewithoutyou|title=In the Studio: mewithoutYou|magazine=Alternative Press|date=February 2, 2012|access-date=March 11, 2012}} On May 8, 2012, the band announced on their blog that a pre-release of Ten Stories could be streamed in its entirety on Spotify.{{cite web |author=dsq_thread_id |url=http://mewithoutyou.com/ten-stories-spotify-early-stream/ |title=Ten Stories Streaming on Spotify |publisher=mewithoutYou |access-date=May 9, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516233408/http://mewithoutyou.com/ten-stories-spotify-early-stream/ |archive-date=May 16, 2012 }}

In April 2014, the band announced a Catch for Us the Foxes ten-year anniversary tour along the US west coast and southwest,{{cite web|url=http://mewithoutyou.com/catch10yearanniversarytour/|title=Catch for us the Foxes 10 Year Anniversary Tour|publisher=mewithoutYou.com|date=April 22, 2014|access-date=September 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912140936/http://mewithoutyou.com/catch10yearanniversarytour/|archive-date=September 12, 2014|url-status=dead}}{{Better source|date=September 2014|reason=This is a primary source and if it's important, should be discussed in a secondary source.}} followed by a second leg along the east coast.{{cite web|url=http://mewithoutyou.com/catch-for-us-the-foxes-10-year-tour-extended-to-east-coast/|title=Catch for us the Foxes 10 Year Tour Extended to East Coast|publisher=mewithoutYou.com|date=July 16, 2014|access-date=September 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912140837/http://mewithoutyou.com/catch-for-us-the-foxes-10-year-tour-extended-to-east-coast/|archive-date=September 12, 2014|url-status=dead}}{{Better source|date=September 2014|reason=This is a primary source and if it's important, should be discussed in a secondary source.}} In September 2014, they announced a vinyl reissue of the album.{{cite web|url=http://mewithoutyou.com/catch-for-us-the-foxes-vinyl-re-issue/|title=Catch for us the Foxes Vinyl ReIssue|publisher=mewithoutYou.com|date=September 9, 2014|access-date=September 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912140618/http://mewithoutyou.com/catch-for-us-the-foxes-vinyl-re-issue/|archive-date=September 12, 2014|url-status=dead}}{{Better source|date=September 2014|reason=This is a primary source and if it's important, should be discussed in a secondary source.}}

In March 2015, they stated that their sixth album would be released in mid-2015 on Run For Cover Records,{{cite web|url=http://mewithoutyou.com/blogs/news/17493576-new-album-this-summer-on-run-for-cover-records|title=New Album This Summer on Run For Cover Records|publisher=mewithoutYou.com|date= March 17, 2015|access-date=April 14, 2015}} and in April 2015, they announced that they would support their album Pale Horses with a mid-year tour and revealed that the record would be released on June 16.{{cite web|url=http://mewithoutyou.com/blogs/news/18006028-announcing-album-title-release-date-summer-tour|title=Announcing: Album Title & Release Date + Summer Tour|publisher=mewithoutYou.com|date=April 14, 2015|access-date=April 14, 2015}}

On August 11, 2017, the band announced an [A→B] Life 15th-anniversary tour with Pianos Become the Teeth, Strawberry Girls, and Slow Mass and also reissued the album on vinyl and cassette.{{cite web|url=https://mewithoutyou.com/blogs/news/a-b-life-15-year-anniversary|title=[A-->B] Life 15 Year Anniversary|access-date=August 11, 2017}}

On August 13, 2018, they touted the release of a new single, "Julia (or, 'Holy to the LORD' on the Bells of Horses)", from their seventh album. The single was published on Run for Cover Records. In an interview with Billboard, the band confirmed that Will Yip would be returning to produce the new record.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/podcasts/8448710/mewithoutyou-interview-paramore-cruise-alternative-facts-podcast|title=#AlternativeFacts Podcast: mewithoutYou Call New LP 'Trippy in a Heavy Sense' Aboard Paramore Cruise|magazine=Billboard|access-date=August 13, 2018}} The album [Untitled] was released on October 5, 2018.{{cite web|url=https://mewithoutyou.com/blogs/albums/untitled-album-2018|title=[Untitled] (2018)|publisher=mewithoutyou.com |date=October 5, 2018 |access-date=February 24, 2019}}

In October 2019, they announced that 2020 would be their final year as an active band.{{cite web |title=pic.twitter.com/qPZXZt3sjt |url=https://twitter.com/mewithoutYou/status/1185998786352553990 |website=@mewithoutYou |access-date=October 20, 2019 |date=October 20, 2019}} Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they extended the timeline of their farewell, stating that 2022 would be their last active year. The band played their final gigs in August 2022.{{cite web|url=https://xpn.org/2022/08/25/mewithoutyou-final-show/|title=Farewell, mewithoutYou: Scenes from the Philly post-hardcore faves' final show|date=August 25, 2022|author=Vettese. John|publisher=XPN}}

The Weiss brothers are of Jewish descent and their songs use Jewish, Muslim, and Christian imagery to explore spiritual themes. The two were raised in a Sufi Muslim household; their mother had converted from the Episcopal church and their father from Judaism.{{cite web

| url = http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/busted-me-without-you/

| title = Busted: mewithoutYou | last = Fink | first = Matt

| year = 2007

| work = BustedHalo.com | page = 1

| quote = "So my dad was raised Jewish and became Sufi, but he still identifies himself as a Jew. My mom was raised Episcopalian and she converted thoroughly to Sufi Islam." "Its not like I'm offended if someone says we're a Christian band. I just don't think it's true. I don't think we live up to that calling, so I'd be reluctant to go saying that| access-date =September 4, 2008

}} Due to the Christian imagery in some of Aaron Weiss' lyrics, the band has been categorized as a Christian band, although in an interview, Aaron stated he does not think they are a Christian band. He added that their lyrics reflect a personal relationship with God and are not evangelistic. Other lyrical themes explored include suffering and self-doubt.

Many lyrics are taken from the Sufi poet Rumi, including the song "The Cure for Pain" from [A→B] Life and a line in the song "Seven Sisters" from Catch for Us the Foxes.q:Rumi

In the song "Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt", from their album [A→B] Life, Aaron' lyrics are based on a poem from the metaphysical poet John Donne, called "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning". Donne wrote the poem to his wife to explain that there is no need for dreading their physical separation or distance because their spiritual love will always keep them together.

The title of the band's second album, Catch for Us the Foxes, is taken directly from Song of Songs 2:15: "Catch for us the foxes, / the little foxes / that ruin the vineyards, / our vineyards that are in bloom" (New International Version).{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Song%20of%20Songs%202:15;&version=31; |title=Song of Songs 2:15, NIV |publisher=Biblegateway.com |access-date=February 6, 2012}}

In a 2007 interview,{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAVSwBAUlBs |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/AAVSwBAUlBs| archive-date=December 12, 2021 |url-status=live|title=(question asked by audience member at 4:31) |publisher=Youtube |access-date=March 2, 2012}}{{cbignore}} Aaron Weiss stated that the title of their third album, Brother, Sister, comes from a verse in the Bhagavad Gita.Bhagavad Gita 11:19, "You are without beginning, middle, or end; you touch everything with your infinite power. The sun and moon are your eyes, and your mouth is fire; your radiance warms the cosmos."

The band's fourth album, It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright, explores many of the teachings of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. The Sufi teacher's story of "The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie" from My Love You My Children: 101 Stories for Children{{cite web|url=http://www.bmfstore.com/Scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=33 |title=Children's Stories : Sufi Books, Audio and Videos by M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen | Books on Sufism : Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship Online Bookstore |publisher=Bmfstore.com |access-date=January 22, 2011}} is told, as well as his story about the "King Beetle" from The Divine Luminous Wisdom that Dispels Darkness.M R Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, [https://books.google.com/books?id=E9_KzFNdcTQC&q=M.+R.+Bawa+Muhaiyaddeen The Divine Luminous Wisdom: That Dispels the Darkness] Other concepts from the teacher are explored in "Allah, Allah, Allah", about seeing God in every blade of grass and in "Fig with a Bellyache", dealing with sexual temptation from The Divine Luminous Wisdom and The Golden Words of a Sufi Sheikh.{{cite web|url=http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2009/05/01/qa-with-mewithoutyou/ |title=Q&A With mewithoutYou |publisher=Magnetmagazine.com |date=May 1, 2009 |access-date=February 18, 2013}} Guitarist Mike Weiss has been quoted as saying that the themes of the album reflect a time in Aaron's life where he is "sort of revisiting [religion] and holding himself up to those teachings that there's no one religion that's going to be the only way to God [...]". He adds, "If you really want to just try to follow a path to God, I don't believe you need anything beyond [Jesus Christ], but it's just the idea that you're fixed on the only way and that everybody else is just completely misguided [...] that is a sort of obtuse attitude that can hurt your own spirit".{{cite web|url=http://www.redefinemag.com/2009/mewithoutyou-band-interview-religion/ |title=REDEFINE magazine Interview With mewithoutYou, July 2009 |date=July 22, 2009 |publisher=Redefinemag.com |access-date=February 6, 2012}}

Final lineup

• Aaron Weiss – lead vocals, accordion (2001–2022), guitar (2006–2022), bass (2001)
• Michael Weiss – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2001–2022)
• Rickie Mazzotta – drums (2001–2022)
• Greg Jehanian – bass, backing vocals (2004–2016, 2018–2022)
• Brandon Beaver – guitar, backing vocals (2012–2022){{cite web|author=US |url=https://twitter.com/mewithoutYou/status/274405794240417793 |title=mewithoutYou announces on Twitter that Brandon Beaver officially joins band |publisher=Twitter.com |date=November 30, 2012 |access-date=November 30, 2012}}

Previous members

• Dominic Angelella – bass, backing vocals (2016–2018)
• Christopher Kleinberg – guitar (2001–2006)
• Daniel Pishock – bass, backing vocals, keyboards (2001–2004)
• Ray Taddeo – guitar (2001)

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Touring musicians

• Brandon Beaver – (2010–2012)
• Kris Klein – guitar (2011)
• Christopher Kleinberg – guitar (2008–2010)
• Pete Syoum – guitar (2007)
• Stephen Smoker – bass (2001)

{{Main|mewithoutYou discography}}

• [A→B] Life (2002)
• Catch for Us the Foxes (2004)
• Brother, Sister (2006)
• It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright (2009)
• Ten Stories (2012)
• Pale Horses (2015)
• [Untitled] (2018)

• List of songs recorded by mewithoutYou

{{Reflist}}

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{{wikiquote|Aaron Weiss}}

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• {{official|mewithoutyou.com}}
• {{imdb name|2437170}}
• {{discogs artist|mewithoutYou}}

{{mewithoutYou|state=expanded}}

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Category:American post-hardcore musical groups

Category:Musical groups from Philadelphia

Category:Tooth & Nail Records artists

Category:Musical groups established in 2000

Category:2000 establishments in the United States

Category:Run for Cover Records artists

Category:Jews in punk rock

Category:Big Scary Monsters Recording Company artists