It started in the early autumn months in Seattle, WA, when Eric Cooley — fresh from dropping out of Cornish College of the Arts and already feeling done with his summer writing classes at the University of Washington, met Brad Haug at Tower Records on "The Ave." Brad invited Eric to collaborate and record some songs on his 4-track, and before long, the two were talking about forming a band. Eric came up with the name Faith & Disease, partly because it felt evocative and dramatic, in the same spirit as names like Love and Rockets or Christian Death. He wasn't completely sold on it at first, feeling it was a tad pretentious, but Brad liked it and pushed for it to stick. Eric: "We haven't spoken in years, but the fact is: there'd be no Faith & Disease had it not been for Brad's insistence."

Guitarists' Steven Knouse and Patrick Hogan soon joined in, and the early lineup spent cold winter nights tucked away in a small cottage in Lynnwood, recording song ideas on Brad's 4-track. Then one night, about eight weeks later, Dara Rosenwasser showed up at practice after being recommended by Jena, the girlfriend of Patrick Hogan. The band already had some rough instrumentals recorded, and Dara tried singing on "Poverty Assaults the Ego," a piece Eric had written. It clicked right away. Eric later remembered Dara as the "perfect fit" in every way. On Jan. 16, 1991, the night the Gulf War broke out, the band recorded a burst of songs with Dara, including "Cozy-Green Dome," "Poverty Assaults the Ego," "Content Injuries," "Metallic Cat," "Chandra's Lament," and "Paper Image." Those recordings would later circulate on the bootleg known as The Cottage Years.

Still in their late teens and early 20s, and only two months after forming, this the original F&D lineup played their first "show" on March 2, 1991. It was a friends-only house party at their practice space: Brad's grandmother's cottage in Lynnwood. With a drum machine sardonically nicknamed "Mr. Compliancy," the band played everything they had tracked on 4-track, plus "Lather," an obscure Jefferson Airplane cover about turning 30. At that point, Brad and Dara were still sharing vocal duties, though that setup wouldn't last long.

Their first public live show came soon after at Seattle's Ditto Tavern, a small downtown venue tucked beneath the rumble of the monorail. Plenty of early Seattle bands had played there, including Soundgarden, and F&D arrived with their own small but loyal group of fans in the room. The set apparently made an impression: the grumpy bar owner described their slow, gloomy set akin to a "funeral dirge."

Soon after, Ric Hare, also known as Rick Allen, and a friend and co-worker of Dara's at Cafe Brusseau's in Edmonds, joined the group and fit in immediately. Mr. Compliancy was out of work. Around the same time, Patrick Hogan and Brad Haug left F&D, leaving the band as a four-piece: Dara, Eric, Steve, and Rick. (On a side note: Brad would briefly rejoin about 10 years later for a string of shows.

Eric and Dara also invited Prayers for the Raven keyboardist John Clough to play a series of shows. "He was a perfect fit for us," Eric recalled. "John looked great and was very easy to work with. That's his piano and keys on 'Igloo.'" He recorded a few songs and played a handful of live shows after Brad left, but he was committed to his band and we respected that." Eventually, F&D found a permanent keyboardist in Joaquin Tavares, a transplant from Mexico City who would become a cornerstone of the band's trademark sound on Beauty and Bitterness, Livesongs: Third Body, and especially Fortune His Sleep. "Dara and I placed an ad in The Stranger, and he was the first — and only — person we met with," Eric remembered. "We met him at Capitol Hill's Cafe Paradiso and he was like a long-lost friend. The stars aligned on that one."

The lineup kept growing from there. The band added Mary Brommel of In Gowan Ring on backing vocals, and both Mary and Joaquin made their F&D live debut at The Re-Bar on Feb. 6, 1992.

The band's local presence grew considerably at this time. They went from playing the local clubs on weekdays to headlining weekend slots, their goal at the time. F&D played their first sold-out show at The OK Hotel (featured in the movie Singles) on Oct 30. "That's when it really felt like it gelled. None of us had ever played to a large, welcoming crowd before." Then more shows followed at noteworthy clubs like RCKNDY, The Colourbox, Re-Bar, The Crocodile, The Off Ramp (now El Corizon), and a club practically made for F&D's aesthetic: The Weathered Wall. An invite to perform at Bumbershoot, Seattle's annual arts festival held on the grounds of the Seattle Center, cemented their rise. "That was weird, but fun. We played in the daylight for the first time, and along with our fans there was a sea of curious onlookers," Eric recalled. Following their Bumbershoot appearance, local commercial radio station KNDD 107.7 fm "The End" invited Eric, Dara, and Steve in the studio to be featured on "The Young and the Restless."

Before long, F&D were back in the studio, revisiting songs that had first taken shape during those cottage rehearsals. Those new recordings became their debut release, the Moon Tints of Purple and Pearl EP. The band then returned to Hanszek Audio and kept building on that momentum, recording material that would later appear on two 7" singles from small indie labels: "Igloo"/"Voltaire's Vallerie" on Siren Song and "Jardeau Blue"/"Crown of Sorrow" on AIDA House Records. Some of that same creative push also carried into the group's first full-length CD. Which leads us to...

By this time, Seattle had become a magnet for major-label scouts, all of them circling the city in search of the next Nirvana or Pearl Jam. Faith & Disease started to feel that attention, too. After a generous feature in Alternative Press, letters of interest arrived from Atlantic Records, MCA Records, TVT Records, and others. Eric recalled: "That was exciting, but we kept thinking, they do know we are not a grunge band, right? We answered every letter, but without management or representation, nothing came of it." Then Ivy Records entered the story.

Eric had met David Goebel at the newly opened Seattle club The Weathered Wall, and the two quickly became close friends. After a while, David floated an idea: he would start a record label, and Faith & Disease would be its first signed act. Eric and Dara were intrigued, but cautious. They worried Ivy might be dismissed as a vanity label rather than the credible next step the band needed. "I downplayed my involvement from day one," Eric said. "And even though Ivy was basically run by David, me, and Dara, we kept that ambiguous."

Most of Beauty and Bitterness was recorded, engineered, and mixed at Hanzsek Audio, where Chris Hanzsek proved to be the right guide for the band's first real studio experience. For most of them, it was their first time working in a professional recording studio, and Chris brought a steady, mentor-like presence to the sessions. "I learned a lot from those early sessions," Eric said.

Beauty and Bitterness was released on Oct. 8, 1993, with a sold-out CD-release show at, fittingly, The Weathered Wall. Copies went out to radio and press, and almost immediately the album began to find an audience. To the band's surprise, it charted on local alternative station KEXP 90.3 FM, then known as KCMU 90.3 FM, appearing on the Heavy Rotation, Audience Response, and Northwest charts.

Around the same time, the band moved into a rehearsal space in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, where much of the next record would begin to take shape. Faith & Disease had the corner room, which they shared with Laudanum. To one side was a room shared by Hole and Native; to the other, a room shared by Nirvana and The Posies. "That's how it was back then," Eric said. "Talk about a tight-knit community of musicians."

One artifact from that period offered a revealing snapshot of the scene: Sixth Form, a fanzine Eric edited to chronicle Faith & Disease and the tight circle of friends and bands around them, including Quiverpuss, Mary Throwing Stones, Beads of Mercury, Ring, Maxine, 66 Saints, Vertigo Bus, Ninth Circle, and a very early Harvey Danger.

The band's follow-up to Beauty and Bitterness would open a new chapter, one shaped by personal change, a subtle shift in direction...

From the outset, the band was intent on growing awareness and a fan base outside of their hometown Seattle. From an interview with Lucid Vein from April 1995, when asked "How is the response in Seattle?" Dara responded: "We've received letters from Australia, France, Italy, Spain and others. We've had airplay in Italy, France, Lithuania, Israel, Germany and Australia. That's bizarre! Not to mention over 15 different radio stations across the U.S. From the beginning Eric and I really put a conscious effort to getting a response and reaction from people outside of Seattle because I knew this wasn't strictly a Seattle sound."

Fortune His Sleep, their follow-up, was the most esoteric album of their career. "It was not going to be another Beauty and Bitterness," Eric promised. The band hired violinist Rob MacKusick, classically trained vocalist Suzanne Allee (from nearby Cornish College of the Arts), and utilized instruments like skin drums, bells, Tibetan Rain Stick, acoustic guitars, and chamber music-inspired organ.

Around this time marked the period of the "Faith & Disease" house — a turn-of-the-century 6-bedroom house under a canopy of trees on Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. It became the social hub of F&D and their fans and inner circle, and the basement practice space is where much of the material of Fortune His Sleep was finalized. Joaquin Tavares played a major role in the overall scope of the album; his composition "Wallow" became a regular show-opener, as were his keys on "Ashes are Burning."

Eric and Dara's shared vision for a sparse, esoteric, and non-conventional instrumentation body of music wasn't particularly welcomed by original drummer Ric Hare (aka Rick Allen). After a live performance on The Spud Goodman Show, and midway through recording, Ric left, and was immediately replaced by Josh Furman, 17, a student at nearby Cornish College. "Ric and I really clicked as a rhythm section — we basically learned our instruments at the same time; I've never had a connection like that with a drummer, never will again," added Eric. (Guitarists Steve Knouse and Ric later formed a band called The Curtains, and released a full-length entitled Tape.)

The opener, "Healing Anne," is an 8-minute opus with Tavares' Romantic-period intro that warns the listener this is not another Beauty and Bitterness, and morphs into a recognizable F&D format. "Hashivenu" is a 6,000-year-old Hebrew prayer, with violinist Rob MacKusick making his debut accompanied by Dara and Suzanne Allee harmonizing beautifully. "Wallow" is next, with only Tavares and Dara featured. The title track follows, with conga percussion courtesy of Josh Furman and a rain stick intro. Of the album's first six tracks, only two feature a conventional drum kit. "Jardeau Blue," "Amelius Unhappy," and "Madrigal" — favorite F&D rockers — manage to bring the band back to earth.

The goth segment loved Fortune His Sleep. In a review from Propaganda Magazine #21, editor Fred Berger exclaimed: “Faith & Disease have just released the best CD of the decade.”

Era notes — add copy here in home.json (storyline array)

Era notes — add copy here in home.json (storyline array)

Era notes — add copy here in home.json (storyline array)

Era notes — add copy here in home.json (storyline array)