The Family Doom

The Family Doom began as producer/multi-instrumentalist Tanner Dean’s solo project in early 2005. Tired from the monotony as a acoustic singer/songwriter for several years, Dean was inspired to find and create a new sound by fusing his favorite genres of hip hop, trip hop, and shoegaze into one. While living on a boat in Orange County, Dean built a small portable recording studio where he wrote and produced over 30 tracks, out of which came the 5 song EP “Willow B”, laying the foundation for the bands sound. Dean got the moniker from a book he found entitled “The Family Doom”, a book published in 1869 containing short stories of the sea. Refusing to use a laptop and wanting to play the songs to they’re full potential in a live setting, Dean brought on friend and drummer Sonny Ruiz who had worked with Dean in previous music projects, as well as keyboardist/bassist Vic Steve, making up the live sound of The Family Doom. The music owes as much to the 90s shoegaze scene (think My Bloody Valentine, Swevedriver or Slowdive) as it does to the electronic contamination brought in by artists the likes of Radiohead and The Postal Service, who brought a new dimension to the way elements of electronica (synths and drum-machines, above all) went to affect patterns and song-writing tendencies typical of alternative rock. The Family Doom swings unpredictably from gritty, lo-fi electro-pop moments, to long psychedelic jams echoing Animal Collective or The Flaming Lips.