The Polyphonic Spree
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Origin |  Dallas, Texas, USA |
| Years active | 2000-present |
| Genres | choral symphonic rock |
| Labels | 679 Recordings Hollywood Records Good Records |
| Members | Tim DeLaughter Mark Pirro Bryan Wakeland 10-24 others |
| Past members | about 50 |
| Website(s) | http://www.thepolyphonicspree.com/ |
The Polyphonic Spree is a self-described "choral symphonic rock" group from the Dallas, Texas area. The band generally consists of a 10-person choir, a pair of keyboardists, as well as a percussionist, drummer, bassist, guitarist, flautist, trumpeter, trombonist, violinist, violist, harpist, French horn player, a pedal steel player, theremin player, and an electronic effects person. Individual members and the number of musicians, however, vary, because of the flexibility necessary in travelling with such a large band. Tim DeLaughter is musical director and contributes lead vocals, as well as keyboards, guitar, and percussion.
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[edit] History
The group was founded by DeLaughter and has included 13 to 27 other members. It currently consists of 24 members ranging from vocals, to organ to tubular bells. The three original members, Tim DeLaughter, Mark Pirro and Bryan Wakeland were members of the band Tripping Daisy before their guitarist Wes Berggren died in 1999. After the end of Tripping Daisy, DeLaughter temporarily gave up music to run Good Records, a record shop in Dallas.
In 2000, DeLaughter, Pirro and Wakeland were asked to create a 30-minute album in support of Grandaddy. Rather than reforming Tripping Daisy, the three decided to explore a concept DeLaughter had of creating a modern symphonic rock band with a live choir. Inspired by operatic, experimental rock bands of the seventies such as Electric Light Orchestra that he loved as a child, DeLaughter sent the call out for a wide array of musicians and gradually built up contacts. A half-hour of music was written and rehearsed by 13 musicians that would become The Polyphonic Spree.
The reaction to the fledgling band was overwhelmingly positive. The band then grew to its present size (somewhere near 25 members) as it fostered a following of fans energized by the band's powerful stage presence. Their first album, The Beginning Stages Of..., collected the songs from the first Spree show and added a 10th piece entitled "A Long Day" (fully formed from 11-year-old samples of the voice of Tim DeLaughter), and was then distributed to skeptical venues that were reluctant to host the enormous band. Delaughter also sold home-made copies with hand-drawn artwork in Good Records. Eventually, demand for the Spree's music on CD became so great that the album saw commercial release.
[edit] Robes
From their inception, The Polyphonic Spree wore white robes at their live shows, giving the image of purity, hope, and happiness — an image which, combined with the nature of their music, gave many the impression that the band was a religious cult. The original idea came when DeLaughter thought that a 13 member band wearing street clothes would be too distracting. He thought of many ideas and finally took his idea of the white robes to his mother-in-law. Together they created the first robe. Later on, bands of color were added to each robe to show identity and the creativity of the band. For some dates before the second album the band sported red robes which have subsequently been used on their Christmas shows. On recent tours promoting their second album, Together We're Heavy, they sported multicolored robes. Briefly in 2005, the band switched to light blue robes with red waves patterns along the bottom that made them resemble a heart rate monitor or sound wave when stood next to each other in pictures.
For their next album, The Fragile Army, they will be abandoning the robes for black combat kits with hearts, red crosses and a new logo.
In an interview Tim DeLaughter commented about the new garb stating, "The heart is a symbol of care of thoughtfulness. The cross represents first aid that, as humans, we're all capable of. It's just a reminder. We refer to it as our badge of strength and we always liked the fact it was in abstract form. A mass of some type, not particular to robes". [1]
[edit] Rise to success
The band initially became successful in the United Kingdom. They were invited by David Bowie to support The Divine Comedy at the Royal Festival Hall in London for the 2002 Meltdown Festival.
In early 2003, they were dropped by their record label, 679 Recordings, citing "lack of record sales." Ironically, it was about this time that the band had only just begun to break into mainstream culture. The song "Light and Day / Reach For the Sun" was used in a joint Volkswagen Beetle/iPod tie-in advertising campaign, appearing on nationwide television commercials. Also during this time the band was invited to be an opening act for David Bowie on his "Reality Tour."
In 2004, they signed a new deal at Hollywood Records and released their second album, Together We're Heavy in Japan on June 30, Europe on July 12, and North America on July 13, 2004. The Polyphonic Spree was featured on the American television program Scrubs on April 20, 2004, in the episode "My Choosiest Choice of All" (3-19), performing "Light and Day"; and on the television program Las Vegas on November 29, 2004, in the episode "Silver Star" (2-10). The Polyphonic Spree was also featured on the soundtrack of the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, while the film DVD features a music video clip for "Light and Day". Additionally, Austin City Limits featured the band on November 13, 2004 followed by the band Ozomatli. [2]
The band was dropped from Hollywood shortly before work began on their 3rd release titled "The Fragile Army." The name was inspired by Thumbsucker director [Mike Mills] who coined the term while describing the band during an interview. The Spree signed with TVT Records in the spring of 2007. The album is slated for a June 2007 release.[citation needed]
[edit] Reception
Though reception for the band is generally positive and large crowds continue to buy tickets to see the band live, the Spree has drawn some critical derision from those who accuse the band of being "fake" and "artificially happy." Most notably, Entertainment Weekly listed Together We're Heavy as the second-worst album of 2004, behind American Idol washout William Hung's album, Inspiration.
In December 2004, The Polyphonic Spree performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, honoring Wangari Maathai before a huge worldwide television audience. 2005 saw the release of Thumbsucker, a feature film by Mike Mills, with a score composed by Tim DeLaughter and performed by The Polyphonic Spree.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
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[edit] EPs
- Soldier Girl EP (2002)
- Light & Day EP (2002)
- Wait EP (2006)
[edit] Other
- Wig in a Box (2003) (Benefit album featuring covers of the songs from the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the group performed the title track)
[edit] Scores
- Thumbsucker (2005)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
[edit] External links
[edit] Official Sites
- The Polyphonic Spree's Official Site - The official homepage. Under construction.
- The Beginning Stages Of... Official Site - Features lyrics and liner notes from The Beginning Stages of.... Flash site.
- Together We're Heavy Official Site - Features lyrics and liner notes from Together We're Heavy. Flash site.
- Quest For The Rest - A Flash game featuring members of The Polyphonic Spree and music from Together We're Heavy.
- The Fragile Army Blog - Weblog kept by band members during recording of 2007 release The Fragile Army.
[edit] Other links
- The Spreekipedia - an encyclopedia on the Polyphonic Spree.
- The Unofficial Polyphonic Spree Forum - an unofficial forum started in April 2006 by forumites Sean/Devdog and TJ/Play-doh.
- The Polyphonic Spree's Page at New Music Express
- Polyphonic Spree's In-Studio Performance at KEXP Radio
- Interview with Tim
- Is Polyphonic Spree a Cult? - Ask Yahoo! fields the question.
- Album Reviews
- FUZZ Music Magazine: In Technicolor/The Polyphonic Spree
- "It's the Sun" Live on Fry Street
- SHZine interview with The Polyphonic Spree (April 2003)
- Austin City Limits Performance (11/13/2004)
