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Deep Dope is an American rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington in 1998. The band was formed by frontman and bassist Clem Hathoway and several of his high school classmates. While the band initially had a metalcore and hardcore punk-influenced style in their formative years, as heard on their debut and sophomore albums If It Pleases the Crown and Cyanide, respectively, the band matured towards a funk and alternative rock sound following their reunion in 2006, and subsequently produced their most critically-acclaimed works. With the release of several critically acclaimed albums such as 2009's Smoke on the Sound and 2011's Rainier Skies, the band established themselves as one of the most successful acts of the Seattle music scene and alternative rock in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Formation and punk years (1998-2004)
Deep Dope was formed in 1998 by vocalist and bassist Clementine "Clem" Hathoway, following the dissolution of his previous band Caym. The band was formed alongside his high school classmates, drummer Daniel Wellington and guitarist Joey Sweeney. The trio bonded over their love for punk rock, hardcore punk, and crossover thrash, particularly the likes of Minor Threat, the Dead Kennedys, Suicidal Tendencies, and the Dropkick Murphys. Due to the lackluster punk scene in Seattle at the time, the band considered a move to Los Angeles or San Francisco, but ultimately chose to stay within their native Seattle. The band settled on the name "Deep Dope" for the dopamine rush they wanted their listeners to experience while listening to their music or attending their live shows.

The band wrote songs and rehearsed in Wellington's garage, and performed several gigs across the Pacific Northwest and San Francisco, and eventually garnered the attention of Robert Bastard of Alternative Tentacles, who offered to sign on the band, to which they accepted. By the end of 1999, they recorded and released their first EP, Treasures from Dan's Garage. Deep Dope opened for punk, heavy metal and metalcore bands in the early 2000s, including Trivium and Avenged Sevenfold. At the end of 2001, they released their debut studio album If It Pleases the Crown, which embraced a hardcore punk sound and politically-charged lyrics. Three years later, Deep Dope released their sophomore studio album, Cyanide. The title track was a blatant critique of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq the previous year, which attracted some controversy and resulted in the band being dropped from radio airplay for several years, hindering their success.

Sweeney's departure and initial breakup
Sweeney began to experience a quarterlife crisis and excessively abuse alcohol, and often became violent. He began showing up to rehearsals intoxicated, sometimes to the point where he had to play sitting down as he could not stand up without his band members' support. In one incident, Sweeney urinated on Hathoway's Marshall bass amp without his knowing, mistaking it for a urinal while he was drunk. When Hathoway plugged in his bass, he was electrocuted and passed out. Sweeney then jokingly tied Hathoway to a chair with his guitar strap. When Hathoway woke up and realized what happened, he dismissed Sweeney from the band. According to Wellington's account, however, Sweeney was not fired by Hathoway, but rather Sweeney left on his own accord due to the deteriorating relationship between him and the frontman. Deep Dope struggled to find a replacement guitarist, and this, along with Wellington's secondary interest in tech and acceptance to the University of Washington for a computer science degree, resulted in the band breaking up. Sweeney later moved to Portland, Oregon to join the hard rock band Pisshead from 2004 to 2010, and later the Southern California rock band Glenn Peach and the Fuzz in 2012. Ironically, Sweeney's admission to the latter band was a result of the need to replace guitarist Darrel Sgarbossa, who was fired from Glenn Peach and the Fuzz for excessive alcohol addiction and drunken urination on the band's gear.

Reformation and Sub Pop signing (2006-2007)
Wellington dropped out of the University of Washington in 2006 as he found the coursework for his Computer Science degree too difficult, and in a 2016 interview stated "math and programming are not my forte, drumming is. And dropping out of UW was quite possibly the best decision of my life." He contacted former bandmate Hathoway to see if he wanted to reform Deep Dope, and Hathoway, who disliked his then-job as a closing courtesy clerk at Fred Meyer, enthusiastically accepted, and the band was reformed by the end of 2006. Hathoway listened to a lot of alternative rock and grunge following the band's breakup, citing bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Faith No More, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden and the Foo Fighters as bands that "saved his life" during a time when he struggled with recurrent suicidal thoughts and depression, and wanted to reform and rebrand Deep Dope as a post-grunge and alternative rock band as a tribute to the aforementioned bands, which Wellington also thought was a good idea. The reformed Deep Dope auditioned several new guitarists, and recruited Mike "Mudkip" Sanders of local Seattle grunge band For All Heroes and Japanese-born Ryuuichi "Ronnie" Yamane on lead and rhythm guitar, respectively, making Deep Dope a four-piece band. Sanders and Yamane, with their experience in the grunge scene introduced Hathoway to guitar effects and gear typically used in grunge in an attempt to help the band find their new sound.

Deep Dope and Smoke on the Sound (2008-2010)
The band's new lineup wrote and recorded songs for what they anticipated to be their comeback album, which they decided to make a self-titled. Deep Dope, commonly referred to by fans as "the Purple album" due to its cover art and sleeve, was released in early 2008 to moderate success and showed off the band's grunge-influenced sound, but also attracted the attention of Sub Pop, who offered to sign on the band, to which they accepted. Hathoway later remarked that this was "quintessential" towards the band's success and "the biggest milestone" in his life and the band's history. Their first album with Sub Pop, Smoke on the Sound, was released in 2009 to critical acclaim and brought Deep Dope national fame. The band opened for major acts such as Alice in Chains during their Black Gives Way to Blue tour, with the band performing in Europe and Australia for the first time. At their Boston show, Hathoway joined Alice in Chains on stage to perform co-lead vocals on "Sea of Sorrow". Hathoway later remarked that meeting and performing with Jerry Cantrell on the same stage was a "highlight" of his life.

Rainier Skies and first world tour (2011-2014)
In 2011, the band released Rainier Skies, which consisted of songs written on the road during the band's tour with Alice in Chains. The album was even more successful than its predecessor, and sold over 200,000 within its first year of release and topped at number eleven on the Billboard 200. The album later appeared Loudwire's "Top 10 Post-Grunge albums of the 2010s", and was promoted with a world tour that lasted two years, and included support from Glenn Peach and the Fuzz (which consisted of the band's former guitarist Joey Sweeney, who met his former bandmates for the first time in 7 years), the Black Angels, and Prong. Deep Dope toured Japan for the first time on this tour, and made a stop in Yamane's hometown of Saitama, headlining a show at the Saitama Super Arena. Sanders fell ill to pneumonia before their show in Seoul, South Korea, and his guitar tech Alex Mitchell performed his parts during the show.

Abyss of Time and Space (2015-2017)
Deep Dope's band members began listening to psychedelic rock and proto-punk bands such as early Pink Floyd, the Doors, MC5, and the Velvet Underground, and wanted to produce a psychedelic album influenced from these bands. Returning to the studio after the end of the Rainier Skies tour, their sixth album Abyss of Time and Space was recorded and released in early 2015. Described as a modern neo-psychedelia album, with some funk influences, Abyss of Time and Space received mix reviews from critics, and some fans felt alienated from the band's departure of their post-grunge sound and style. Nonetheless, the album was commercially successful and sold over 100,000 copies during its first month of release, along with a successful world tour from 2015 to 2017. The band co-headlined alongside British rock band Deep Purple for their "Deepest Tour", which consisted of Deep Purple's European leg of their Now What?! tour. For the first time in over 10 years, the band performed songs from their punk era, including Cyanide.

Coexistence, Euphorium, and current activities (2018-present)
Deep Dope returned to their post-grunge sound, and released their seventh studio album Coexistence in July 2018, coinciding with the 20 year anniversary of the band's founding. Coexistence received mostly positive reviews from critics and fans, the latter who felt like the band had listened to their opinions. The band embarked on a small tour in North America and Europe from 2018 to early 2020 to support the album, with a final show in the band's hometown of Seattle. Against the Current and Against Me! were opening acts.

Following the Coexistence Tour, the band decided to go on a hiatus, mostly due to Yamane's backpain, Hathoway experiencing mental health issues, and family obligations. In a 2021 Pitchfork interview, when asked if the band was working on a new album, Hathoway responded, "We may, but it'll take time. COVID-19 quarantine allowed us to sit back and write some tunes that could appear on future album, but for the time being we're taking a break from about twenty years of recording and touring. We're burnt out for sure, but we still got a few more albums left in us before Deep Dope becomes but a memory."

On December 20, 2022, the band announced their eighth studio album Euphorium would be released on August 24, 2023, in addition to their first world tour since before the COVID-19 Pandemic, with Five Finger Death Punch and The Dwarves as opening acts.

Musical style and influences
Deep Dope has explored a wide range of musical influences and styles, from their early punk years to post-grunge and exploring psychedelia. The band's first two albums, If It Pleases the Crown and Cyanide, embrace a hardcore punk and metalcore sound, and were influenced by bands such as the Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, the Dropkick Murphys, and Suicidal Tendencies. Former guitarist Joey Sweeney stated that East Bay Ray of the Dead Kennedys was "his hero" and inspiration to pick up the guitar. Following Deep Dope's reunion and shift to a grunge and post-grunge sound and style in the mid-2000s, the band was more influenced by the likes of grunge acts Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney from their native Washington state, as well as late 90's alternative rock bands such as Smashing Pumpkins, Breaking Benjamin, Stone Temple Pilots and the Deftones, and even some nu metal acts such as Korn. During the Abyss of Time and Space-era, the band took influence from early Pink Floyd, Hillel Slovak-era Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Doors, the Velvet Underground, the Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane.

Clem Hathoway has a tenor voice type, and has been described by some as being Seattle's Geddy Lee, of whom was a major musical influence for Hathoway and inspired him to play bass. However, Hathoway stated his favorite bass player of all time "would have to be Jaco Pastorius." Hathoway's other bass influences include James Jamerson, Larry Graham, Flea, Billy Gould, John Paul Jones, Jack Bruce, Roger Waters, Geezer Butler, Paul McCartney, John Myung, Klaus Fluoride, Les Claypool, Davide Biale and Tim Commerford. When asked what his favorite albums were in a 2012 Loudwire interview, Hathoway responded, "AIC's Facelift and Dirt are tied. I simply would not be here today were it not for those two albums."

Band members
Current Members
 * Clementine "Clem" Hathoway - vocals, bass guitar (1998-2004, 2006–present)
 * Mike "Mudkip" Sanders - lead guitar (2006–present)
 * Ryuuichi "Ronnie" Yamane - rhythm guitar (2006–present)
 * Danny Wellington - drums (1998-2004, 2006–present)

Former members
 * Joey Sweeney - guitars (1998-2004)

Albums

 * If It Pleases the Crown (2001)
 * Cyanide (2004)
 * Deep Dope (2008)
 * Smoke on the Sound (2009)
 * Rainier Skies (2011)
 * Abyss of Time and Space (2015)
 * Coexistence (2018)
 * Euphorium (2023)

EPs

 * Treasures from Dan's Garage (1999)

Awards and Nominations
Grammy Awards
 * 2011: Best Rock Performance - Rainier Skies