Meg & Dia is an American musical band formed in 2004. It was founded by sisters Meg and Dia Frampton before becoming a five-piece act (renamed Cowards Courage and released the CD Straight Out of a Story Book in Las Vegas) where they started, with additional members Eddie Friends, Ryan Hardy, Jon Cash and Alex Kruse. With the departure of the latter three, Meg & Dia subsequently reverted to their root name with additional members Nicholas Price, Jonathan Snyder (formerly of Madison) and Carlo Gimenez.
Meg & Dia (also then known as The Meg & Dia Band) released their debut album, Our Home is Gone, in 2005. At the time, the band consisted of just the two Frampton sisters, and the album's tracks were mostly acoustic songs. Meg played guitar and provided back-up vocals while Dia sang. A year later, they released their second album, Something Real which featured their most well known song "Monster", their first album released under Doghouse Records.
The band signed with Warner Bros. Records in 2007 and released Here, Here and Here in 2009 via Sire Records. Before disbanding, they were signed under the name Dia Frampton to Universal Republic.
History
Early life: The Frampton sisters Meg received a karaoke machine and Dia received a guitar as a Christmas gift. Dia began singing at local county fairs and retirement centers while Meg taught herself to play songs that were on the radio. Their father was a DJ in South Korea, and the sisters often listened to his extensive record collection. The family of the Frampton sisters is composed of Meg, Dia, Jade, Rena, Nikki, Misty. Jade plays tennis for the University of Arkansas and she aspires to be a professional in the near future.
“For Christmas when we were kids, ironically Dia got the guitar and I got the karaoke machine. We quickly learned, however, what we were natural at and destined to become. She became really focused on her voice and began singing little country ditties at local county fairs and retirement centers. I started out playing whatever was on the radio or whatever happened to be in my buddies' CD player. My dad was a DJ in his early twenties so he had quite an extensive record collection that I listened to occasionally. After I experienced my first heartbreak and I thought the world was going to end, the natural way to console my tattered heart was to write a song. Of course my parents, being the supportive and loving caretakers they are, showered me with much undeserved praise and encouraged me to keep writing. My sister and I heeded their advice and began writing and playing original songs together." – Meg
2005: debut Our Home Is Gone
Meg & Dia self-released their debut album, Our Home Is Gone, in 2005. Only 1,000 copies were ever produced (all of which were distributed by the Frampton girls themselves). The album featured a mostly acoustic style of music, as it was only Meg and Dia in the band. They toured extensively in support of it, sharing stages with such national acts as Limbeck, The Format, Melee, An Angle, Koufax, and Steel Train.
After a few acoustic shows playing the songs from their debut album, they decided they needed a bigger sound. They recruited drummer Nicholas Price, and later guitarist Kenji Chan in 2005. Nick was Meg's car mechanic after she was involved in a minor car accident (which also is the result of the name for the EP What Is It? A Fender Bender). After Nick joined, Meg and Dia found bassist Ryan Groskreuetz. The songs "Nineteen Stars" and "Indiana" were included on the Frampton sisters' next album, Something Real. "Timmy" was re-worked into song "Roses" for Something Real.
2006: Something Real In January 2006 Meg and Dia recorded a second album, Something Real, with producer Stacy Jones of American Hi-Fi and Bill Leffler. As a teaser for the album, Meg & Dia released an EP titled What Is It? A Fender Bender, on both iTunes and the Tower Records website in July 2006. What Is It? A Fender Bender featured "Monster" and "Indiana", and would also be part of their upcoming album. That album was soon-after released on August 8, 2006. Something Real is made up both new works and revamped versions of acoustic songs from Our Home is Gone. The songs "Indiana", "Masterpiece", and "Nineteen Stars" were rerecorded with a full band, while parts of "Timmy" were incorporated into the song "Roses".
In September 2006, it was announced on the Meg & Dia MySpace page that guitarist Kenji Chan was leaving the band to focus on his solo career. His departure was on amicable terms. The band found a replacement guitarist via YouTube, Canadian Carlo Gimenez, and the band was once again a five-piece act.
The band gained popularity through self-promotion via MySpace; they were selected as the official MySpace band on the Warped Tour 2006. Being selected as the official MySpace band came about in a peculiar way; technical staff were supposed to shut down Meg & Dia's official MySpace due to a virus script posted by an unscrupulous character. However, the technical difficulties resulted in the band gaining the attention of Tom Anderson, co-founder of MySpace, who then entered them into a contest to become the official MySpace band at Warped Tour; Meg & Dia won. Meg & Dia played at Warped Tour 2006 in the MySpace tent, which had a dirt floor in lieu of a stage.
Meg & Dia returned the following year, playing the Hurley.com stage in the 2007 Warped Tour. The band continued touring and played alongside Anberlin, Jonezetta, and Bayside on a national tour in early 2007, and with Say Anything and Saves The Day in Spring 2007.
2007 On February 19, 2007 it was confirmed that Meg & Dia signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records. The song "Roses" was featured on the TMNT movie soundtrack. In September, Meg and Dia provided back-up vocals for The Rocket Summer for their "Yahoo! Who's Next?" debut. The video for "Monster" was nominated for the mtvU Viral Woodie Award in 2007. It advanced past the first round, but lost in the final round to We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands by The Academy Is.... Meg & Dia finished the year on tour with The Spill Canvas, PlayRadioPlay!, and Treaty of Paris.
Meg & Dia are also involved in To Write Love on Her Arms and peta2. The band appeared in an anti-fur ad and also sponsored a fashion contest on the peta2 website.
Their song, "The Mighty R-E-A-L", is the official anthem for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer.adidas MLS Soccer
2008–2009: Touring, Here, here and here
In November 2007, Angels & Airwaves confirmed that their tour in the United States would have Meg & Dia as openers, along with The Color Fred and Ace Enders. The tour ran from January 30 to March 15. Afterwards, the band went to Los Angeles on March 17, to record for their album Here, Here and Here.
Meg & Dia made its first United Kingdom appearance at the annual Give It A Name festival in 2008. The band played in London on May 10, and Sheffield on May 11. Shortly afterward, the band played Give It A Name Introduces, a ten venue spin-off tour in England, Scotland and Wales, along with fellow American artists Four Year Strong, Mayday Parade and The Color Fred.
Over the summer, the band continued recording for their studio album, and in August, toured the United States to promote Something Real. The tour consisted of 16 dates, with opening acts by alternative rockers Jonezetta, Dropping Daylight, and occasionally Danger Radio. In September, the band visited the European continent for the first time, touring with Melee, visiting venues from Vienna to Amsterdam and Munich, and returned to the United Kingdom in October. The concerts received positive reviews by many European critics. From February to April 2009, the band participated in the Take Action 2009 tour, accompanying headliners Cute Is What We Aim For and opening acts Anarbor, Every Avenue, and Breathe Carolina. A portion of all ticket sales was donated to non-profit organizations.
Here, Here and Here was released on April 21, over a year after recording was completed. It was sold in three formats- CD, CD + DVD package, and on vinyl. The album marks the band's first new release since signing with Warner Bros. (distributed through Sire Records) and the first with the band's current lineup. Musically, the album differs from previous efforts, as a result of experimentation with new instruments (strings, synths, harmonica and alternative percussion) and the inclusion of guest vocals (Tom Higgenson on "Bored Of Your Love"). Tonally, the album includes more mature themes such as religion ("Black Wedding") and politics ("Are There Giants Too, In The Dance?"). In contrast to the heavily literature-inspired Something Real, only one song from here, here and here has been definitively linked to a novel ("Hug Me" was inspired by Brave New World), and several songs were written by Dia in response to her then recent breakup ("Going Away"). The title of the album comes from the eponymous closing track, which alludes to the composition process of Mozart in the lines: "'Here, Here, and Here.' He pointed to his heart and mind and ears."
The first single from the new album, "What If", was released on January 27. The second single, "Black Wedding", was released a week later. The video for "Black Wedding" was released exclusively on April 14, for play on MTV and MTV.com.
Meg, Dia and Price appeared in an episode of the BETA Records TV show where they promoted Here, Here and Here. The episode included clips of the band performing "Going Away". The band participated in the Warped Tour 2009. This was their third Warped appearance.
On October 16, the band posted on their website a new song called "5 Reasons." Meg commented that it is about a conversation she and her sister had with her mother while they were on break from a tour. From October 17 to November 29, the band toured the United States with Never Shout Never, Now, Now Every Children, and Carter Hulsey. Members of the band were featured in Never Shout Never's music video, "What is Love?" Dashboard Confessional joined the tour from November 8–29.
2010–2012: Independent, Stormy, Cocoon, and break up In July 2010, Meg & Dia announced that they were dropped from their label, Warner Bros. Records. Meg & Dia remain unsigned. The band has confirmed that they have recorded a new record, independent of a label, with producer Charlie Vela.
The band released the EP It's Always Stormy in Tillamook on November 2. For the first 500 people that ordered a physical copy from their website, a password and link was emailed to receive the secret song "Down The Open Road." Meg and Dia toured from November 9 – December 4 across the continental United States with Joey Ryan and The Spring Standards.
On April 5, 2011 the band released its fourth studio album titled Cocoon, featuring 11 tracks.
On June 29, Dia was named the runner-up on the television show The Voice. She came in second to Javier Colon. On December 6, she released her solo debut record, Red.
On December 20, the band released the EP "Be Careful, I Love You, Stay In Touch", featuring songs that didn't make it on "Cocoon." It was previously only available to those who frequently commented on the Meg & Dia forums via dropcards.com.
On October 29, 2012, Meg posted an official statement announcing the official disbandment of Meg & Dia to go back to school and concentrate on her solo career. She stated that she and Nick Price are still making music together as are Dia Frampton and Carlo Gimenez, but no more music was to be released under the name Meg & Dia.
2019: Reunion and 5th Album