Britt Daniel

John Britt Daniel (born April 14, 1971) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Spoon, as well as the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and singer of the band Divine Fits. Daniel also founded numerous other bands in the early 1990s.

Early life John Britt Daniel was born in Galveston, Texas, and grew up in Temple, Texas, a city about an hour north of Austin. Daniel is the oldest of three children from his parents' marriage. He also has two younger half-siblings. His father, a neurologist, was a fan of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and a collector of guitars;

Career In 1988, Britt Daniel formed his first band, The Zygotes, while in high school. In 1990, while a student at the University of Texas at Austin, Daniel formed his second band, Skellington, with Travis Hartnett, Mac Stringfellow, "Paul Cannon", and Mike Hurewitz.

The following year, Daniel joined a three-piece rockabilly band named The Alien Beats with Brad Shenfeld. When The Alien Beats disbanded in 1993, he decided to focus his music career on solo material that he had written over the previous years - songs that were more experimental and unfit for the styles of bands that he had previously played. Rather than releasing them under his proper name, Daniel decided to release them under the pseudonym Drake Tungsten. His first such album, Clocking Out Is For Suckers, was released in 1994 on cassette, and was distributed around his home town of Austin, Texas. Two years later, Tungsten released the five-song EP Six Pence for the Sauces on local label Peek-A-Boo Records. Also in 1996, Daniel began working again with drummer Jim Eno (previously from The Alien Beats) and began writing music under the moniker Spoon.

Divine Fits From 2011 to 2013, Daniel was involved in a new band called Divine Fits, consisting of members from Spoon, Wolf Parade and New Bomb Turks. The group's debut, A Thing Called Divine Fits, was released on August 28, 2012 through Merge Records. The first single from the album, "My Love Is Real", was released on July 10, 2012.

Collaborations In 1999, Daniel played bass for two gigs in the glam rock supergroup Golden Millennium, composed of fellow Peek-A-Boo Records labelmates. In 2002, Daniel worked with Bright Eyes on the fourth volume of Post-Parlo's Home Series. In 2002, Daniel recorded bass, keyboards and backing vocals on the first Sally Crewe & The Sudden Moves album, "Drive It Like You Stole It" (12XU). Daniel has produced songs for the bands I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness and Interpol. In 2004, Daniel remixed Interpol's "Slow Hands", which appears on the "Slow Hands" single. He previously worked as a sound designer and composer for the computer game company Origin Systems. In 2006, Daniel teamed up with Brian Reitzell and helped create some of the original music for the film Stranger Than Fiction. He also appeared in the Veronica Mars episode "Rashard and Wallace Go to White Castle", air date February 1, 2006, in which he sang a karaoke version of Elvis Costello's "Veronica". In 2009, he produced the White Rabbits album It's Frightening. In 2014, he collaborated with Chipotle Mexican Grill on a viral marketing campaign for the album, They Want My Soul. In 2015, he collaborated with Austin band Sweet Spirit on the song "Have Mercy" and a cover of Spoon's Paper Tiger. On 5 May 2018, Daniel appeared on NPR's news quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! for the regular celebrity question segment "Not My Job". In 2022, he sings harmonies with Conrad Keely on the song "Growing Divide" by the band ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, from the album XI: Bleed Here Now.

Discography

Skellington The Town's Gone Dry (1991) Self-Released Skellington EP (1992) Self-Released Skellington Rex (1992) Self-Released

The Alien Beats Cavin' In (1993) Syncretic Records

Drake Tungsten Clocking Out Is For Suckers LP (1994, self-released) Six Pence for the Sauces EP (1996, Peek-A-Boo Records) "Dozy Vs. Drake - Upon Further Consideration" Single (1998, Revival Records) A song entitled "This is a Whipping" appeared on the Peek-A-Boo Records 1995 Compilation Bicycle Rodeo Bicycle Rodeo.

Golden Millennium Golden Millennium (1999) Peek-A-Boo Records

Spoon Telephono (1996) Matador Records Soft Effects (1997) Matador Records A Series of Sneaks (1998) Elektra Records The Agony of Laffitte (1998) Saddle Creek Love Ways (2000) Merge Records Girls Can Tell (2001) Merge Records Kill the Moonlight (2002) Merge Records Gimme Fiction (2005) Merge Records Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007) Merge Records Transference (2010) Merge Records They Want My Soul (2014) Loma Vista Recordings Hot Thoughts (2017) Matador Records Lucifer on the Sofa (2022) Matador Records

Divine Fits A Thing Called Divine Fits (2012) Merge Records

Solo recordings Home: Volume IV (2002) Post-Parlo