Deerhunter Cox founded Deerhunter with bassist Paul Harper and drummer Dan Walton, who named the band, in early 2001. The band expanded after Cox met a teenage transient,
Moses Archuleta, who was sleeping on the floor of Cox's friends. Archuleta initially played
Ace Tone Organ and electronics. The band's first shows were experimental and based on improvisation. Cox continued recording slightly more structured material and releasing it on
CD-R and
cassette using the name Atlas Sound. Harper was soon replaced by Justin Bosworth. Colin Mee had also joined the band on guitar around this time. Walton eventually left the band and Cox suggested Archuleta move to drums. The band's live shows and recordings became more song-oriented. They recorded their debut
7" for
Die Slaughterhaus.
Josh Fauver joined the band on bass in 2004 after Bosworth died in a freak skateboarding accident. This four-piece lineup recorded Deerhunter's debut
self-titled LP (2005) on
Atlanta-based label
Stickfigure Records. As a four-piece again, the band subsequently released
Microcastle (2008),
Weird Era Cont. (2008), and
Halcyon Digest (2010). Fauver then left the band and was replaced by
Josh McKay on bass. The band now consisted of Cox on guitar and vocals, Pundt on guitar and occasional vocals, McKay on bass, and Archuleta on drums for both albums
Monomania (2013) and
Fading Frontier (2015). The band announced in 2018 that Fauver had died unexpectedly. Deerhunter's most recent album,
''Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? (2019), saw Javier Morales join the band playing a plethora of instruments such as the piano, tenor saxophone and bass clarinet. The band have remained inactive since the tour for Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?''
Atlas Sound Atlas Sound is the musical solo project of Cox, although he has used the name to represent his music from a young age. This name is derived from the brand of
cassette deck he used. Cox would use two tape decks, which he used to layer guitar and drum sounds, and his own voice. Cox's early musical inspirations were
The Stooges,
Sonic Youth,
Stereolab and
Steve Reich among others. Cox began Atlas Sound in the wake of his work with Deerhunter, saying "I have ideas that I can't make work with a five-piece rock band... There's kind of this palette of sounds that I use that I don't necessarily get to use with Deerhunter". Because the music Deerhunter makes is a collaborative effort, Cox does not want to assert himself as its principal songwriter. "I might have an idea for a fragment of a song, but I want to leave it skeletal so the guys can fill it out. Whereas with Atlas Sound, everything is done in an hour". In late 2010, Cox published four volumes of demos on his blog, entitled
Bedroom Databank. These demos were taken down from
MediaFire by
Sony Music, but they later apologised to Cox, stating that the files "were mistakenly removed". Atlas Sound was chosen by
Animal Collective to perform at the
All Tomorrow's Parties festival that they curated in May 2011.
Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel Cox released his first solo album
Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel on February 18, 2008 on
Kranky in the US and on
4AD in Europe. The songs were recorded on
Ableton Live using an array of computer-based instruments, as well as his own live recordings. The lyrics of
Let the Blind Lead are autobiographical in nature, reflecting life experiences of Cox. In response, Cox almost ceased production on the record, later saying "I did not react well to the leak, in retrospect. It became the kind of internet-fueled drama that I was quickly learning to despise".
Logos would eventually see an official release on October 19, 2009 on
Kranky in the US and on
4AD in Europe. In discussing his
Logos, Cox characterised his first as being a "bedroom laptop type thing" and "very introverted". In contrast,
Logos was written in several parts of the world, and is "not about me. There are collaborations with other musicians. The lyrics are not autobiographical. The view is a lot more panoramic and less close-up. I became bored with introspection". In an interview with
Spin, Cox described the recording of the album as, "very exhausting to make, even though it was comfortable and detached. It is the loneliest record that I've ever made". After Parallax was recorded, Bradford Cox continued touring with
Deerhunter, which ended up being so stressful for Cox that it caused him to have a nervous breakdown. The artwork features a photograph of Cox taken by
Mick Rock, who had previously shot photographs for albums such as
Raw Power,
The Madcap Laughs, and
Transformer.
Other work When Cox was 16, he designed a
font named "Polaroid 22" which would later be used on the album covers for
Papa Roach's
Lovehatetragedy (2002) and
Avril Lavigne's
Under My Skin (2004). Cox has also recorded as part of other bands, such as the short lived "Wet Dreams", an otherwise all-girl garage / noise band in which he played drums. He also recorded several tracks on the
Black Lips second album
We Did Not Know the Forest Spirit Made the Flowers Grow (2004), playing drums on the song 'Notown Blues' from that album. He also is a part of the "Avant-Garage" band Ghetto Cross, with Cole Alexander from
Black Lips, Frankie Broyles, and Asha Lakra. Cox contributed to the
Karen O-scored
soundtrack for the 2009
Spike Jonze film
Where the Wild Things Are. In November 2012, it was announced that Cox would portray
Jared Leto's lover in the 2013 feature film
Dallas Buyers Club, co-starring
Matthew McConaughey and
Jennifer Garner. In September 2019, Cox collaborated with
Cate Le Bon, releasing a joint EP titled,
Myths 004. In July 2025, Cox hosted a two-part set on
NTS Radio titled,
Bradford Cox: Summer and Smoke Pt. 1 (Day) and
Pt. 2 (Night). ==Equipment==