Jeremy Enigk

Biography

Jeremy Enigk first emerged as the frontman of the highly touted Seattle band Sunny Day Real Estate, which issued its debut for Sub Pop Records, Diary, in 1994. In the midst of recording the group's sophomore effort, Enigk underwent a radical spiritual transformation and left the group. He later returned to complete LP2, but Sunny Day Real Estate nonetheless dissolved, leaving bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith to join Dave Grohl in the Foo Fighters. Initially, Enigk retired from the music industry, but he soon picked up his guitar and began writing new songs for a solo career.

The songwriter's solo debut, The Return of the Frog Queen, bypassed the primal furor of Sunny Day Real Estate's emocore for a lush, orchestral pop sound. After its release in 1996, Sunny Day Real Estate reunited (minus Mendel) and set to work on new material, resulting in the release of How It Feel to Be Something On in 1998. The Rising Tide followed in 2000 but was poorly promoted, and the band officially split in 2001.

Just a few months later, however, Enigk came back together with Goldsmith and Mendel to form the Fire Theft, which issued a self-titled album in 2003. Finally, ten years after the release of The Return of the Frog Queen, Enigk issued his second solo record with World Waits, this time taking a much more mainstream rock approach to his songs. In August 2007, less than 12 months since his last full-length came out, Enigk issued a short album (with four new tracks and five live in-studio performances of songs off World Waits) entitled Missing Link, followed two years later by OK Bear. ~ Jason Ankeny & Marisa Brown, All Music Guide