Headphones was an American

indie rock Indie rock is a 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 music they produc ...

-synth band with members

David Bazan David Bazan (; born January 22, 1976) is an American indie rock singer-songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona who now resides in Seattle, Washington. Bazan is the lead singer and creative force behind the band Pedro the Lion and was the lead singer ...

Pedro the Lion Pedro the Lion is an American indie rock band from Seattle, Washington, United States. David Bazan formed the band in 1995 and represented its main creative force, backed by a varying rotation of collaborating musicians. In 2006 Pedro the Lion wa ...

Frank Lenz Frank Lenz (born 18 June 1967 in San Leandro, California) is a drummer from Southern California who has done work for many bands and artists, including Richard Swift, The Weepies, Everest, Pedro The Lion, Starflyer 59, Lassie Foundation, Duralu ...

Starflyer 59 Starflyer 59 is an American alternative rock band from Riverside, California that was founded in 1993 by Jason Martin, brother of Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric. While Jason Martin has written nearly all of Starflyer 59's songs, the band h ...

, and T. W. Walsh. Nicholas Peterson (formerly of

Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes is an American indie folk band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2006. The band consists of Robin Pecknold (vocals, guitar), Skyler Skjelset (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals), Casey Wescott (keyboards, mandolin, backing vocals), ...

) toured as Headphones' drummer.

History

Headphones, a project led by David Bazan, formed in 2005 and released one album shortly before the dissolution of Bazan's primary creative outlet, Pedro the Lion. The band's sound is marked by the use of synthesizers paired with live drums and percussion, and sometimes drew comparisons to other indie rock

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

groups such as

The Postal Service The Postal Service are an American indie pop supergroup from Seattle, Washington, consisting of singer Ben Gibbard, producer Jimmy Tamborello, and Jenny Lewis on background vocals. The band released their only album, '' Give Up'', in 2003 on S ...

. Bazan drew a distinction between Headphones and electronic pop, however, and has said that he had no interest in paying homage to either 1980s music or dance-pop, such as the Postal Service attempted, instead aiming for a simple synthesizer and drums setup that "live(d) and breathe(d) like rock 'n' roll." The band is also unique to Bazan in terms of the lyrical style. Bazan often included religious references in his work with Pedro the Lion, but Headphones was considered a more

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

band in comparison. The band toured extensively in support of its debut album, ''

Headphones Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding sound. Headphones let a single user listen to an au ...

'', which received positive critical reception. T.W. Walsh, who joined Bazan during the final two years of Pedro the Lion's tenure, was originally a member of the group, but later left both bands for personal reasons. David Bazan said during Q&A at a show in Little Rock, AR that he planned on recording another album under the Headphones moniker. However, on March 5, 2011, Bazan's manager, Bob Andrews (artist manager) wrote that Headphones would not release another album. During his September 2011 living room shows David mentioned that he plans on recording another 'Headphones style' album, but not under the name Headphones. Citing low sales and turn outs to live shows David added, "I wouldn't do that to my wife again."

Discography

* ''

'' (2005)

Notes and references

External links

Official site

Spin.com
Band of the Day page.
MSNBC:
Independent Study. {{DEFAULTSORT:Headphones Indie rock musical groups from Washington (state) Musical groups from Seattle Suicide Squeeze Records artists