David Pajo

David Pajo (born June 25, 1968[3]) is an American alternative rock musician. He has played a wide variety of music, loosely fitting into several other genres such as hardcore punk, math rock, post-rock, electronica, folk rock and indie pop. Though a multi-instrumentalist (including guitar, bass guitar, banjo and drums), he is best known for his guitar work, most notably with Slint. He is currently a member of Gang of Four.

David Pajo
Performing with Slint at the 2007 Pitchfork Music Festival
Performing with Slint at the 2007 Pitchfork Music Festival
Background information
Birth nameDavid Christian Pajo
Also known as
  • Aerial M
  • Papa M
  • M, Pajo
  • Skullfisher
Born (1968-06-25) June 25, 1968
Texas
OriginLouisville, Kentucky[1]
Genres
Instrument(s)
  • Guitar
  • bass guitar
  • banjo
  • drums
  • keyboards
Years active1986–present
Member ofGang of Four
Formerly of

Career

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Pajo played with three Louisville hardcore and hardcore-inflected bands in his early career. The first band in which he played was called Obscene Routine, after which he performed as guitarist in Maurice, but it was with Solution Unknown that he made his first recording. He rose to prominence, however, for his work with the influential post-rock band Slint. Since the breakup of Slint, Pajo has seldom held positions in other bands for very long, moving from one to the other quite often. As a result, he has contributed to many line-ups, playing and recording with Will Oldham, The For Carnation, Tortoise, Stereolab, Royal Trux, King Kong, Bush League, Zwan, Peggy Honeywell, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Interpol.

He has also performed and released music as a solo artist using various monikers, as Aerial M,[4] M, and most notably, Papa M. Among his 7" and splits with various bands, he has released (as Aerial M) 1997's Aerial M, and (as Papa M) 1999's Live from a Shark Cage, 2001's Whatever, Mortal, and 2003's Hole of Burning Alms.

In February and March 2005, he joined his old bandmates from Slint, Britt Walford, Brian McMahan and Todd Brashear for a reunion tour, and in April released his first solo album not bearing a pseudonym, simply entitled Pajo. The follow-up to Pajo, entitled 1968, was released in August 2006.

Around the middle of 2005, he helped to form the band Dead Child, with Todd Cook (from Shipping News, Retsin, The For Carnation, and Aerial M—and who also played guitar on the 2005 Slint reunion tour), Michael McMahan (from The For Carnation, Starkiller, and Phantom Family Halo—and who also joined Slint on the reunion tour), and Tony Bailey (from Anomoanon, The Party Girls, Verktum, Lords, and Aerial M).

In 2009, Pajo joined the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on the tour for their third album, It's Blitz![5]

He was confirmed to perform as Papa M at the ATP New York 2010 music festival in Monticello, New York in September 2010. In June 2010 it was announced that he would be joining the band Interpol as a tour member.[6] He left the tour early on February 27, 2011.

On February 12, 2015, Pajo attempted suicide after posting a lengthy suicide note on his personal blog. He survived this attempt after EMS members were able to rescue him.[7][8]

On May 1, 2020, it was revealed that David Pajo was a member of a recording project/band called Household Gods that also consisted of Vern Rumsey of Unwound, Conan Neutron of Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends and Replicator and Lauren K. Newman (LKN) of Palo Verde and LKN Band.

On March 25, 2021, Pajo participated in a group article for the 30th anniversary of Spiderland for Rolling Stone.[9]

Pajo has since joined Gang of Four starting with their 2022 North American Tour and continuing.[10][11]

Discography

As a part of a band
With Solution Unknown
  • Taken for Granted EP (1986)
  • Karen LP (1987)
  • Louisville Sluggers Compilation EP (1988)
  • Atskoo (1996)
With Bush League
  • Fetor EP
  • Sicko EP
  • Discography (1994)
With Slint
With King Kong
  • Movie Star EP (1990)
  • Old Man on the Bridge (1991)
With The For Carnation
  • Fight Songs (April 6, 1995)
With Will Oldham
With Tortoise
With Royal Trux
With Zwan
With Peggy Honeywell
  • Honey for Dinner (May 20, 2003)
With Household Gods
  • Palace Intrigue (June 5, 2020)

As a solo artist
M is the Thirteenth Letter
  • Safeless / Napoleon (1995)
  • Vol De Nuit / Witchazel (1996)
Aerial M
  • Aerial M (August 25, 1997)
  • M Is (1997)
  • Vivea (1998)
  • October (1998)
  • Post Global Music (January 26, 1999)
Papa M
Pajo
  • Pajo (June 28, 2005)
  • 1968 (August 22, 2006)
  • Scream with Me (February 24, 2009)
Evila
  • Hexes (December 2009)

References
  1. Sailor, Sarah. "davidpajo.com". Davidpajo.simpl.com. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  2. "Papa M, Two Review". AllMusic.
  3. "Free Family Tree, Genealogy and Family History - MyHeritage". Familytreelegends.com. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  4. "Live Reviews: Aerial M / Sam Prekop April 1, 1999 The Horseshoe, Toronto, ON". Chart Attack, review by Vanessa Lewis
  5. Goldberg, Michael Alan (July 29, 2009). "Interview: Yeah Yeah Yeahs Drummer Brian Chase". Philadelphia Weekly blogs. Archived from the original on August 5, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-14.
  6. Breihan, Tom (2010) "Interpol Set LP Title, Enlist Dave Pajo", Pitchfork Media, June 4, 2010, retrieved 2010-06-06
  7. "Report: Slint's David Pajo survives suicide attempt". Altpress.com. February 13, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  8. "David Pajo Talks Suicide Attempt, Recovery in New Interview". Rollingstone.com. March 18, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  9. "'Kids Being Kids' Slint Look Back on 'Spiderland' at 30". Rollingstone.com. March 25, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  10. Shanahan, Mark. "Gang of Four carries on, with a new lineup but the same attitude". bostonglobe.com. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  11. "Nostalgia Is Not Gang of Four's Passion". spin.com. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
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