MUSICIAN, FILM & TV COMPOSER & FORMER SHUDDER TO THINK FRONTMAN
MY ‘90s
INTIMATE POLAROID PHOTOS SERIES FEATURING BANDMATES, MEMBERS OF FUGAZI, PEARL JAM, ‘THE STATE’ & MORE
PHOTO EXHIBIT OPENS MARCH IN SAN FRANCISCO & AVAILABLE AS
LIMITED EDITION BOOK
ANNOUNCES TOUR DATES WITH THE MESSTHETICS
Craig Wedren got his hands on a Polaroid Spectra in the early 1990s and used it to document his late nights and early mornings on the road with his band Shudder to Think and time with friends including Fugazi, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, members of The State and more. Today, the acclaimed songwriter, singer, film & television composer and Shudder To Think frontman announced My ‘90s— a limited edition book and upcoming art exhibit.
My ‘90s will open in San Francisco, CA on March 7 at The Loin (914 Larkin St., San Francisco, CA) and feature some of the Polaroids he took throughout the 1990s and into the early aughts. They range from shots of life on the road to candid moments, to time in the studio with his band, actors on set during the filming of Wet Hot American Summer and Laurel Canyon–both of which he scored, and much more. Read a statement below from Wedren on My ‘90s.
A limited edition run of hard-bound books featuring the prints will also be available in-person at the gallery and online via Wedren’s website (http://www.craigwedren.com).
Wedren will also perform at the gallery at on opening night (9pm sharp), and has announced select West Coast dates in April with The Messthetics featuring Brendan Canty and Joe Lally from Fugazi (dates listed below).
‘MY ‘90s’ by Craig Wedren
My ‘90s were nocturnal, for better and for glorious worse.
I was in a band, Shudder To Think, that had been my primary framework and source of identity since 1986–again, for better and for worse; but mostly for better, because we were a very special group.
I’d always been a visual kind of artist -my lyrics tended toward the dreamlike and cinematic, my style of dress and hair ever-changing and somewhat theatrical.
Punk Impressionism.
When I got my hands on a Canon A-1 sometime during High School (a holy hand-me-down from my Stepfather, I think), I naturally and immediately began taking pictures that fell right in with the music, lyrics, and other art I was (and still seem to be) feverishly generating.
Cut to 1992.
Shudder To Think was on tour with Fugazi, delivering our sensual assault to college towns around the Northeast.
I believe it was Guy Picciotto (one of Fugazi’s singer/guitarrorists) who, in a chilly, grey parking lot (it was Autumn) turned me on to the gadget that would instantly become my constant companion for the next decade or so, the Polaroid Spectra camera.
But this was no ordinary camera.
It was ugly as hell, big and plastic, like a cheap tennis shoe fucked a cut-rate spaceship.
Unintentionally–or so it seemed–the design of this model (and this model only, as far as I can tell) was such that you could trick it into taking multiple exposures, as many as you dared, in a single photograph.
That, in addition to the ways one can manipulate/mutilate a still-fresh Polaroid picture, gave me a portable engine, an image-kiln for loooosely documenting the parade of experiences, colors, feelings, and sounds that filled my circus-like, and often just plain boring-ass days and nights.
And late nights.
And verrry early mornings.
Every few years (if you’re lucky, if you’re looking) a new technology arises that is roughly the same shape as one’s heart.
The chemistry is immediate, love-at-first-sight, like the artist and the instrument are two pieces of a two-piece puzzle.
For me, the Spectra camera was just that.
I grabbed it and never let go.
Until they stopped making Spectra film, that is, alas…
What you see here is a sliver of my favorite images from that era.
I hope they infect your dreams, and help connect you to your own vision.
Thank you.
Love, always.
Craig
Wedren released Adult Desire Expanded in late 2018. The album features the 14 tracks on his experimental, electro-acoustic and highly melodic 2017 album Adult Desire–the first record he made since moving to Los Angeles and one Los Angeles Times called “a tender and fearless set of electro-acoustic pop ditties…” Wedren adds that the album is “a meditation on age, death, sex, marriage and family best described as ‘domestic Surrealism’.” The expanded version also features eight additional tracks including new songs and alternate versions of some of the original album’s songs including the Chris Cornell-inspired “Into The Blue Sky (Acoustic Demo).” Read more via FLOOD Magazine.
Throughout his illustrious career, Craig Wedren has made a name for himself in the world of film & television beginning with the soundtrack work for the late-’90s films High Art and First Love, Last Rites which he worked on with his bandmates in Shudder to Think. His recent projects include scoring the NBC hit show New Amsterdam, GLOW (Netflix) and the upcoming first season of Shrill, premiering on Hulu in March. His resume of composing and scoring for film and television projects includes the Wet Hot American Summer movie and television series, Role Models, The School of Rock, Afternoon Delight, Laurel Canyon, Reno 911!, The State, How to Be A Latin Lover, and much more. Last year, he also worked with longtime collaborator and childhood friend David Wain on the Netflix film A Futile and Stupid Gesture starring Will Forte.
CRAIG WEDREN TOUR DATES
Mar 7 San Francisco, CA – The Loin (My ‘90s Opening)
Apr 11 San Diego, CA – The Casbah*
Apr 21 Santa Barbara, CA – Velvet Jones*
Apr 22 San Francisco, CA – The Chapel*
April 23 Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s
*notes dates with The Messthetics
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