Ben Gibbard
Encyclopedia
Benjamin "Ben" Gibbard is an American musician known as a member of several successful indie rock
Indie (music)
In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....

 bands. He is the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....

 and The Postal Service
The Postal Service
The Postal Service is an American electronic indie pop band composed of vocalist Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and producer Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel and Headset.-Background:...

, and is also known for his project ¡All-Time Quarterback! and his first band, Pinwheel.

Personal life and career

Gibbard was born in Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...

, where he spent his formative years, during the time of the grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...

 musical explosion in the early 1990s. He graduated from Olympic High School
Olympic High School (Silverdale, Washington)
Olympic High School is a High School located in Bremerton, in the Central Kitsap School District, of Washington state, in the United States. OHS currently educates grades 10-12.-Demographics:...

 in 1994. Growing up he was influenced by Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...

, Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

, The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...

, Superchunk
Superchunk
Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s...

, Built to Spill
Built to Spill
Built to Spill is an American indie rock band based in Boise, Idaho. The band has released seven full-length albums. Their most recent album, There Is No Enemy, was released on October 6, 2009.-History:...

, Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub are an alternative rock band from Bellshill, Scotland. The band is composed of Norman Blake , Raymond McGinley , Gerard Love and Francis MacDonald , with songwriting duties shared equally among Blake, McGinley and Love...

, Pixies, Pavement
Pavement (band)
Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...

, Daniel Johnston
Daniel Johnston
Daniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....

, Fugazi and Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...

. He also cites Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...

 as a major influence. He studied engineering at Western Washington University
Western Washington University
Western Washington University is one of six state-funded, four-year universities of higher education in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in Bellingham and offers bachelor's and master's degrees.-History:...

. He was raised Roman Catholic and referred to himself as "this indoctrinated Catholic even though I haven't been to church of my own volition in 10 or 15 years now." In a 2003 interview Gibbard stated that while he had previously been a vegan, he had recently become a pescetarian.

He had a small role in the John Krasinski
John Krasinski
John Burke Krasinski is an American actor, film director, and writer. He is most widely known for playing Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office...

 film Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (film)
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Krasinski, based on a short story collection of the same name by David Foster Wallace.-Plot:...

based on the David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace was an American author of novels, essays, and short stories, and a professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California...

 short story collection of the same title. He completed a solo tour through the US in the spring of 2007 that featured David Bazan
David Bazan
David Bazan is an indie rock singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Bazan was the lead singer and creative force behind the now-defunct band Pedro the Lion and was the lead singer of Headphones, a band he formed out of his interest in synthesizers...

 of Pedro the Lion
Pedro the Lion
Pedro the Lion was an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. Singer-songwriter David Bazan formed the band in 1995 and represented its main creative force, backed by a varying rotation of collaborating musicians. T. W. Walsh is considered to be the sole official band member besides Bazan. In...

 and singer-songwriter Johnathan Rice
Johnathan Rice
Johnathan Rice is a Scottish-American singer-songwriter. His first album, Trouble is Real, was released on Reprise Records on April 26, 2005. His follow up, Further North, was released by Reprise on September 11, 2007...

.

Gibbard, and actress and musician Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous...

 became engaged in 2008. They married in September 2009 near Seattle, Washington. On November 1, 2011, they announced their separation after two years of marriage. As of November 2011 the couple have reportedly split.
http://www.spin.com/articles/zooey-deschanel-and-ben-gibbard-split?obref=obinsite

He reportedly gave up alcohol in 2008 and began running marathons.

Collaborations

  • Gibbard is the original bassist for the Revolutionary Hydra, a band that also included Death Cab for Cutie
    Death Cab for Cutie
    Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....

     bandmate Chris Walla
    Chris Walla
    Christopher Walla is an American musician and music producer, most notable for being the guitarist for the band Death Cab for Cutie. He is also a former DJ of KCWU, 88.1 The Burg...

     and original drummer Nathan Good
    Nathan Good
    Nathan Good is the first and former drummer of Death Cab for Cutie. He performed all percussion for their album Something About Airplanes...

    , as well as Jay Chilcote, Joe Chilcote, and Barton Sharp.
  • Sang backing vocals on the song "This Is the Thrilling Conversation You've Been Waiting For" from Harvey Danger
    Harvey Danger
    Harvey Danger was an American indie rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1993, and rose to prominence in 1998 with the single "Flagpole Sitta." On August 29, 2009, the band played its final show at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle....

    's 2000 album King James Version
    King James Version (album)
    King James Version, originally released by Sire Records on September 12, 2000, is the second full-length album by alternative rock band Harvey Danger. Although it garnered critical acclaim, it failed to produce a hit song, unlike the earlier Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone?...

    .
  • Appeared as a guest on Jimmy Tamborello
    Dntel
    James Scott "Jimmy" Tamborello, more commonly known as Dntel , is an electronic music artist. He is sometimes cited as James Figurine, the co-programmer and vocalist for the electropop outfit Figurine. Other projects include Strictly Ballroom, Headset and The Postal Service. Tamborello has...

    's (his Postal Service collaborator) 2001 Dntel album entitled Life Is Full of Possibilities
    Life is Full of Possibilities
    Life Is Full of Possibilities is an album by Dntel with contributions from several other artists, released October 30, 2001 on the Plug Research record label...

    , contributing vocals to the song "(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan
    (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan
    " The Dream of Evan and Chan" is a song by Dntel , featuring the vocals and lyrics by Ben Gibbard. The song was recorded for the album Life Is Full of Possibilities in 2001...

    ."
  • Played bass for Pedro the Lion
    Pedro the Lion
    Pedro the Lion was an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. Singer-songwriter David Bazan formed the band in 1995 and represented its main creative force, backed by a varying rotation of collaborating musicians. T. W. Walsh is considered to be the sole official band member besides Bazan. In...

     on their 2001 tour.
  • Contributed backing vocals on the 2001 release by The Prom, "Now and Then".
  • Contributed backing vocals on the 2001 The American Analog Set
    The American Analog Set
    The American Analog Set is an Austin-based indie rock band. They have released six studio albums, on the record labels Emperor Jones and Tiger Style, with their latest on Arts & Crafts.-History:...

     album "Know By Heart", on the song "The Postman".
  • Contributed backing vocals on the 2002 John Vanderslice
    John Vanderslice
    John Vanderslice is an American musician and songwriter. Previously a member of the band Mk Ultra, he now records and performs as a solo artist.-Early years:...

     album "Life and Death of an American Fourtracker
    Life and Death of an American Fourtracker
    Life and Death of an American Fourtracker was the third album by John Vanderslice, released in 2002.-Track listing:All songs by John Vanderslice unless otherwise noted#"Fiend in a Cloud" #"Me and My 424"#"Underneath the Leaves"...

    ", on the song "Me and My 424".
  • Played drums on the song "Carparts" for The Long Winters
    The Long Winters
    The Long Winters is an American indie rock band based in Seattle, Washington.-Early history:Singer-songwriter John Roderick was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. He later returned to Seattle, formed the Bun Family Players and the The Western State Hurricanes...

    ' 2002 album, The Worst You Can Do Is Harm.
  • Performed drums on label-mate's Kind of Like Spitting
    Kind of Like Spitting
    Kind of Like Spitting was an American indie rock band. They formed in 1996 in Portland, Oregon. The band was led by prolific singer-songwriter Ben Barnett, who work has drawn comparisons to Elliott Smith, Mark Eitzel, Billy Bragg, and Robert Pollard....

     2002 album, Bridges Worth Burning
    Bridges Worth Burning
    Bridges Worth Burning is an album by the band Kind of Like Spitting. It was released on August 6, 2002 on Barsuk Records.Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie contributed by playing drums on this album.-Track listing:# "Passionate" - 3:53...

    , further contributing vocals to the album's untitled last track.
  • Collaborated with Andrew Kenny
    Andrew Kenny (singer)
    Andrew Kenny was the main singer/songwriter of the American indie/lo-fi band The American Analog Set. In 2004, he released a split EP in the Home Series with Benjamin Gibbard. In 2005, he contributed towards Broken Social Scene's 2005 self-titled album...

     on Home Volume V
    Home Volume V
    Home Volume V is the fifth volume in the Home series of short, split albums featuring two artists. This one includes Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service fame and Andrew Kenny of The American Analog Set. The last song in each set is a cover of the other performers...

    , released March 30, 2004, as part of the Home EP series.
  • Contributed vocals for Styrofoam
    Styrofoam (artist)
    Styrofoam is a Belgian one man glitch electronica project on the independent record label Morr Music...

    's 2004 album Nothing's Lost on the track "Couches in Alleys."
  • Provided backup vocals on the song "Midnight Again" for Certainly, Sir's 2005 album TAN!
  • Contributed vocals to a song ("Handle with Care
    Handle with Care (song)
    "Handle with Care" is the first track from the Traveling Wilburys 1988 album, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, and the group's biggest hit. Writing credits are shared by all five band members, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan....

    ") on Rilo Kiley
    Rilo Kiley
    Rilo Kiley was an American indie rock band based in Los Angeles. Formed in 1998, the band consisted of Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Jason Boesel....

     frontwoman Jenny Lewis
    Jenny Lewis
    Jennifer Diane Lewis , is an American singer-songwriter musician and actress. She was the primary vocalist of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, and has released two solo albums. She currently performs as part of the duo Jenny & Johnny with boyfriend Johnathan Rice...

    's side project Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins's 2006 album, Rabbit Fur Coat
    Rabbit Fur Coat
    Rabbit Fur Coat is an album by Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley, featuring The Watson Twins. It was released in the United States on January 24, 2006 by Team Love. Lewis has described the album as a "sort of soul record". The album contains a cover of the Traveling Wilburys song "Handle With Care",...

    .
  • Co-wrote the film score
    Film score
    A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...

     for the 2007 film Kurt Cobain About a Son, about the Nirvana
    Nirvana (band)
    Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

     lead singer, with producer Steve Fisk
    Steve Fisk
    Steve Fisk is a Washington-based audio engineer, record producer and musician.Fisk joined the instrumental rock band Pell Mell in 1982. With vocalist Shawn Smith, he formed Pigeonhed, which released its first album in 1993....

    .
  • Contributed backing vocals to "Lost Verses" on the 2008 release by Sun Kil Moon, "April".
  • Appeared on the 2008 Nada Surf
    Nada Surf
    Nada Surf is an American alternative rock band. Formed in 1992, the New York band consists of Matthew Caws , Ira Elliot and Daniel Lorca .-Early years:...

     album Lucky
    Lucky (Nada Surf album)
    Lucky is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Nada Surf. It was released February 4, 2008 in Europe; February 5, 2008 in the US, Canada and Australia; and February 18, 2008 in the UK and Japan to very positive reviews. It reached #82 on the Billboard 200.The band issued an...

    , on the song "See These Bones"..
  • Appeared on the 2009 charity CD compilation Dark Was the Night
    Dark Was the Night
    Dark Was the Night is the twentieth compilation release benefiting the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS...

    , along with Feist, on the track "Train Song".
  • Collaborated with Jay Farrar
    Jay Farrar
    Jay Farrar is an American songwriter and musician currently based in St. Louis, Missouri. A veteran of two critically acclaimed music groups, Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, he began his solo music career in 2001...

     on all tracks to the soundtrack
    One Fast Move or I'm Gone
    One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur is an album by Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar . The lyrics are based on the prose of Jack Kerouac's novel Big Sur...

     of the 2009 documentary film One Fast Move or I'm Gone, about Jack Kerouac
    Jack Kerouac
    Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...

    's time spent at Big Sur
    Big Sur
    Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the Central Coast of California where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. The name "Big Sur" is derived from the original Spanish-language "el sur grande", meaning "the big south", or from "el país grande del sur", "the big...

    .
  • Provided back-up vocals for the song "Warm to the Blade" by The Wooden Birds
    The Wooden Birds
    The Wooden Birds are a band from Austin, Texas , led by former American Analog Set frontman, Andrew Kenny, formed in 2008...

     off their 2011 album, Two Matchsticks.

Death Cab for Cutie

  • 1997 You Can Play These Songs with Chords
    You Can Play these Songs with Chords
    You Can Play These Songs with Chords is an early demo from the rock band Death Cab for Cutie, which at the time consisted entirely of founder Ben Gibbard...

  • 1998 Something About Airplanes
    Something about Airplanes
    Something About Airplanes is the debut studio album by indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, released August 18, 1998 on Barsuk Records. A remastered anniversary version of the album was released on November 25, 2008....

  • 2000 We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes
    We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes
    We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes is the second studio album by indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, released March 21, 2000, on Barsuk Records. It is a concept album about a ruined relationship...

  • 2001 The Photo Album
    The Photo Album
    The Photo Album is the third studio album by indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, released on October 9, 2001.-Track listing:All songs written by Ben Gibbard except where noted.#"Steadier Footing" – 1:47#"A Movie Script Ending" – 4:19...

  • 2003 Transatlanticism
    Transatlanticism
    Transatlanticism is the fourth studio album by Death Cab for Cutie, released October 7, 2003 on Barsuk Records. Prior to the album's release, Ben Gibbard stated: "...unlike The Photo Album, I feel like this record is definitely more like a proper album...

  • 2005 Plans
    Plans (album)
    Plans has received positive reviews. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, the album has a score of 66 out of 100, indicating "Generally favorable reviews."-Track listing:-Personnel:*Ben Gibbard – vocals, guitars...

  • 2008 Narrow Stairs
    Narrow Stairs
    Narrow Stairs is the sixth studio album by indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie. It was released on May 12, 2008, in the United Kingdom and on May 13, 2008, in the United States. The first single of the album was "I Will Possess Your Heart", released on March 18, 2008. The second single was...

  • 2011 Codes and Keys
    Codes and Keys
    Codes and Keys is the seventh studio album by Death Cab for Cutie, released on May 31, 2011. Ben Gibbard and Nick Harmer have both been quoted as saying that the album will be "a much less guitar-centric album than we’ve ever made before"...


¡All-Time Quarterback!

  • 1999 ¡All-Time Quarterback!
    ¡All-Time Quarterback! (EP)
    ¡All-Time Quarterback! was the first release of Ben Gibbard's solo project ¡All-Time Quarterback!. A limited number of the CD EP was released on Elsinor Records and is now out of print. All of the tracks from this release were collected and re-released by Barsuk on 2002's ¡All-Time Quarterback!...

  • 1999 The Envelope Sessions
    The Envelope Sessions
    The Envelope Sessions is the second release from Ben Gibbard's solo project ¡All-Time Quarterback!. The tape was a limited release on Elsinor Records and is now out of print. Tracks from this tape were later taken and put together with the ¡All-Time Quarterback! EP and re-released by Barsuk records...

  • 2002 ¡All-Time Quarterback!
    ¡All-Time Quarterback! (album)
    ¡All-Time Quarterback! is the third and final release from Ben Gibbard's solo project ¡All-Time Quarterback!. It is a collection of tracks from the now out of print EPs ¡All-Time Quarterback! and The Envelope Sessions...


External links

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