The band originally featured guitar/vocalist Charles Gladfelter, guitarist Robert Byrne, bassist Jon Kooker, and drummer Joe Dapier.
After a 20 year hiatus, Dapier, Byrne, and Gladfelter reunited to write and record the band's fourth album, which musically picks up where 'The Killing of Cool' left off.
[3] In April 1995, they entered Chicago's Warzone Studios with producer/engineer Scott Ramsayer and recorded their self-titled debut, later known as The Black Album.
[2] Around this time, Solomon's brother, Matt Walker (Filter), was enlisted as the new drummer for The Smashing Pumpkins when Jimmy Chamberlin was let go.
In February 1998, Aware and manager Roger Jansen convinced the group to sign a publishing deal with EMI, and soon after the band began working with producer John Fields.
However, in January 1998 he played bass for the first John Fields session at his Minneapolis studio Funkytown, where the band wrote the song "Level on the Inside."
In the spring of 1998, Jansen and Latterman worked out an arrangement with Columbia Records where the band would release an EP exclusively with Aware prior to their major label debut on Columbia/Aware.
[8][9][10] The song was soon picked up by other radio stations in the Midwest,[9] and led to the band selling out shows at Chicago venues House of Blues and Metro.
[16] Other shows included playing with The Black Crowes, Silverchair, Everclear, Blink 182, Third Eye Blind, Eve 6, Local H, and Orgy.
[17] In April 1999, "Beautiful" was chosen as Dovetail Joint's second single; Chris Lord-Alge re-mixed the song at his Los Angeles studio.
The album was produced by Fields and optioned by Columbia, but strain between the label and the band led to the group's departure from Columbia/Aware before it was officially released.
[22][23] Dapier has played drums in the Chicago bands Plura, Imperial Mountain Villa, The Errol Flynns, and Smush.
He has contributed drum tracks to numerous albums and recording projects, including "The Power of Sound" by Jonny Polonsky (2024) and new music by singer-guitarist Newt Cole to be released in 2025.