Representative Albums: "My Love Is Higher Than Your Assessment of What My Love Could Be", "Wallace", "Live at Supersonic July 12, 2008
Biography
An anomaly among the college/indie rock-centered Athens, GA, scene from which they emerged, cult favorite Harvey Milk was responsible for some of the slowest, heaviest, and most uncompromising rock music created in the latter half of the '90s. The trio formed in the early '90s with a lineup of Creston Spiers (guitar/vocals), Stephen Tanner (bass), and Paul Trudeau (drums). They released their first album, My Love Is Higher Than Your Assessment of What My Love Could Be, on the tiny North Carolina-based Yesha label in 1996. The following year saw the release of their magnum opus and masterpiece, the tormented and at times painfully slow Courtesy and Good Will Toward Men, which was first issued exclusively on limited-edition double vinyl by Reproductive Records before eventually being reissued on CD by tUMULt in 2000. Following this album, the band parted ways with Trudeau, replaced him with Kyle Spence, and reoriented themselves toward a more straightforward classic rock style marked by the influence of bands such as AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and, most of all, ZZ Top. (One of the few sentences among Courtesy's minimal sleeve notes simply stated, "ZZ Top is the best," and it's clear the band meant this without irony.) This stylistic turn was documented on the Reproductive album The Pleaser (1998), soon after the release of which Harvey Milk disbanded. They regrouped in 2005, however, and released Special Wishes the following year on Troubleman Unlimited (who also reissued Courtesy and Good Will Toward Men). Relapse eventually reissued My Love Is Higher and The Pleaser. Hydrahead took interest and signed them to their roster of metal heavyweights before releasing Life...The Best Game in Town in June of 2008. ~ William York, All Music Guide
Creston Spiers
Stephen Tanner
Paul Trudeau
Kyle Spence Joe Preston
Harvey Milk are an Americanexperimental rock/noise rock band that formed in Athens, Georgia in the early 1990s. Despite playing numerous live shows and releasing a slew of 7" singles and three full length albums, they never received much attention outside of their local fanbase. Even when they were together, Harvey Milk releases were notoriously hard to find. It was not until years after the band's demise that their singles, as well as all three full length albums, saw re-release through various labels, most notably Relapse Records. While Harvey Milk invariably draws comparisons to the Melvins, due to their penchant for slow, heavy riffs, the band has touched upon such artists as ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin and Leonard Cohen as influences in their music. They even went so far as to perform a live show consisting of nothing but Hank Williams covers. One April Fool's Day gig at the 40 Watt in Athens, they performed R.E.M.'s "Reckoning" from beginning to end while Michael Stipe was in attendance.
Harvey Milk formed in 1992 in Athens, Georgia. They disbanded in 1998, but reformed in 2006.
On June 3, 2008, Harvey Milk released their most recent album, Life... The Best Game In Town. The band toured the eastern and southern US as well as Germany, England, Belgium, France and Scotland during the Summer of 2008. In July 2009, they are scheduled for a co-headlining tour with the band Torche.[1]
Harvey Milk is an experimental rock band that formed in 1992. The band is named after the first openly gay politician. There are three members of the band that originated in Athens, Georgia. The lead vocalist and guitarist of the band is Creston Spiers, the bassist is Stephen Tanner, and Paul Trudeau plays the drums. At the time the group came together the music business in Athens was not thriving at all. It was very hard for the band to get any publicity.
In the fall of 1993 Harvey Milk recorded a song called “Greensleeves” for the annual Flagpole Magazine Christmas Compilation called “Red Headed Stepchild Of The Flagpole Christmas Album.” Their next single was with a band from Atlanta called the Martians. There were only two hundred copies of this single made. These copies were handed out at a show that charged only five dollars for admission. Because of the limited number of copies made this is one of the rarest singles that the band ever made.
The first full length album Harvey Milk band released was “My Love is Higher Than Your Assessment of What My Love Could Be.” On April Fool Day’s of 1994 the band had a classic performance at the Shoebox on Washington Avenue. They re-did the R.E.M album “Reckoning.” They played songs from the album such as “Harborcoat”, “Pretty Persuasion,” and “Camera.” This was one of their most famous performances ever. A year later they had a performance where they did the same thing with some of Hank Williams’ material. This performance was near perfect and it impressed many people. Harvey Milk was gaining recognition for their musical skills.
In 1995 Harvey Milk created arguably their best studio album ever, “Courtesy and Good Will Towards Men.” They recorded this under the record label “Reproductive Records” out of Boston. In March of this 1995 they toured with an American rock band called Shellac. After this they released a few singles through “Half Baked” records based out of Atlanta. The single is extremely rare now because when it was sold in stores barely anyone bought the single. In 1998 the band broke up. They broke up because people were not paying much attention to them due to the fact that new bands were arriving on the scene. After they broke up Paul Trudeau went on to get a degree in Artifact Preservation at the University of Georgia. Creston Spiers went on to work as a music teacher in the suburbs of Atlanta. After eight years Harvey Milk reunited to put out another album and an LP. The album was released in 2008 and is called “Life… The Best Game in Town.” The LP is called the S/T – “The Bob Weston Sessions.”
Courtesy And Good Will Toward Men (1995, LP on Reproductive, CD on tUMULt/Reissue CD on Relapse 2007/Reissue LP on Chunklet 2008 (Reissue used original sleeves, but vinyl was pressed on 180 gram audiophile vinyl))
The Pleaser (1997, CD on Reproductive/Reissue CD on Relapse 2007/LP on Chunklet 2008)
