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Issaquah, WA, indie rock trio Modest Mouse was formed in 1993 by vocalist/guitarist Isaac Brock, bassist Eric Judy, and drummer Jeremiah Green. After honing their muscular sound in "The Shed" -- a makeshift practice space built by Brock on the land next to his mother's trailer -- Modest Mouse entered Calvin Johnson's Dub Narcotic Studios to cut their 1994 self-titled debut single, released on Johnson's K Records label. Following a move to the Up label, the trio issued two 1996 LPs, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About and Interstate 8. After returning to K, Modest Mouse released The Fruit That Ate Itself in 1997; its follow-up from later that year, The Lonesome Crowded West, was the band's breakthrough, and in the wake of a major-label bidding war, they signed to Sony. The rarities collection Building Nothing out of Something appeared on Up in early 2000, followed later that year by their long-awaited Epic debut, The Moon & Antarctica. In 2001, the band issued the Everywhere and His Nasty Parlor Tricks EP and K released Sad Sappy Sucker, a "lost album" that was intended to be the group's full-length debut back in 1994. Brock kept busy with his Ugly Casanova side project, which delivered Sharpen Your Teeth in 2002. Modest Mouse finally returned in 2004 with Good News for People Who Love Bad News, their best-received record and a Top 40 hit as well. For their next record, Brock enlisted the help of former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who not only added his songwriting and playing skills to We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank -- which was released in early 2007 -- but also toured with the band as a member. No One's First and You're Next, an odds and sods collection of songs that included material dating back to the Good News for People Who Love Bad News era, arrived in summer 2009.
from Wikipedia:
Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, their lineup has centered around Brock, Green and Judy. Guitarist Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths) joined the band in May 2006, along with percussionist Joe Plummer (formerly of the Black Heart Procession) and multi-instrumentalist Tom Peloso, to work on the album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. Guitarist Jim Fairchild joined the band in February 2009. Their name is derived from a passage from the Virginia Woolf story "The Mark on the Wall" which reads, "I wish I could hit upon a pleasant track of thought, a track indirectly reflecting credit upon myself, for those are the pleasantest thoughts, and very frequent even in the minds of modest, mouse-coloured people, who believe genuinely that they dislike to hear their own praises."
History
Origins
In 1994, Isaac Brock, Jeremiah Green, Eric Judy and John Wickhart recorded their first EP, Blue Cadet-3, Do You Connect?, at Calvin Johnson's Dub Narcotic Studios. It was released by K Records. Then followed a single, "Broke", under Sub Pop that was recorded by Steve Wold (now better known as bluesman Seasick Steve) at Moon Studios. During this time, Modest Mouse also recorded what would have been their first album, Sad Sappy Sucker, but constant delays caused the album to be shelved and forgotten (it was officially released in 2001). Until making waves in the pop music world in 2004, many of their tours included stops at DIY/punk venues.
Up Records releases
After moving to Up Records, Modest Mouse released two full-length albums and other recordings recorded at Moon Studios, including the 1996 LP This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About. This album was produced and recorded by Steve Wold (at this time Wold was assisting in the recordings as well, but was not officially a part of the band). The next offering was Interstate 8, also produced by Wold. The 1997 album, The Lonesome Crowded West, (also recorded at Moon Studios, by Scott Swayze) turned out to serve as the band's breakthrough. The Lonesome Crowded West gained the band a cult following, and is now popularly considered to be one of the defining albums of mid-1990s indie rock. Prior to its release, the band had recorded the EP The Fruit That Ate Itself. In 1999, Up Records released a singles and rarities collection entitled Building Nothing Out of Something, which included the entirety of Interstate 8 except for the songs "Edit the Sad Parts" and "Buttons to Push the Buttons".
Signing with Epic Records
In 2000, Modest Mouse released The Moon & Antarctica, their first album on Epic Records. The album was more instrumental than their previous work, and this was partially due to Brock having had his jaw broken by a gang attack in Portland during recording. Not knowing if he would be able to sing, he focused on making a more instrumental and experimental album. The band enjoyed some success on alternative radio with the singles "3rd Planet" and "Gravity Rides Everything." The album was critically well-received including a 9.8 out of 10 score from online music magazine, Pitchfork Media. It has subsequently gone on to receive further acclaim. Brock has since released an album with his side project Ugly Casanova on Sub Pop, which was the only side project allowed due to the contract. The band licensed "Gravity Rides Everything" for a commercial for Nissan's Quest minivan, a move that Brock has publicly acknowledged as blatantly commercial but necessary to achieve financial stability.
In 2001, Modest Mouse released the EP Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks, a collection of unused songs from the recording sessions of The Moon and Antarctica. In 2002, they joined Cake, De La Soul, The Flaming Lips, The Hackensaw Boys and Kinky on the Unlimited Sunshine Tour.
Initial mainstream success
In March 2003, Green left the band after suffering a nervous breakdown; the official word was that he was leaving to work with his side project, Vells. The same year, he and bass guitarist Eric Judy appeared on Adam Forkner's first solo album, VVRSSNN. Green was replaced by two new members, drummer Benjamin Weikel (who also drummed for The Helio Sequence, as well as playing keyboard) and guitarist Dann Gallucci (who had been a member of Modest Mouse previously, and appears on Sad Sappy Sucker and The Lonesome Crowded West). On April 6, 2004, Modest Mouse released their fourth album, the platinum-selling Good News for People Who Love Bad News, which had two hits with "Float On" and "Ocean Breathes Salty" (both of which they performed on Saturday Night Live on November 13, 2004). The album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Rock Album that year. Later that year, Green returned to the band, and Weikel returned to drumming exclusively for The Helio Sequence. Gallucci left the band in August.
Modest Mouse was mentioned by name in the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of MGM v. Grokster. Justice David Souter wrote that on the Grokster P2P network, "Users seeking Top 40 songs, for example, or the latest release by Modest Mouse, are certain to be far more numerous than those seeking a free Decameron, and Grokster and StreamCast translated that demand into dollars."
Recent work
Jim Fairchild: current Modest Mouse touring guitar player- live in concertIn May 2006, Dann Gallucci (who had left the band amicably in September 2004) was replaced on guitar by Johnny Marr, former guitarist for The Smiths.
The album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, was released on March 20, 2007 after being delayed from December 19, 2006. It was the first Modest Mouse album to reach number one on the US Billboard 200 charts, and had the hit single "Dashboard", as well as "Missed the Boat" and "We've Got Everything".
In issue 1045 of Rolling Stone magazine, Brock reported that his biggest priority was to finish a Modest Mouse EP; referring to the songs that did not make it onto Good News and We Were Dead. He says there are songs named "The Whale Song" and "Satellite Skin" as well as another song with The Dirty Dozen Brass Band.
In 2008, Isaac Brock said he would begin writing music for their next album during March. An update on the band's blog featured a picture of the band rehearsing new songs. The band had a tour with R.E.M. and The National in 2008 which ended in Atlanta.
The band began a North American tour in June 2008. The band returned to Florida for the first time since their November 2006 Bang Music Festival show where they were cut off stage early, with three shows in Miami, Orlando and St. Augustine. While an update on the Modest Mouse blog was subtitled catching up on some words for the next tour, it is in fact the lyrics to Heart Cooks Brain. Modest Mouse recently finished their tour supporting We Were Dead after two years of promoting the record.
Modest Mouse released singles for the songs "Satellite Skin", "Autumn Beds" and "Perpetual Motion Machine" in limited editions (a run of 4,000 each) vinyl 7 inches, featuring artwork by art director and illustrator Joshua Marc Levy, J.Alex Stamos, and Natasha Wheat.
Jim Fairchild of Grandaddy and All Smiles replaced Marr as guitarist, when Marr left the band after joining The Cribs, beginning with the support of No One's First and You're Next, which was released on August 4, 2009, composed of unreleased tracks from the recording sessions of Good News for People Who Love Bad News and We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.
On March 17, 2010, it was announced that The Moon & Antarctica would be re-released on vinyl for the first time in ten years as part of Record Store Day.
In May 2010, it was announced that the band would headline the second day of the 80/35 Music Festival in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 4, 2010. and the first day of the End Of The Road Festival in Dorset, England, on September 10, 2010.
In an interview with Pitchfork Media on June 21, 2010, Brock stated that the band had spent the first half of the year working on songs for the next Modest Mouse album but also said "It's pretty early in the game for me to have a clear picture of what we're doing, if it's good or anything. It's way too early for me to know what direction this thing is really headed. It's just a bunch of random shit at the moment." and that "It's more time spent hanging out than playing music." When asked about the possibility of playing new songs on tour, he said "We're going to try to. But I actually think we won't. I don't think any of it is close enough to be ready in what's essentially two-and-a-half weeks. I'd like to say we're going to, but I don't really see it happening."
At the end of August 2010, Modest Mouse played on the main stage at the Leeds and Reading festivals.
In an interview with BSNN (Bridge School News Benefit) in October 2010, Isaac Brock was asked if there was a new album in the works and a release date and he responded, "Uh, we’re writing, yes, but really slow. We mainly get together and end up hanging out, and half the time nothing get’s done. So uh, 90% of the time nothing really gets done. So, six months, which is unrealistic, we have no idea."
On April 28, 2011, Big Boi said via Twitter that he had been in the studio with Modest Mouse working with them on their next LP. About a month after that(May 27th to 30th) Modest Mouse played two new songs during their headline of the Sasquatch festival. The songs were called "Poison in the Well" and "Lampshades on Fire" They then contributed a cover of the Buddy Holly song "That'll Be The Day" to the compilation Rave On Buddy Holly, which was released on June 28, 2011. Recently Modest Mouse had played at The Warfield in San Fransisco on January 25th, 2012, and Splendour in the Grass in Woodford, Queensland on July 29th, 2011.
