* En anglais uniquement
As both the frontman of the acclaimed
Let's Active and as a producer,
Mitch Easter long stood at the forefront of the American jangle pop movement. A native of Winston-Salem, NC -- home to his famed Drive-In Studios -- he followed a short tenure in
the Sneakers by forming
Let's Active in 1981; that same year, his first major production job,
R.E.M.'s debut single "Radio Free Europe," was issued on the tiny Hibtone label, quickly becoming an underground sensation.
R.E.M.'s
Chronic Town EP followed in 1982, and with the next year's landmark
Murmur album, the group emerged as one of the most important new acts in American pop music; its success also brought
Easter considerable attention, as did the 1983 release of the debut
Let's Active EP Afoot, which launched the cult hit "Every Word Means No."
In quick succession,
Easter helmed a series of underground releases from
Chris Stamey (It's a Wonderful Life),
the Windbreakers (Any Monkey with a Typewriter), and
Game Theory (
Real Nighttime), in the process becoming virtually synonymous with the jangle pop sound.
Let's Active's Cypress followed in 1984, as did
R.E.M.'s sophomore effort,
Reckoning,
Easter's final work with the band. After two more
Let's Active albums -- 1986's superb Big Plans for Everybody and 1988's
Every Dog Has His Day -- the group effectively ceased to exist;
Easter then turned almost exclusively to production, working with acts ranging from
the Connells to the highly touted Australian band the Hummingbirds to British shoegazers
Moose. After helming
Velvet Crush's acclaimed
Teenage Symphonies to God, he also went on the road with the group; albums from
Pavement and
Helium followed.
Easter continues to produce at his studio, the Fidelitorium, while also playing in the bands
Shalini (who have released three albums) and the Fiendish Minstrels. In 2007,
Easter released his long-awaited first solo album,
Dynamico. ~ Jason Ankeny