Lemon Demon
Lemon Demon's logo, created in 2003
Lemon Demon's logo, created in 2003
Background information
Also known as
  • Trapezoid
  • Deporitaz
OriginBoston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genres
Years active2003–present
Labels
Members
Websitelemondemon.com

Lemon Demon is a musical project and band created by American comedian and musician Neil Cicierega in 2003 in Boston, Massachusetts. Lemon Demon's studio work is performed solely by Cicierega, who is the project's sole official member. Live performances also include a backing band, with previous performances consisting of Alora Lanzillotta, Charles Sergio, Anthony Wry, Dave Kitsberg, and Greg Lanzillotta.

As of 2024, Lemon Demon has released seven studio albums: Clown Circus (2003), Live from the Haunted Candle Shop (2003), Hip to the Javabean (2004), Damn Skippy (2005), Dinosaurchestra (2006), View-Monster (2008), and Spirit Phone (2016). Two EPs have additionally been released: I Am Become Christmas (2012) and Nature Tapes (2014).

History

Neil Cicierega began releasing instrumental music and several remixes of video game music under the monikers "Trapezoid" in the late 90s and early 2000s, creating 3 albums whilst frequently active on Adventure Game Studio. The artist name was changed retroactively to "Deporitaz" as an existing band called Trapezoid demanded that he change it.[2] On January 21st, 2003, Neil released Lemon Demon's first song, "Don't Be Like the Sun", later saying "eventually I started experimenting with singing, and once I felt ready to do that full time, I christened myself Lemon Demon and went into it head on".[3] He released four studio albums in the next two years: Clown Circus, Live from the Haunted Candle Shop, Hip to the Javabean, and Damn Skippy.

Lemon Demon performing in 2006

In late 2005, Cicierega and animator Shawn Vulliez released a Flash animated music video for Lemon Demon's "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny".[4] The video amassed over 13 million views on Newgrounds and topped the "Funny Five" on The Dr. Demento Show for several weeks, becoming the No. 1 Request for 2006.[5] The song was later included in Lemon Demon's fifth album Dinosaurchestra.[6] The band's sixth studio album, View-Monster, was released in 2008. In April 2009, Cicierega released his first four albums as free downloads on his website. An updated recording of "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny" was released to the Rock Band Network in 2010.[7]

Cicierega announced Spirit Phone as Lemon Demon's seventh studio album in January 2016, and released it on February 29, 2016.[8] The album was the No. 1 best-selling album on Bandcamp for the first week of its release.[9] On July 10, 2018, it was announced that copies of the album on CD, cassette, and vinyl would be sold through Needlejuice Records, who would later physically distribute remastered versions of all of Lemon Demon's studio work dating back to 2005.[6] "Touch-Tone Telephone" later became Lemon Demon's most-streamed song, the first to surpass "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny", and has garnered over 67 million plays on Spotify as of December 2023.[10]

On June 19, 2020, Needlejuice Records released Needlejustice, a charity compilation album featuring 22 songs from artists they represent (including Lemon Demon) for the benefit of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Cicierega contributed a song to the album titled "Funkytown", which had originally been uploaded to his Patreon page in 2017. It features homages to popular songs from the 1970s and 1980s, including the titular "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc.[11]

Viral successes

"The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny"

On December 22, 2005, Lemon Demon and animator Shawn Vulliez released the Flash music video "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny" on Newgrounds. The video features cartoon versions of dozens of real-life celebrities and fictional characters, largely from 1980s and 1990s pop culture, in a large century-long brawl where "...only one will survive."[12] It gained a cult following among web enthusiasts.[12] and became the "user's choice" on December 28, 2005, on Newgrounds where it has been viewed over 13.1 million times.[3] It appeared on several other websites including Albino Blacksheep.[13]

"Brodyquest"

On June 1, 2010, Cicierega released a video titled "Brodyquest" onto his main YouTube channel which pictured famous actor Adrien Brody going about his daily life in a comedic manner.[14] The video became a famous meme and was released as a single and placed on the Nature Tapes EP. The video would be brought up by Stephen Colbert during his interview with Adrien Brody in a 2016 episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[15] The video was also featured on Polygon's list of the greatest achievements in dumb internet video.[16] It has since been viewed on YouTube over 12.5 million times.

Discography

Members

Official members

  • Neil Cicierega – vocals, keyboards, guitar, programming, percussion, songwriting, production (2003–present)

Live members

  • Alora Lanzillotta – bass guitar, vocals (2004–2012)
  • Charles "Chooch" Sergio – guitar (2006–2012)
  • Anthony Wry – drums (2007–2008), guitar, vocals (2012)
  • Dave Kitsberg – guitar, vocals (2008–2012, 2016)
  • Greg Lanzillotta – drums (2009–2012)

Timeline

References

  1. ↑ "Lemon Demon". Retrieved February 13, 2021 – via AllMusic.
  2. ↑ Cicierega, Neil (November 20, 2007). "Circa 2000". LiveJournal. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Sweeney, Emily (June 22, 2006). "He's a hit with Internet set". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on June 26, 2006. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  4. ↑ Rini, Carol (April 11, 2006). ""Good guys, bad guys and explosions..."". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  5. ↑ Hansen, Barret (July 2, 2006). ""The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny" (the show's #1 song of 2006 thus far)". Dr. Demento. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Cohen, Max (February 16, 2022). "Lemon Demon: The Man, The Meme, The Legend". Bandcamp. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Lemon Demon on Rock Band Network". Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
  8. ↑ Cicierega, Neil (January 20, 2016). "New Lemon Demon Album "Spirit Phone"". neilblr.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Bandcamp". March 6, 2016. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Lemon Demon's Spotify page". Spotify.
  11. ↑ "Needlejustice, by Various Artists". Needlejuice Records. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  12. 1 2 "Copy, paste, animate". The Toronto Star. Archived from the original on May 7, 2009. Retrieved April 8, 2009.
  13. ↑ Bob Batz (April 11, 2006), Seen & Overheard, Dayton Daily News
  14. ↑ "BRODYQUEST". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Adrien Brody Appreciates "Brodyquest", Among Other Fine Art". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  16. ↑ "The Greatest Achievements In Dumb Internet Video". Polygon. June 2021.
  17. ↑ Lemon Demon (2009), Almanac 2009, retrieved December 24, 2020
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.