Instant Death

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Instant Death in 2002

Instant Death was Dave Dreiwitz's old band before he was the full-time bassist for Ween. They were a punk rock duo, featuring Dreiwitz on bass and vocals and Scott Byrne on drums and vocals.

The Instant Death song "The Enabler" has been played live a number of times by Ween since 1999, two years after Dreiwitz joined, though it had also been played as part of a soundcheck in 1994.

History[edit | edit source]

Dreiwitz and Bryne met in the fall of 1986 after both had finished shows with other bands. They immediately became friends, and the duo began jamming in December of 1991. Soon after, they donned the moniker Instant Death.[1] Instant Death released two singles on the New Brunswick-based indie label Dada Records, in 1993[2] and 1994[3] respectively.

Their sole album, New Evil Vibe, was the second album released by Ween's own label, Chocodog Records,[4] in 2002, making it one of only two non-Ween releases the label has put out.

On July 3rd, 2005, just before hitting the road for a string of shows, Scott Byrne passed away at the age of 44, leading to the group's disbandment.[5] Prior to this, the group was working on a second album, produced by Claude Coleman, Jr., but it was never released.[6]

In 2006, Dreiwitz formed a new group, called Crescent Moon, with Chris "Tomato" Harfenist of Sound of Urchin on drums.[7] They would pay tribute to Scott Byrne and perform the songs of Instant Death. The group is still active to this day.

References[edit | edit source]