Warren Defever (first name often spelled Warn; born April 30, 1969) is a musician and producer originally from Livonia, Michigan now based in Detroit. He is most known for his chameleonic project His Name Is Alive,[1] though he is active in numerous other circles. He produced, engineered, and or remixed recordings by Iggy and the Stooges, Easy Action, Low, Ida, Michael Hurley, Califone, Yoko Ono, Thurston Moore, the Gories, the Go, Nomo, Saturday Looks Good to Me, Ethan Daniel Davidson, Faruq Z. Bey, the Von Bondies, Reba Fritz, Destroy All Monsters, Jenny Toomey, Slumber Party, John Sinclair, Elizabeth Mitchell & Lisa Loeb, as well as HNIA offshoot Velour 100.
Defever was raised in a strict religious household along with his brothers, Johnny and Matt. He grew up a music fan. His grandfather was a musician from Saskatchewan and had taught Warren and his brothers how to play various musical instruments.[2]
Defever began recording while still in high school, and toured as the bassist of psychobilly rock band Elvis Hitler.[3]
For many years Defever recorded in the basement of his parents' house, which he later bought from them.[4]
Around the same time His Name is Alive was departing from 4AD Records, Defever opened his own recording studio, Brown Rice, in the Detroit area.[5] Along with Davin Brainard, Defever runs a home record label, timeSTEREO.[5]
In 2007, Defever opened a new studio in Detroit called The UFO Factory. Everything inside was painted silver, including the piano.[4]
References
- ^ Phares, Heather. "Biography: His Name Is Alive". AMG. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
- ^ Handyside, Chris (1 September 2004). "Music: Back from hell". Metro Times. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ "Warn's World". Metro Times. 15 November 2000. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
- ^ a b Coombe, Doug (24 December 2008). "Motor City Cribs". Metro Times. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
- ^ a b Handyside, Chris. "Big box scores". Metro Times. Retrieved 25 October 2014.