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The Polyphonic Spree
The Polyphonic Spree at the 2005 V Festival
Background information
Origin	Dallas, Texas, United States
Genres	Psychedelic pop, symphonic rock
Years active	2000–present
Labels	679 Recordings Hollywood Records Good Records TVT Records
Associated acts	Tripping Daisy
Website	thepolyphonicspree.com

The Polyphonic Spree is a choral symphonic pop rock band from Dallas, Texas that was formed in 2000 by Tim DeLaughter. The band's sound relies on a variety of vocal and instrumental color by featuring a choir, flute, trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, cello, percussion, piano, guitars, bass, drums, electronic keyboards, and EWI. DeLaughter is the lead singer.^[1]

[edit] History

DeLaughter's previous group, Tripping Daisy, came to an abrupt end in 1999 when guitarist Wes Berggren died of a drug overdose. Making The Polyphonic Spree a reality was, in part, a reaction to his death.^[2]

In 2000, DeLaughter collaborated with twelve other musicians, trying to put a sound together that reflected the music he grew up with. He wanted to explore the orchestral palette and pop sensibility of The Association, The 5th Dimension, Wings, and The Beach Boys; and the vocal style of Ozzy Osbourne from Black Sabbath. Within two weeks, The Polyphonic Spree created a 30-minute set, donned their signature white choir robes and performed with Grandaddy and Bright Eyes.^[3]

Shortly after their first show, twelve more musicians joined the band and they recorded "The Beginning Stages of ... The Polyphonic Spree", which contained all nine songs (sections) written for their first show, plus a tenth track (Section 10 – Long Day). The album was intended to serve as a demo recording to garner interest in booking the band for live performances.^[4] They performed at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. As a result of the attention they received from the press and other industry pundits at the festival, the band was invited to perform at London's Meltdown Festival curated by David Bowie in 2002.^[5] They opened for The Divine Comedy at the Royal Festival Hall.^[6]

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 the pop-cultural scene. 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 in 2004.^[7] The same song was used in a tribute to Bill Walsh during an NFL football preseason special. It was also used in an episode of the TV series Scrubs, the end music for the first series of the BBC Radio 7 sci-fi comedy Undone, the music video for the song was also adapted for the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" . Also during this time the band was invited to be an opening act for David Bowie on his "Reality Tour" and performed at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas.

In 2004, Hollywood Records 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); 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 (the DVD features a film clip music video for "Light and Day").

In December 2004, The Polyphonic Spree performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, honoring Wangari Maathai before a worldwide television audience.^[8]

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.^[9] The song "Light and Day / Reach for the Sun" can also be found in Murderball, a documentary about the U.S. wheelchair rugby team.

The band released their third complete album The Fragile Army on June 19, 2007, produced by John Congleton. The Polyphonic Spree dropped their robes for their 2007 tours, and opted for black army outfits, while continuing to don the classic white robes during encores. Recently (July 2007) the song "Running Away" was featured on the Sci-Fi network in commercials promoting their line up of shows for the season.

Also in autumn of 2007, Adidas commissioned a few artists to write theme songs for MLS teams as part of a campaign called "MLS Represent".^[10] The Polyphonic Spree was commissioned to write a song for FC Dallas. The result was the song "H-O-O-P-S Yes!"^[11]

In September 2007, The Polyphonic Spree performed three songs, "Light and Day / Reach for the Sun", "Soldier Girl", and "Light to Follow", at Oscar de la Renta's Spring 2008 Fashion Show for New York Fashion Week.^[12] They recorded the opening track to the Showtime series Weeds for season 2 (episode 9),^[13] and also contributed to the Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Nightmare Before Christmas tribute CDs.

Sky Sports are currently using "Running Away" to advertise their spring and summer Cricket coverage.

UK supermarket Sainsbury's continues to use "Light and Day / Reach For the Sun" for its advertising campaign. It became the most used song in advertising in the United Kingdom.^[14]

In 2009, the band wrote and performed the opening sequence to Showtime's new show The United States of Tara, which stars Toni Collette as a woman with multiple personality disorder.^[15] This was performed live for the first time ever on their current tour of Australia, in the city of Adelaide. "Light & Day/Reach For The Sun" is also featured on the "Your UQ" advertising campaign for the University of Queensland.^[16]

On July 11, 2011, the band released an interactive music video app for iOS devices called Bullseye, featuring the first single from an upcoming collection of songs.^[17]

"Light and Day/Reach For the Sun" is featured in the movie trailer for the 2012 animated film The Lorax.^[18]

[edit] Discography

Studio Albums

• The Beginning Stages of ... The Polyphonic Spree (2002)
• Together We're Heavy (2004)
• The Fragile Army (2007)

EPs

• Soldier Girl EP (2002)
• Light & Day EP (2003)
• Wait EP (2006)

Singles

• Soldier Girl (2002)
• Light and Day 1 (2003)
• Light and Day 2 (2003)
• Hanging Around 1 (2002)
• Hanging Around 2 (2002)
• "The March" (2003) - split single with Grandaddy
• Hold Me Now (2004)
• Two Thousand Places (2004)
• Running Away (2007)
• "Bullseye" (2011)
• "What Would You Do?" (2012)

Live DVDs

• Live From Austin, TX: The Polyphonic Spree (2004)
• Coachella (2006)
• SXSW Live 2007 DVD (2007)

Television Appearances

• Later... with Jools Holland (2002)
• V Graham Norton (2003)
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien (2003)
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003)
• Scrubs (TV series) (2004)
• MTV Video Music Awards (2004)
• Nobel Peace Prize Concert (2004)
• Austin City Limits (2004)
• UK Music Hall of Fame (2004)
• Las Vegas (2004)
• Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (2007)

Film Soundtracks

• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
• Thumbsucker (2005)
• Mozart and the Whale (2005)
• Murderball (2005)
• The Best Man (2005)
• Keeping Up with the Steins (2006)
• Visioneers (2008)

Other

• Wig in a Box (2003)
• Follow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig DVD (2006)
• Nightmare Revisited, "Town Meeting Song" (2008)

[edit] Members

Current members

• Tim DeLaughter — Lead vocals, guitar, piano
• Julie Doyle — Choir
• Jessica Jordan — Choir
• Apotsala Wilson — Choir
• Kristin Hardin — Choir
• Jennie Kelley — Choir
• Elizabeth Brown — Choir
• Cory Helms — Guitar
• Dylan Silvers — Guitar
• Mark Pirro — Bass guitar
• Evan Hisey — Organ, synthesizer
• Jason Garner — Drums
• Nick Groesch — Piano
• Matt Bricker — Trumpet
• Jay Jennings — Trumpet
• Audrey Easley — Flute, piccolo, EWI
• Mike St.Clair — Trombone
• Tamara Cauble — Violin
• Rick Nelson — Viola
• Buffi Jacobs — Cello
• Keith Hendricks — Percussion

Past members (incomplete listing)

• Ricky Rasura — Classical harp
• Annie Clark — Guitar
• Daniel Hart — Violin
• John Lamonica - Percussion
• Taylor Young - Percussion
• Joe Butcher —Pedal steel guitar
• Evan Jacobs — Piano
• Todd Berridge — Viola
• Joseph Singleton — Viola
• Anthony Richards - Steel Drum
• Jesse Hester — Piano
• Louis Schwadron — French Horn
• Andrew Tinker — French Horn
• Nick Wlodarczyk — Trombone
• Brian Teasley — Percussion
• Corn Mo — Vocals
• James Reimer — Trombone
• Chris Penn — Tour manager
• Ryan Fitzgerald — Guitar
• Toby Hallbrooks — Theremin
• Stephanie Dolph — Vocals
• Jennifer Jobe — Vocals
• Kelly Repka — Vocals
• Michael Turner — Vocals
• Michael Musick — Vocals
• Melissa Crutchfield - Vocals
• Sandra Powers Giasson - Vocals
• Daniel Huffman — Guitar
• Bryan Wakeland — Trap set
• Josh David Jordan - Vocals
• Roy Thomas Ivy - Vocals

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Polyphonic Spree's Official Site - The official homepage.
• The Polyphonic Spree Forum - A forum started in April 2006 by forumites Sean/Devdog and TJ/Play-Doh.
• 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. Developed by Amanita Design.
• The Fragile Army Blog - Weblog kept by band members during recording of 2006 release The Fragile Army.
• The Polyphonic Spree's Page at New Music Express