b. 10 June 1961, Dayton, Ohio, USA. Guitarist Kelley Deal, a semi-active member of the Breeders, often suffers in media comparisons with her twin sister Kim Deal, former member of Pixies and widely regarded as the thinking woman’s thinking woman in US alternative rock circles. Before setting out on a solo path Kelley Deal nearly joined the Amps, set up home in Minneapolis, started a new record label and attempted to conquer a long-standing heroin addiction. She originally intended to call her new band, formed in 1995, Solid State, a name derived from the beliefs of the Arica cult who advocate free love and the use of marijuana. However, when a New York band claimed prior use of the name, she opted to call the group the Kelley Deal 6000 (or KD6000). The original line-up featured bass player Marty Nedich, guitarist Steve Salett, and drummer Nick Hook. The band’s repertoire was based on a clutch of songs that Deal began writing in April 1995, originally with friend Jesse Colin Roff and Dave Shouse of the Grifters. In two weeks at the Terrarium Studios in Minneapolis, they recorded the songs that would result in KD6000’s debut for Deal’s own Nice Records label, Go To The Sugar Altar, with Jimmy Flemion of the Frogs helping out on guitar. A number of guitar players subsequently passed through the line-up, and Hook was replaced by Todd Johnson during sessions for a second album. Finally released in late 1997, Boom! Boom! Boom! highlighted a lack of originality hinted at by the first album. The Kelley Deal 6000 was put on hiatus shortly afterwards. Deal went on to work with the Last Hard Men, a hard rock band she formed with Jimmy Flemion, Sebastian Bach, and Jimmy Chamberlin of the Smashing Pumpkins. She subsequently reunited with her sister to record a new Breeders album, 2002’s Title TK, and has worked with the band on and off since then.