Early years (1993–1998) While attending middle school in Los Gatos, Engles and Campanella started playing together. After they graduated to
Los Gatos High School, older friends Hayes and Roulette joined the group. In 1996, Dredg recorded and released their first demos of original material, the Conscious EP, garnering them exposure as far away as Boston. With the release, Dredg slowly built a name for themselves in the
Bay Area, as well as on the East Coast, such as in
Boston and
New York. The story was included in the liner notes, in lieu of the actual lyrics. Written by Roulette, the band had planned to release a movie of the story; Over the next two years, Dredg toured mostly within California, slowly expanding their fan base. The band began sending out a demo tape to several labels with four new songs intended for their next album, "Of the Room", "Redrawing the Island Map", "Running Through Propellers" and "The Papal Insignia". In January 2001, Dredg was offered a deal by
Interscope Records, and the band signed to the label in February 2001. As part of the deal,
Leitmotif was re-released by Interscope on September 11, 2001. With the re-release of
Leitmotif, Dredg toured nationally and internationally in support of the record with bands such as
Alien Ant Farm,
Pressure 4-5,
the Apex Theory,
Taproot,
Deadsy and
Onesidezero. As they had done with the liner notes of
Leitmotif, Dredg chose not to include the lyrics; instead, they printed letters sent to them by people suffering from sleep paralysis. Several songs on the album even included lyrics taken directly from the letters. When the band began writing material for the new album, they secluded themselves in the deserts around
Palm Desert. The majority of the album was recorded at
Skywalker Ranch. The band used three producers,
Ron Saint Germain,
Tim Palmer and
Jim Scott, on the record, adding another layer of diversity to the album. Dredg made music videos for two of the album's tracks, "Same Ol' Road" and "Of The Room". Upon releasing the album, the band once again returned to their hectic touring schedule, including their first national headline tour with
Codeseven, a then-unsigned
Strata and either STUN or Woven supporting. They also toured with acts such as
Ozomatli,
Deftones,
Chevelle,
Hoobastank and
Phantom Planet, as well as earning a spot on the
Sno-Core Tour with
Sparta,
Glassjaw and
Hot Water Music.
Catch Without Arms (2005–2006) in
Atlanta, Georgia on May 24, 2005. While touring in support of
El Cielo, Dredg began work on their third album,
Catch Without Arms, spending 8 months writing material before taking another 10 months to record and mix the album. and eventually reaching the top of the Heatseekers chart. The only single on the album, "
Bug Eyes", was made into a music video directed by
Philip Andelman. Dredg headlined several tours in support of
Catch Without Arms, playing with bands such as
Circa Survive,
Day One Symphony,
Delta Activity,
Vedera,
Ours and
Ambulette. They played the
Taste of Chaos tour in 2006 with
Deftones,
Atreyu,
Thrice and
Story of the Year, as well as shows with
Coheed and Cambria,
the Blood Brothers and
MewithoutYou. Of note, each night they played a very early version of "It's Not Worth It" (a song that did not make it into the final album) at about the midpoint of each album. On the second night, as a segue into
El Cielo, they performed an early instrumental version of "Wonderous Miracle" (another song that did not make it into the final album).
Exit from Interscope and The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion (2007–2009) on April 23, 2008. On February 14, 2007, Dredg issued an update indicating production had begun on their next album and released several new song titles as part of the update. Gavin Hayes posted a Myspace blog on July 8, 2007, with new information that the band had 12-15 songs that might or might not make the final cut. Of the songs previously written, only a few were being worked on from prior updates. Hayes stated that on December 21, 2007, the writing process for their new album was almost done, and they planned to enter the studio in early 2008 to start recording. This would be followed by extensive touring in the spring. The songs that were played at live shows during the writing process but were not released on the album include: "Wondrous Miracle", "It's Not Worth It", "Push Away", "Holding a Remedy Potion", "Hurricane Felix", "Pieces of Gold", "Fleeing to Mexico", "2001", "MacGuffin" and "Fucking Smile Pt. 2". The band played at the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California on April 26, 2008, during their tour to introduce the new tracks to their fans, with the exception of a few past hits and some tracks already performed such as "Long Days and Vague Clues". After Coachella, Dredg released demos for songs rumored to be on their upcoming album up to February 2009. They also added a song entitled "entire new album", which was a track consisting of every song played simultaneously. Also on February 23, 2009, Dredg announced their exit from Interscope Records as well their new record's title,
The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion. They confirmed joining with Independent Label Group (ILG, which is a part of Warner Music Group), and Ohlone Recordings. The album was released on June 9, 2009, with a Limited Edition release with alternate artwork (as well as a Vinyl recording) made available to the public. Music videos have been made for "Information" and "I Don't Know". The album reached number 71 on the
Billboard 200, selling 7,492 copies in its first week. The album was inspired by the essay "Imagine There Is No Heaven: A Letter to the Six Billionth Citizen". The essay was written by British-Indian novelist
Salman Rushdie, who found controversy in 1988 over one of his books gaining him a religious fatwa for Rushdie's death from Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini which ultimately resulted in United Kingdom and Iran breaking diplomatic ties to each other a year later. In consideration of the essay, the album has common themes in
agnosticism and the questioning of beliefs and society. Album and liner notes artwork resembled an Air Mail letter (addressed to "SEVEN BILLIONTH") and was done by Rohner Segnitz of the band
Division Day. Segue tracks on the album are called "Stamps of Origin", and unlike prior albums a few of these segue tracks contain lyrics.
Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy (2010–2014) Dredg suggested on their
Twitter account that they began recording their fifth album on June 23, 2010. On August 17, 2010, Dredg announced via their official website that they had begun the process of recording a new album. Unlike the long gaps between their last two efforts, the band expected an early 2011 release. The announcement was posted in the news section and reads as follows: "Yesterday, we began working on our fifth record with musician/producer
Dan the Automator. We will be writing and recording it in San Francisco for the next month and a half and are hoping for an early 2011 release. Stay tuned as there will be more updates and studio footage in the coming months." On February 18, 2011, Dredg announced via Twitter that their fifth studio album,
Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy, was to be released on May 3, 2011, in the United States and April 29 everywhere else. The album received a negative response from the band's fans, many who derided the album's production and sound. In February 2014, Dredg released a non-album track, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco", in conjunction with a stop-motion music video touring the city. Touring in support of the album took place from 2011, until May 2014.
Hiatus and side projects (2014–2017) After the release of
Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy, Dino Campanella stated in an interview in 2014 that Dredg was taking an indefinite hiatus: Mark Engles joined the band
Black Map during the hiatus.
Return (2018–present) On January 27, 2018, it was announced that the band was working on their first release since
Chuckles And Mr. Squeezy. In March 2019, vocalist-guitarist Gavin Hayes confirmed in an interview they were working on a new album originally planned to be released in 2019. In a late 2021 interview, Hayes said that work on new material had been delayed by the
COVID-19 pandemic. He went on to note that they had "probably two albums worth" of new material to work through, and that their goal was to release an album in 2022. In June 2022, the band stated that they were aiming to start recording the album in the winter of 2022. However, as of 2026, the album has still not been released. ==Musical style==