Menomena

Menomena is an experimental indie rock group from Portland, active from 2000 to the present. The band’s core membership includes Danny Seim, Justin Harris and Brent Knopf. Seim plays percussion, while Harris plays bass, guitar and saxophone; the group also shares vocal duties and often swaps instruments during recording.

Formation and early work

The band forms in late 2000, after Brent Knopf graduates from Dartmouth College and returns to Portland to work with Harris and Seim. Menomena plays its first show in July 2001 at The Meow Meow, a Portland all-ages venue that later closes. The group’s name has no fixed meaning, although it is often assumed to refer to the Piero Umiliani song “Mah Nà Mah Nà”; the name is chosen mainly for the way it sounds.

Albums and releases

Menomena self-releases its debut album, I Am the Fun Blame Monster!, in 2003. The album is packaged as an 80-page flipbook designed by Seim and hand-assembled individually, and it later receives nationwide distribution through FILMguerrero. The title is an anagram of The First Menomena Album. In 2005, the group releases Under an Hour, a three-track album of instrumental music written for and performed with Monster Squad, an experimental dance company based in Portland.

In 2006, Menomena signs with Barsuk Records, while keeping a relationship with FILMguerrero, which continues to handle its older catalogue and future vinyl releases. The next album, Friend and Foe, appears in 2007 and draws mixed critical response. Its packaging includes artwork by graphic novelist and cartoonist Craig Thompson, along with die-cut shapes, decoder rings and hidden messages. The album receives a nomination for Best Recording Package at the Grammy Awards.

Mines follows in 2010. Brent Knopf’s departure is announced in 2011, and he leaves to focus on his side project Ramona Falls. Menomena then releases Moms in 2012.

Other projects

Danny Seim also has a side project called Lackthereof, which begins in the late 1990s.