It was not long after Nirvana’s demise that countless bands that were influenced by Kurt Cobain began sprouting up, including Harvey Danger, who also come from Seattle. Aaron Huffman (bass) and Jeff J. Linn (guitar) formed the core of Harvey Danger in the spring of 1992, while the pair was attending the University of Washington. Soon after, they were joined by two other college students, Evan Sult (drums) and Sean Nelson (vocals), and began playing shows locally. By 1996, the quartet had caught the attention of renowned Seattle producer John Goodmanson (whose credits include Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney), which resulted in Goodmanson agreeing to help oversee the band’s first real demo recording. A recording contract with the independent label, the Arena Rock Recording Co., resulted in the release of Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone? in July 1997. One of the album’s best tracks, the anthemic ‘Flagpole Sitta’, began garnering substantial airplay at the influential Los Angeles station KROQ. A recording contract with London Records led to a remixed and repackaged version of the album in April 1998, and ‘Flagpole Sitta’ became a big hit on radio and MTV.
Harvey Danger opted to take some time off afterwards, as Nelson and Huffman each formed their own independent record labels - Phonograph Records and Magic Palace Recordings, respectively. After moving to Sire Records, Harvey Danger issued their follow-up, King James Version, in September 2000. On the album’s supporting tour, the band’s line-up was augmented by two other Seattle musicians, guitarist Mike Squires (of the Nevada Bachelors) and keyboard player John Roderick (of the Western State Hurricanes).
