"Death Cab For Cutie" has been added to your list of bookmarked artists
close
Death Cab For Cutie
Biography
Death Cab for Cutie's rise from small-time solo project to emotive, Grammy-nominated rock quartet is one of indie rock's greatest success stories. Launched in the bayside college town of Bellingham, WA, the group was originally a side project for singer/guitarist Ben Gibbard, an engineering student at Western Washington University who split his time between school and music. Taking a break from his local power pop band, Pinwheel, Gibbard began recording an album's worth of solo material in the summer of 1997. Producer Chris Walla lent his help to the recording sessions, which soon produced an eight-song cassette entitled You Can Play These Songs with Chords. When the tape proved to be a local hit, Gibbard reached into his circle of friends to assemble a band, hoping to play the new songs live. Bassist Nick Harmer (Gibbard's roommate) and drummer Nathan Good quickly climbed aboard, while Walla enlisted as the band's primary guitarist (he would also go on to produce most of the band's future releases). With a lineup now in place, Gibbard's group rechristened itself Death Cab for Cutie (named after a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band) and signed a contract with the Seattle-based Barsuk Records within a year's time.
report abuse