Tyson Todd Meade (born September 15, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter best known as the leader and creative force behind alternative rock groups Defenestration and Chainsaw Kittens.
Background
Meade was born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, the youngest of five children. Before settling into retirement, his father worked as an architect, and his mother pursued a career as a nurse. Both parents, according to Meade, instilled in their son the values of treating others with respect, as well as frugality. Meade's childhood was filled by music: “[Music] was the only thing I was into" says Meade, "It consumed me." His sister Connie—16 when he was born in 1962—would yank him out of the crib when the Beatles came on the radio. His mom would do the same with groups like the Supremes. "She really loved 'Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart,'" says Meade. His first two rock shows were Elvis at the Tulsa Assembly Center in 1972 and a night with Alice Cooper's harrowing Welcome to My Nightmare tour in 1975 . Meade's musical interest eventually gravitated to musicians like New York Dolls, David Bowie, T-Rex (band), and Patti Smith. According to Meade, music was the only place where he could find people who thought and dressed like him.
After graduating from high school in 1980, Meade and fellow music lover, Todd Walker, hung out that summer and wrote songs. According to Meade, "We were all listening to the same stuff—punk, new wave, and fringe bands like Bowie, early Who and T-Rex. My brother Gentry sold me a Gibson Marauder. My cousin Duane showed me three chords, and said I could learn from there. One of the skaters [Meade hung out with] was Todd Walker, who started writing songs with me." Their common love of music and Meade's frustration with 1980s corporate rock led to the formation of his first band, Defenestration, with Todd Walker Clark Walker and other associates.
Defenestration
Defenestration eventually moved to Norman, Oklahoma, where the band recorded its 1984's self-titled record. The relative success of that debut led to a deal with the record company Relativity Records and the release of 1987's Dali Does Windows. Produced by Randy Burns (Megadeth, The Flaming Lips), Dali Does Windows was reviewed as "a straightforward rock album, albeit one with the staunchly idiosyncratic Tyson Meade at its heart."
Eventually, artistic differences created a power struggle between Meade and Walker. The result was Walker being asked to leave the band and Defenestration falling apart: “Todd Walker and I had the usual power struggle, and the other guys and I kicked him out,” Meade says. “When we got another guitarist, things were just awful. We started working at an algae farm because we were so broke. It was basically slave labor with 12-hour workdays at $5.00 an hour no overtime. I started to have a breakdown.” Though he dove headfirst into writing songs, it became apparent to Meade that the new incarnation of Defenestration was lacking something. Frustrated and demoralized, Meade packed it in and returned to Norman, where he took a job at indie shop Shadowplay Records. Defenestration was no more.
Chainsaw Kittens
While working at Shadowplay Records, Meade met Trent Bell, “a regular customer and loiterer,” and eventual lead guitarist to Chainsaw Kittens, who also won a Grammy as a producer in 2012. Bell informed Meade about a group of high schoolers that had a band and were about to kick out their singer. Bell suggested that Meade's songs would be perfect for the band. Meade recalled, "I thought it was ridiculous, but I didn't have any other options I could think of, so I decided to play the kids my songs." After holding practice session for a month in 1989, Chainsaw Kittens were born, their name a nod to their trashy punk guitar sound and baby faces. [id] Along with the other founding members—guitarist Mark Metzger, bass guitarist Kevin McElhaney, and drummer Ted Leader—Chainsaw Kittens recorded a demo and received a contract offer almost immediately from Mammoth Records. Whereas in Defenestration it was all tempered with a vaguely mainstream rock sensibility, Todd Walker's main contribution to the band—the Chainsaw Kittens dove enthusiastically off the deep end, into the extreme waters of glam-pop-punk, full-on transvestitism, and openly gay lyrics. And while it had a lot do with creative statement, it was also the work of Meade's increased understanding of his chosen industry: “I had a definite [idea] of what I wanted the Kittens to be," Meade says. "I wanted to have a band that was signed and made records. A month [after getting together], we made our first demo, and a month after that we were in negotiations with Mammoth Records.”