Treepeople

By Steve Huey--

Upon the breakup of the Boise, ID, punk band State of Confusion, several members elected to head west to the thriving then-underground scene in Seattle, and so guitarist/vocalist Doug Martsch, guitarist/vocalist Scott Schmaljohn, bassist Pat Brown, and drummer Wayne Rhino Flower became Treepeople. An often melodic cross between punk and grunge highlighted by Martsch and Schmaljohn's guitar interplay, Treepeople's sound was never really altered to fit the post-Nirvana Seattle formula, and perhaps consequently, the group never attracted as much attention outside the local scene as many of its contemporaries. The group debuted on the Toxic Shock label in 1989 with Guilt Regret Embarrassment, switching to C/Z for Something Vicious for Tomorrow, which did not appear until 1992 but also included the out of print EP Time Whore. By this time, Tony Dallas Reed had taken over the drum seat; for the next album, 1993's Just Kidding, Reed switched to bass (taking over for new father Brown) and Eric Akre (ex-Christ on a Crutch) took his position behind the drum set. Claiming he was tired of touring, Martsch himself then quit the band, leaving Schmaljohn as the only remaining original member; on Treepeople's final album, 1994's Actual Re-Enactment, the lineup featured Schmaljohn, Akre, guitarist John Polle, and bassist Eric Carnell. Martsch then resurfaced in Built to Spill.



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