Grand Archives was an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band that formed in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. They were originally called Archives"Archives: are they trying to break my heart?"
''Three Imaginary Girls'' – April 7, 2007 and are led by singer-songwriter

Mat Brooke Mathew Etter Brooke is an American musician, best known as the lead singer of American rock band Grand Archives and a former member of the bands Band of Horses and Carissa's Wierd. Early life In the mid 1990s, Brooke worked selling pizza in Tucso ...

, formerly of

Carissa's Wierd Carissa's Wierd was an American indie rock band based in Seattle that formed in 1995 and disbanded in late 2003. Their sound has been described as "chamber rock".Band of Horses Band of Horses is an American rock band formed in 2004 in Seattle, Washington. Led by singer-songwriter Ben Bridwell, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes, the band's current line-up also includ ...

History

''The Grand Archives''

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 Carissa's Wierd was an American indie rock band based in Seattle that formed in 1995 and disbanded in late 2003. Their sound has been described as "chamber rock".Sera Cahoone Sera Cahoone (born August 4, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Cahoone's music combines elements of classic country-western and modern indie rock and lo-fi music. She works as a drummer, especially with the bands C ...

they had their track "Sleepdriving" added to

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

'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 Modest Mouse is an American rock band formed in 1992 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members are lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. Strongly influenced ...

on seven west-coast tour dates and subsequently signed to

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

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 ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airing from January 3, 2005, to December 19, ...

. Ron Lewis left the band in November 2008 to tour with

The Shins The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's cu ...

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 United States, 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 United States in July 2010 and Europe in August. In February 2010 the band covered the song "

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, lust, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus (mythology), Venus and the god of war Mar ...

" by

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

for

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

' ''Sweethearts'' compilation series.

''Villains Demos'' and inactivity

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 the 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 appeared to be ''Villains''. Grand Archives third album has, as yet, still not been recorded and the band now appear to be inactive. Brooke has concentrated on running bar / restaurants, such as The Redwood in Seattle which he co-owns with his wife Lisa.

Band members

Members

(formerly of Carissa's Wierd and Band of Horses) – vocals, guitar. *Jeff Montano (The New Mexicans) – bass, backing vocals. *Thomas Wright (The Can't See) – guitar, backing vocals. *Curtis Hall (The New Candidates) – drums, backing vocals.

Former members

*Ron Lewis (The Fruit Bats, Mines, Joggers, Ghost Stories) – keyboards, guitar, vocals.

Additional live musicians

*Robin Peringer (Carissa's Wierd, 764-HERO,

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of hi ...

, Modest Mouse) – guitar. *

Jason Kardong Jason Kardong is a pedal steel player based out of Seattle, Washington and is the Pedal Steel player for Sera Cahoone. Originally from outside of Moscow, Idaho, he grew up directly next door to folk artist Josh Ritter. Shortly after graduating ...

(Sera Cahoone) – pedal steel.

Discography

* ''Demo/Tour EP'' (2007) * '' The Grand Archives'' (2008) * '' Keep in Mind Frankenstein'' (2009) * ''Villains Demos I & II'' (2010/2011 – free downloads)

Television

* "Torn Blue Foam Couch" was featured in episode 10, season 8 of ''Scrubs''. *"Sleepdriving" was featured in episode 5, season 2 of ''Chuck''. *"Torn Blue Foam Couch was used in a 2012 commercial for the

Washington Lottery Washington's Lottery is the lottery system for the U.S. state of Washington, run by the state government. Its games include Mega Millions, Powerball, Keno, Lotto, Hit 5, Match 4, Pick 3, and scratch games. The lottery was established in 1982, ...

Chart history

References

External links

Grand Archives
at Facebook
Grand Archives
at

Grand Archives Lyrics
at

SongMeanings SongMeanings is a music website that encourages users to discuss and comment on the underlying meanings and messages of individual songs. As of May 2015, the website contains over 110,000 artists, 1,000,000 lyrics, 14,000 albums, and 530,000 memb ...

{{Authority control Sub Pop artists Indie rock musical groups from Washington (state) Musical groups from Seattle