Michael Dahlquist
Encyclopedia
Michael Dahlquist was a drummer in the Seattle band Silkworm
.
, a nearby town, and many vacations were spent at his grandmother's ranch in Livingston, Montana
. In 1969 and 1970, a nine-month trip to Europe saw the Dahlquist clan live on bread and cheese as they traversed the continent. His childhood was filled with creative endeavors: writing (a lasting passion), juggling, puppetry, and tree-climbing, with a little skateboarding
thrown in for good measure.
Dahlquist graduated from Inglemoor High School
in Bothell in 1984, and then attended Evergreen State College in Olympia
, Washington. In Olympia, he continued to develop his interests in writing and performance. To the former, he studied literature, mythology and mysticism, including a summer program at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado
, where he studied with poets Allen Ginsberg
and Philip Whalen
. He engaged in all manner of performance-oriented endeavors, from stage design to participation in and study of Fluxus-style art events of the sort pioneered by John Cage
and Joseph Beuys. During this time period, Dahlquist had his first experiences as a rock drummer, playing with the bands Flowers for Funerals and Dungpump.
In 1988, Dahlquist moved from Olympia to Seattle. After a few odd jobs, he found himself a home at Yellow and Graytop cab companies, for whom he drove over the next eight years.
, who were looking to replace their drum machine. He doubled the size of his kit to four drums immediately. Dahlquist was also a member of the Crust Brothers
, playing on their 1998 album Marquee Mark
.
The activities of Silkworm dominated Dahlquist's life for the next six years. He also became an avid mountaineer and scaled Mts. Adams, Hood, Baker, and Shuksan. He snowboarded
, learned to be a swing dancer, and also found time to play with a local gamelan
ensemble.
In late 1996, Silkworm began curtailing their tour schedule, and Dahlquist talked his way into a job as office grunt at Lizardtech, a local producer of imaging software. Six months later, he bought his first house, a tiny one-bedroom on Seattle's Beacon Hill. By the time he left Lizardtech as a product manager in the summer of 2001, he had taught himself Perl
, HTML
, and XML
, and had written the Silkworm website from scratch.
In October 2001, Dahlquist moved from Seattle to Chicago, Illinois. His bandmates had already made this move, individually, but the band had continued to prosper as a long-distance concern.
In Chicago, he was employed at Shure
Incorporated as a technical writer, and he continued to spend a great deal of time on Silkworm and related pursuits. However, he also started a web design business and resumed his college studies, as he pursued a degree in visual anthropology from DePaul University
.
(twice) and Japan
with Silkworm. He bought a 2500 square feet (232.3 m²) condominium on Chicago's South Side.
Between late 2001 and mid-2005, he took on the job of editing 145 hours of digital video into a 90-minute documentary film titled "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?," an outsider perspective on the Christian rock music scene. He taught himself film editing from scratch, building a ramshackle Avid system out of home PCs.
. While he was stopped at a traffic signal, a Mustang
driven by ex-model Jeanette Sliwinski
intentionally plowed into the car he was in (she was attempting to commit suicide). Douglas Meis and John Glick, Dahlquist's friends and fellow musicians, were also killed in the crash.
Silkworm (band)
Silkworm was an indie rock band active from 1987 to 2005.The members were Tim Midgett, Joel RL Phelps, Andy Cohen, and Michael Dahlquist. Phelps left the band in 1994. Matt Kadane of Bedhead and The New Year played keyboards on Italian Platinum and It'll Be Cool...
.
Early years
Dahlquist was born at Swedish Hospital in Seattle, Washington. He spent his childhood in BothellBothell, Washington
Bothell is a city located in King and Snohomish Counties in the state of Washington. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area. The population was 33,505 as of the 2010 census...
, a nearby town, and many vacations were spent at his grandmother's ranch in Livingston, Montana
Livingston, Montana
-Geography:Livingston is located at , at an altitude of 4.501 feet .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and 0.38% is waters.-Climate:-Demographics:...
. In 1969 and 1970, a nine-month trip to Europe saw the Dahlquist clan live on bread and cheese as they traversed the continent. His childhood was filled with creative endeavors: writing (a lasting passion), juggling, puppetry, and tree-climbing, with a little skateboarding
Skateboarding
Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard.Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report...
thrown in for good measure.
Dahlquist graduated from Inglemoor High School
Inglemoor High School
Inglemoor High School is a public high school located in Kenmore, Washington. It is one of the largest high schools in the state of Washington and has an average of 23.4 students per teacher. Inglemoor's feeder schools are Kenmore and Northshore Junior Highs and Arrowhead, Kenmore, Lockwood,...
in Bothell in 1984, and then attended Evergreen State College in Olympia
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
, Washington. In Olympia, he continued to develop his interests in writing and performance. To the former, he studied literature, mythology and mysticism, including a summer program at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, where he studied with poets Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
and Philip Whalen
Philip Whalen
Philip Glenn Whalen was an American poet, Zen Buddhist, and a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance and close to the Beat generation.-Biography:...
. He engaged in all manner of performance-oriented endeavors, from stage design to participation in and study of Fluxus-style art events of the sort pioneered by John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
and Joseph Beuys. During this time period, Dahlquist had his first experiences as a rock drummer, playing with the bands Flowers for Funerals and Dungpump.
In 1988, Dahlquist moved from Olympia to Seattle. After a few odd jobs, he found himself a home at Yellow and Graytop cab companies, for whom he drove over the next eight years.
Silkworm
In January 1990, Dahlquist began a personal and semi-professional relationship that would shape much of his adult life. He met the members of Silkworm, three young men recently transplanted from MontanaMontana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, who were looking to replace their drum machine. He doubled the size of his kit to four drums immediately. Dahlquist was also a member of the Crust Brothers
The Crust Brothers
The Crust Brothers, a band formed by Stephen Malkmus and members of Silkworm , released one album, Marquee Mark, a live recording of their December 5, 1997, show at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle, Washington. The show was a benefit for the Washington Wilderness Coalition...
, playing on their 1998 album Marquee Mark
Marquee Mark
Marquee Mark, the Crust Brothers' only album, was released by the small Telemomo label on October 15, 1998. It is a live recording of the band's December 5, 1997, show at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle, Washington. The bulk of the repertoire is drawn from songs associated with Bob Dylan and The...
.
The activities of Silkworm dominated Dahlquist's life for the next six years. He also became an avid mountaineer and scaled Mts. Adams, Hood, Baker, and Shuksan. He snowboarded
Snowboarding
Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A...
, learned to be a swing dancer, and also found time to play with a local gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
ensemble.
In late 1996, Silkworm began curtailing their tour schedule, and Dahlquist talked his way into a job as office grunt at Lizardtech, a local producer of imaging software. Six months later, he bought his first house, a tiny one-bedroom on Seattle's Beacon Hill. By the time he left Lizardtech as a product manager in the summer of 2001, he had taught himself Perl
Perl
Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...
, HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
, and XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
, and had written the Silkworm website from scratch.
In October 2001, Dahlquist moved from Seattle to Chicago, Illinois. His bandmates had already made this move, individually, but the band had continued to prosper as a long-distance concern.
In Chicago, he was employed at Shure
Shure
Shure Incorporated is an American corporation originally founded by Sidney N. Shure in Chicago, Illinois in 1925 as a supplier of radio parts kits. The company became a consumer and professional audio-electronics manufacturer of microphones, wireless microphone systems, phonograph cartridges,...
Incorporated as a technical writer, and he continued to spend a great deal of time on Silkworm and related pursuits. However, he also started a web design business and resumed his college studies, as he pursued a degree in visual anthropology from DePaul University
DePaul University
DePaul University is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul...
.
Beyond music
In the last few years of Dahlquist's life, he made landmark trips to ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(twice) and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
with Silkworm. He bought a 2500 square feet (232.3 m²) condominium on Chicago's South Side.
Between late 2001 and mid-2005, he took on the job of editing 145 hours of digital video into a 90-minute documentary film titled "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?," an outsider perspective on the Christian rock music scene. He taught himself film editing from scratch, building a ramshackle Avid system out of home PCs.
Death
Dahlquist died on July 14, 2005, in Skokie, IllinoisSkokie, Illinois
Skokie is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Its name comes from a Native American word for "fire". A Chicago suburb, for many years Skokie promoted itself as "The World's Largest Village". Its population, per the 2000 census, was 63,348...
. While he was stopped at a traffic signal, a Mustang
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A...
driven by ex-model Jeanette Sliwinski
Jeanette Sliwinski
Jeanette Sliwinski is a Chicago-born model. On July 14, 2005, according to sworn testimony, she attempted suicide while driving, causing a crash that resulted in the deaths of three local musicians.-Early life:...
intentionally plowed into the car he was in (she was attempting to commit suicide). Douglas Meis and John Glick, Dahlquist's friends and fellow musicians, were also killed in the crash.