|
the morning benders are chris chu (vocals,
guitars, organ, rhodes, pianos),
joe ferrell (guitars, rhodes, pianos, organ), julian harmon
(drums, percussion)
& tim or (bass).
chris chu began writing songs as ‘the
morning benders’ in october 2005. the first
ep ‘loose change’ was recorded at home on a
laptop with one microphone, and was released just under
a year later in september
2006. in december 2006, chris met joe, julian and
tim while attending classes at uc berkeley. the next
ep
was a collaborative effort recorded at the band’s
home practice space. released in february 2007, the
ep, ‘boarded doors’, gained the boys recognition
throughout the bay area for their ‘perfectly percolating
pop
thrills’ (sf bay guardian)with ‘brill building-like
melodies’ (sf weekly). excited to play their
new tunes for their
growing fan-base, the benders began picking up gigs locally
and eventually all along the west coast.
in summer 2007, the boys hunkered down at different fur
studios in the mission district of san francisco to
record their full-length debut. chris got a part-time
job working as an assistant engineer to pay for the
recording of the album and went on to produce, engineer,
and mix all of the tracks, with the production help of
different fur head honcho patrick brown. the album,
titled ‘talking through tin cans,’ was
released on the newly launched +1 Records on may 6th, 2008. the
release of ‘talking through tin cans’ catapulted
the morning benders to national attention, as it had an
amazing reaction amongst critics across the board - from national
and regional media, to the blogs, to online and digital
supporters like iTunes, YouTube, Myspace and Imeem. the
benders began to win people over one by one, from the most
mainstream media outlets to the bedroom blogs.
following the release of their debut album, the benders
recorded an album of cover songs in chris chu’s bedroom
with little more than a guitar, a mic and a computer. They
released the album for free on their blog under the moniker ‘the
bedroom covers’ to great blog and online support.
the morning benders then released an iTunes exclusive EP
in november 2008, which included alternate versions
of several songs from ‘talking through tin cans’,
as well as a cover of disney’s jungle book classic, ‘i
wanna be
like you’. in December 2008, iTunes continued
their support by selecting ‘talking through tin cans’ as
their top
independent album of 2008, a prestigious honor for such
a brand new band.
over 2008, the benders successfully completed nationwide
tours with the kooks, ra ra riot and we are scientists,
and then a co-headline us tour with the submarines in early
2009. they have also performed at monolith, sasquatch and
treasure island festivals, and well as played shows with
yo la tengo, mgmt, yeasayer, supergrass, two gallants,
the rosebuds, au revoir simone, white rabbits, the long
winters, pink mountaintops, figurines, langhorne slim,
darker my love, the deadly syndrome and more.
the benders are spending early 2009 in the studio, recording
their sophomore album slated for release in
fall 2009.
|
