Important Information

HistoryDeath from Above 1979 members are Jesse F.
Keeler on bass, synths, backing vocals and Sebastien Grainger on vocals, drums.
They were signed to Last Gang Records in Canada, Vice Recordings in the U.S.
and 679 Recordings in the UK.Although they reportedly met at a Sonic Youth concert, Keeler and Grainger sometimes jokingly claimed to have met in prison, on a pirate ship, or in a gay bar, leading some journalists and fans to believe these hoaxes.
They also claimed to have lived in a funeral home at one time.
In 2005, the video for "Blood On Our Hands" won a VideoFACT award at the MuchMusic Video Awards.
They played "Romantic Rights" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, with Grainger drumming for the first half of the performance and Late Night's Max Weinberg on the same drum set for the second.Name change controversyThe band was originally named "Death from Above," a name which appears on their second recording, Romantic Rights EP.
The duo changed their name after a legal dispute with New York City dance music label DFA Records.The reason for the seemingly arbitrary date of 1979 comes from Sebastien Grainger's birth date.
Sebastien responded to being asked why they chose 1979 by saying "1979 is the year of my birth, 1979 is the year of Off the Wall, 1979 is the year of The Pleasure Principle, 1979 is the last year of the last cool decade, 1979 is scratched into my arm, 1979 is scratched into my arm, 1979 is scratched into my fucking arm."He also stated in an interview given to MTV: "I was born that year, and it's never going to be wrong."It was speculated that the seemingly random year came from Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 classic Apocalypse Now.
The words "Death from Above" can be found on a logo on the Huey Helicopters that carry Martin Sheen and his crew to the infamous beach in Vietnam.
However, Grainger claims this is simply a coincidence.BreakupAs of August 3, 2006 the band officially disbanded.
Jesse F.
Keeler posted the following message on the official Death from Above 1979 forum:On MuchMusic's television program The New Music, Keeler further explained why the band split.
He claimed it was due to disagreements with bandmate Grainger on many levels, including creative differences, music style, and more.ReunionOn 4 February 2011, Sebastien Grainger officially announced, on the band's website, that the band was reforming.
Along with this blog post, the band's official website was updated.
The band performed a new song while performing at EdgeFest on July 14, 2012 at Downsview Park in Toronto.
On September 18, 2012, a Canadian tour was announced; the band revealed that they had written new songs, but needed to perform them live in order to "make them any good."On October 28th, 2012 the band's blog was updated in lieu of excitement for their first of twelve shows around Canada.
In the post, Sebastien cited that they were "coming to share new material, and to work out the kinks." The band was originally scheduled to perform at Governors Ball Music Festival in June 2013, but later on announced that they were having unexpected trouble while working on new music and cancelled their appearance.
On July 11th, 2013, the band confirmed that a new record is in the works on their Facebook page after canceling European shows due to a "medical emergency".
They are, however, stated to be performing at Wakestock Music Festival in Ontario in August 2013 and at Rifflandia in Victoria in September 2013.