Multi-instrumentalists Andrew Warner and Chris Taylor played in a few acts together in 2001, including Government Cud, which Warner describes as “a band about cows, aliens, infectious proteins and stuff like that.” But they also shared an affinity for shoegaze bands, such as the Cranes, Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine. Warner, Taylor and Warner's sister, singer Jeane Warner Green, decided to form their own shoegaze act, Dormition.
Dormition recorded a five-song EP in the fall of 2001 and planned to play shows around Denver. But the agenda crumbled: Green moved to Korea with her husband, an international aid worker, and Taylor, who was also playing with Denver cinematic rock band the Hellmen at the time, moved to Rhode Island. The EP wasn't released until September 2020.
Nearly two decades after Dormition's initial recording, the pandemic provided a lot of free time for Warner, who's currently a drummer for Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Munly & the Lupercalians and Weathered Statues. He started compiling his older music on a hard drive, including the unreleased songs from Dormition and material from other bands he's played with over the years, such as Red Cloud West, Bad Luck City and the Blood Well.
Warner also reached out to Taylor, who’s still based in Rhode Island, to ask if it was okay to release some of their older recordings, including Dormition's first EP, on Bandcamp.
The conversation led to how they should make another Dormition EP, and Green was also on board. They began working remotely, sending tracks back and forth while Green, who’s now based in Laos, wrote lyrics and added vocals to the new material as well.
“Usually, with all my other bands, it can be kind of hard for at least for one or two people to embrace that style of recording,” Warner says of working remotely. “But this was really easy.”
Within three months, the trio had finished E.P.2, which was just released on Bandcamp. The new EP consists of five dreamy shoegaze tracks that showcase Green’s lush vocals. Taylor contributed guitars, keyboards and bass, while Warner played drums, synths and Omnichord.
Warner notes that he and his bandmates had initially planned to make a full album, but after finishing those five songs, he fell down the stairs and badly sprained his hand and wasn’t able to play drums for nearly six months. The EP isn't the last music Dormition will release, however.
“We were planning on doing a twelve-song album, but since that [accident], we felt like it was better just to release it as is," Warner says. "And then we can do more songs in the future.”
Find Dormition's music at https://dormition1.bandcamp.com/.