Grand Archives

Grand Archives

Grand Archives at the 2007 Bumbershoot festival
Background information
Origin Seattle, Washington, USA
Genres Indie rock
Years active 2006–present
Labels Sub Pop
Associated acts Carissa's Wierd
Band of Horses
Website grandarchives.com
Members Mat Brooke
Jeff Montano
Curtis Hall
Thomas Wright
Past members Ron Lewis

Grand Archives is an American indie rock band that formed in Seattle. They were originally called Archives[1] and are led by principal songwriter Mat Brooke, formerly of Carissa's Wierd and Band of Horses.

The Grand Archives

Mat Brooke at Grand Archives first UK concert on February 5, 2010

Following his departure from Band of Horses in 2006, Mat Brooke (vocals and guitar) formed a new band with Jeff Montano (bass and vocals) and Curtis Hall (drums and vocals). Ron Lewis (keyboards, guitar and vocals) was added to the lineup later in the year, and Thomas Wright (guitar and vocals) joined in early 2007.

The band emerged, under their original name, in March 2007 by posting two tracks to their MySpace page. After a show with Brooke's former Carissa's Wierd bandmate Sera Cahoone they had their track "Sleepdriving" added to Pitchfork Media's Forkcast playlist, which provided them with substantial internet exposure.

Once the band switched to their current name, Pitchfork published a more in-depth feature on the band, which discussed all four demos from their MySpace page. Soon afterwards they supported Modest Mouse on seven west-coast tour dates and subsequently signed to Sub Pop for a full-length album.

The band released The Grand Archives in February 2008 and toured the U.S. and Europe in support of it. In April 2008 the band played "Torn Blue Foam Couch" on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Ron Lewis left the band in November 2008 to tour with The Shins and rejoin The Fruit Bats.

Keep in Mind Frankenstein

Following the release of their second album, Keep in Mind Frankenstein, Grand Archives embarked on extensive tours of the USA, Canada, and Europe, playing their first UK concert on February 5, 2010. For these live shows the four piece band was augmented by Robin Peringer (guitar & keyboards). Jason Kardong (pedal steel guitar) has also played with the band following Lewis's departure. The band toured the West Coast of the USA in July 2010 and Europe in August.

In February 2010 the band covered the song "Cupid" by Sam Cooke for Starbucks' Sweethearts compilation series.

Villains

During their tour in late 2010, Grand Archives previewed several new songs from their yet to be recorded third album. At their show at The Hoxton in London on August 2, Mat Brooke revealed that the band hoped to record the new album after they had completed their tour. On October 7, 2010 the band made demos of four songs from the new album available for free download on their official website and followed this with three more free tracks in June 2011. The title of the new album appears to be Villains.

Band members

Current members

Former members

Additional live musicians

Discography

Television

Chart history

Year Album details Peak chart positions
U.S. Heatseekers
2008 The Grand Archives[2]
  • Released: February 19
    •
  • Label: Sub Pop
 47
2009 Keep in Mind Frankenstein
  • Released: September 15
    •
  • Label: Sub Pop
 —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

References

  1. ↑ "Archives: are they trying to break my heart?" Three Imaginary Girls - April 7, 2007
  2. ↑ "Billboard Chart History - The Grand Archives (album)" Billboard
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