Pixies at Rose Park in Columbia

About the artist

The Pixies are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1986. The group consists of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals), and David Lovering (drums). The Pixies achieved relatively modest commercial success in their home country, but were significantly more successful in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. The group disbanded in 1993 under acrimonious circumstances, but reunited in 2004. The band's style of music contains a range of elements, including indie rock, psychedelia, noise rock, and surf rock. Black Francis is the Pixies' primary songwriter and singer. He has written about a number of offbeat subjects in the band's songs, such as extraterrestrials, surrealism, incest, and biblical violence. The group is credited as being a big influence on the alternative rock boom of the 1990s. The Pixies' legacy and popularity grew in the years following their break-up, leading to sold-out world tours following their reunion in 2004. Joey Santiago and Black Francis (born Charles Thompson IV) first met when they lived next to each other in a suite while attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Although Santiago was worried about distractions, he noticed Francis played music and the pair began to jam together. Francis then embarked on a student exchange trip to Puerto Rico to study Spanish. After six months, he returned to Amherst and dropped out of the university. Francis and Santiago spent 1984 working in a warehouse, with Francis composing songs on his acoustic guitar and writing lyrics on the subway train. The pair formed a band in January 1986. Bass player Kim Deal joined Santiago and Francis two weeks later after responding to a classified advertisement Francis had placed, seeking a female bass player who liked both folk music icons Peter, Paul and Mary and the band Hüsker Dü. Deal was the only person to respond, but arrived at the audition without a bass as she had never played the instrument before. She later obtained one, and the trio started rehearsing in Deal's apartment. After recruiting Deal, the band tried unsuccessfully to get her sister, Kelley Deal, to join as its drummer. Kim's husband suggested they hire drummer David Lovering, whom Kim had met at her wedding reception. The group arrived at a name after Santiago selected the word "pixies" randomly from a dictionary and took a liking to how it looked and its definition as "mischievous little elves". Once the band had settled on a name and stable line-up, they moved rehearsals to Lovering's parents' garage in mid-1986. They began to play shows at bars in and around the Boston area.