Following the messy split of the left-field Ween, after Gene Ween (real name Aaron Freeman) dropped a bombshell in May that he was “retiring Gene Ween” to focus on his solo career, the other half of the genre-hopping cult US act has announced his own plans to move on.
As Consequence Of Sound reports, the other half of the Ween duo, Mickey Melchiondo (aka Dean Ween) has announced plans to release a star-studded solo album to help salve the wounds of a very public falling out (on the band’s forum) with his former high-school friend and musical partner over the dissolution of the group.
Melchiondo’s new musical plans, announced via his official webspace AskDeaner.com, involve a list of “the best musicians [he’s] encountered over the years,” who are all busy at work on his debut solo album.
Chief among them, the ‘ginger Elvis’ himself, Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, who is also serving as producer on the Dean Ween solo record. Homme’s connection to Melchiondo goes far back, including collaborations on the former’s Desert Sessions series as well as on QOTSA’s iconic 2002 album, Songs For The Deaf.
Former Queens bassist Nick Oliveri – who managed to somehow dodge jail time recently after a stand off with a SWAT team – also makes an appearance on the new album, along with the likes of Aerosmith drummer Joe Kramer, skate punk session guitarist Chuck Treece, jazz players Joe Russo and saxophonist David Sanborn, plus one Scott Metzger.
Along for the ride are a number of former Ween bandmates as well, including Glenn McClelland, Claude Coleman, Dave Dreiwitz and Guy Heller, vocalist for Ween side-project Moistboyz.
In a blog post titled, My New Studio, Melchiondo details how he originally started writing songs for his post-Ween solo debut over a year ago, but that it wasn’t until last July that he solidified his efforts. “I am on a mission to try and make a truly classic album and haven’t been so focused and driven in many years,” he writes with determination.
The noted fisherman also writes that: “I postponed all of my fishing charters until a later date and since mid-August I’ve been in the studio non-stop, 7 days a week working from 7pm until 7am.”
Adding that he’s “in the thick of it right now,” and that it looks like we can expect the completed all-star album sometime after January. “Sonically it’s pretty damn impressive,” he adds, “my engineering chops have improved significantly over the years (25 years of recording tends to help) and if you can’t already tell, I’m very excited.”
Meanwhile, the other half of the Ween equation, Aaron Freeman (aka Gene Ween) is following on from the release of his own debut solo album earlier this year, Marvellous Clouds, with continued touring on his lonesome.
