indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...
band from
Denton, Texas
Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...
which began as the solo project of Eric Michener. He was given the nickname while on a middle-school field trip after he was dared to pluck and swallow a fish at the
Dallas World Aquarium
The Dallas World Aquarium is a for-profit aquarium and zoo located in the West End Historic District of Dallas, Texas, USA. It aids conservation and education by housing many animals that are threatened or endangered as part of a cooperative b ...
. The band has released albums with
Lauren Records
Lauren Records is an American independent record label founded in Southern California in 2011. The label mostly specializes in indie rock, emo, and other melodic punk rock adjacent genres.
History
After a few years booking shows and tours for ...
Athens, Georgia
Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...
and associated with
Business Deal Records
Business Deal Entertainment is a music collective in Austin, Texas that grew from the 1988 collaborations of Smokey Farris and Dirk Michener and their respective circles of friends in Cypress and Denton, Texas. The majority of current Business ...
, a music collective in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
.
Their second album, '' Little D'' was acclaimed by the ''
Dallas Observer
''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...
'' and ''
Austin Chronicle
''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...
'' and named to a Best Local of 2005 list by the ''
Dallas Morning News
''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...
attempt to save Texas by going on a tour/crime spree in order to perform all 8,030 of the songs I've written in my sleep since I was in the womb."
In 2011, the band released ''Classic Creeps'', described as "the first in an ongoing series of Fishboy records featuring characters whose lives interconnect to form a bigger story." Each track is listed in alphabetical order and each character's name begins with the letter A.
in 2014, the band self-release An-Elephant. A rock opera and graphic novel about the death and after life of Topsy the Elephant as she plotted revenge against her murderer
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...
animated gifs
The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; or , see pronunciation) is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released on 15 June 1987. ...
. It can be found at An-Elephant.com
May 19, 2017 the band released ''Art Guards'' on
Lauren Records
Lauren Records is an American independent record label founded in Southern California in 2011. The label mostly specializes in indie rock, emo, and other melodic punk rock adjacent genres.
History
After a few years booking shows and tours for ...
. The album considered a spiritual successor to ''Classic Creeps'', features nine songs about nine different characters all grappling with their relationship to art. Similar to ''Creep''s the characters all meet at the end of the record.
Art Guards was released with a self-published mini- graphic novel drawn by Michener.
Following the release of Art Guards the band toured with AJJ in 2017.
In 2017, Fishboy appeared on the podcast "Don't Feed the Artists" to promote their album ''Art Guards'' for
Lauren Records
Lauren Records is an American independent record label founded in Southern California in 2011. The label mostly specializes in indie rock, emo, and other melodic punk rock adjacent genres.
History
After a few years booking shows and tours for ...
.
On April 2, 2021, the band released Waitsgiving, the third in the series of interconnected story songs inspired by the real lif forgotten time capsule of Denton, TX. The album features 10 songs about 9 characters across three generations who are all dealing with patience and celebrate a fictional holiday every May 17 called Waitsgiving.
In addition to Michener and bandmates, Waitsgiving features
Matt Pence
Matthew Louis Pence (born April 13, 1972) is an American recording engineer, producer, and drummer. He owns and manages The Echo Lab studio in Denton, Texas.
Early life and education
Pence is from St. Louis, Missouri.
In 1990, Pence moved to Den ...
on drums and Sean Bonnette of AJJ singing backup vocals on ''Snocone Creator.''
Following its release Michener has given a free performance of Waitsgiving on the down town Denton square every May 17.
Feb 2022, Michener released ''The Best Ever Boombox Cassette Tape from Durham'' to celebrate the 20th anniversary of
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats are an American band formed in Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle, despite the ...
album
All Hail West Texas
''All Hail West Texas'' is the sixth studio album by the Mountain Goats. After the slight increase in production values on ''The Coroner's Gambit'' album of 2000, ''All Hail West Texas'' was the last Mountain Goats album recorded entirely on Joh ...
. Michener writes:
''"As most Fishboy audiences are fans of this song/album we routinely get roped into small talk where we are pressed to explain that the Mountain Goats, as great as they are, have no hard connection to Denton, TX as far as I know.''
''One night in the car I told my bandmates that I should write a revenge song about the Goats hometown and have it haunt them in greenrooms and merch tables across the world.''
''This joke came in and out of my mind until I was giving a virtual interview last Spring by Riley Soloner. Again, he mentioned the song, and again I made the revenge joke but this time I felt compelled to give it a shot."''
In 2023 the band toured with
Koo Koo Kanga Roo
Koo Koo Kanga Roo is an American comedy disco duo from Minneapolis, Minnesota, consisting of vocalists Bryan Atchison and Neil Olstad.
Billed as an "interactive dance party duo" and described as "the Beastie Boys meet ''Sesame Street''", Koo K ...
and
The Homeless Gospel Choir
The Homeless Gospel Choir, also known as Derek Zanetti, is a folk-punk musician from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is signed to A-F Records and has released seven albums to date. His debut album, ''Some People Never Go Anywhere'', was released i ...
Band members
* Eric "Fishboy" Michener - Vocals, guitar
* Grahm Robinson - Drums
* Samuel Escalante - Guitar, Keys, horns
* Brooks Martin - Bass
Prior members
* Dave "Cleveland" Koen
* Adam "Sweatpants" Avramescu - Keyboard, horns, percussion
* Scarlett Wright - Bass, backup vocals
* Tommy "Medicine Ball" Garcia - Drums
* Ryan "Secret Crystal" Williams of The
Baptist Generals
The Baptist Generals are an American indie band from the town of Denton, Texas.
Baptist Generals formed in 1998 by singer-songwriter Chris "Cee" Flemmons and drummer Steve Hill. Originally they played for beer money as a street act on Denton's ...
- Bass
* Justin "Sixlets" Lloyd - Bass
* John "Christakis" Clardy of
Tera Melos
Tera Melos is an American math rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 2004. They incorporate many styles of rock, ambient electronics and unconventional song structures. They are currently a three-piece, consisting of guitarist/keyboard ...
- Drums
* Winston Reed "Slapbracelet" Chapman of Bosque Brown and The
Baptist Generals
The Baptist Generals are an American indie band from the town of Denton, Texas.
Baptist Generals formed in 1998 by singer-songwriter Chris "Cee" Flemmons and drummer Steve Hill. Originally they played for beer money as a street act on Denton's ...
- Drums
* Brady "The Bear" Goodwin - Bass, tuba
* Drew "Albatross" Erickson of Roy G and the Biv - Drums, keys
Business Deal Records
Business Deal Entertainment is a music collective in Austin, Texas that grew from the 1988 collaborations of Smokey Farris and Dirk Michener and their respective circles of friends in Cypress and Denton, Texas. The majority of current Business ...
Business Deal Records
Business Deal Entertainment is a music collective in Austin, Texas that grew from the 1988 collaborations of Smokey Farris and Dirk Michener and their respective circles of friends in Cypress and Denton, Texas. The majority of current Business ...
Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records
Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records is an American independent record label based in Athens, Georgia. Its catalogue features indie rock, indie pop and hip-hop music, with several of its artists associated with or influenced by The Elephant 6 Reco ...
Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records
Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records is an American independent record label based in Athens, Georgia. Its catalogue features indie rock, indie pop and hip-hop music, with several of its artists associated with or influenced by The Elephant 6 Reco ...
(2011)
''An Elephant'' Self Released (2014)
* ''Art Guards'',
Lauren Records
Lauren Records is an American independent record label founded in Southern California in 2011. The label mostly specializes in indie rock, emo, and other melodic punk rock adjacent genres.
History
After a few years booking shows and tours for ...
(2017)
* ''Waitsgiving'',
Lauren Records
Lauren Records is an American independent record label founded in Southern California in 2011. The label mostly specializes in indie rock, emo, and other melodic punk rock adjacent genres.
History
After a few years booking shows and tours for ...
(2021)
EPs
* ''NOM'', Self Released (2009)
Singles
* Split 7" with Baby Calendar, Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records (2007)
* IMAVOLCANO 7" and comic,
Lauren Records
Lauren Records is an American independent record label founded in Southern California in 2011. The label mostly specializes in indie rock, emo, and other melodic punk rock adjacent genres.
History
After a few years booking shows and tours for ...
(2013)
* The Best Ever Boom Box Cassette Tape from Durham (2022)
Compilations
* I Think We Should Stay Away From Each Other,
Lauren Records
Lauren Records is an American independent record label founded in Southern California in 2011. The label mostly specializes in indie rock, emo, and other melodic punk rock adjacent genres.
History
After a few years booking shows and tours for ...
Business Deal Records
Business Deal Entertainment is a music collective in Austin, Texas that grew from the 1988 collaborations of Smokey Farris and Dirk Michener and their respective circles of friends in Cypress and Denton, Texas. The majority of current Business ...
(2000)
* ''The American Friends of Carlos Velez'', Self Released (2002)