photo by Ryan Portnoy

A New Dawn Fades was founded in 2002 in Lynchburg, VA by PJ Sykes and Nathan McGlothlin who were later joined by Melissa Sunderland Jones on violin. The band often improvised and experimented during live performances, including the use of pots and pans as percussion and starting from within the audience. The band recorded and toured up and down the east coast until 2008 sharing the stage with bands like Q And Not U, St Vincent, Beauty Pill, Peelander-Z, Des Ark, Unwed Sailor, Saxon Shore, Bella Fea, Army of Ponch and many many more.

Read the comprehensive A New Dawn Fades tour and recording session history

“This is one of the best stage shows you’ll see all festival, mostly because it refuses to be confined to the show: Rhythmic and loud and visceral and ecstatic, A New Dawn Fades uses avant investigations and atypical songcraft to challenge its audience and itself. You’ll be asked to participate (Bang on a ... pot), and you’ll want to.”
— Grayson Currin for INDY weekly

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An Introduction to Richmond

by Landis Wine

I moved to Richmond, Virginia reluctantly after being accepted to VCU for English. I had never visited the city and being from an extremely small town in Southern Virginia with virtually no music scene to speak of, excluding the sporadic nu-metal show at the American Legion or an open mic night at a local permissive church, I had no idea what to expect. My primary knowledge of Richmond consisted of GWAR’s appearance on the Jerry Springer show. I remember thinking they were incredibly reasonable dudes and being confused as to why the show’s other guest, El Duce, a true piece of human garbage, was even being lumped in with something that was more Jim Henson than GG Allin. My other impression of Richmond music came from the group Labradford, who were operating in the same sonic universe as Stars of the Lid and Godspeed You Black Emperor.

After I arrived in Richmond, I was more than a little timid about dipping my toe into local music and one of the first bands that I began to see pop up on a regular basis was A New Dawn Fades, to whom I immediately gravitated due to the Joy Division reference. I remember being excited by their combination of drones and guitar riffs (courtesy of PJ Sykes) with percussion that ranged from ambient/experimental to pummelling percussive beats and crashes (via Nathan McGlothlin). I was being impressed with their willingness to push the boundaries of their performances each time I saw them, gaining and shedding instrumentalists and styles and often ending with an interactive percussive circle, always open to new ideas and contributors. Over the years I began to work with different members of the band in other capacities, spending time writing for RVA Magazine when PJ was developing into a world-class concert photographer. Later on when the band parted ways following their swan song I See the Night Birds, Nathan began putting out records through his imprint Harding Street Assembly Lab and helped my barely-formed band White Laces release our first EP on cassette. I’ll always remember ANDF shows as a formative experience in Richmond that served as a gateway to a large, vibrant musical community.

A New Dawn Fades Live Performance Videos