Death Cab for Cutie is an American
alternative rockAlternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band formed in
Bellingham, WashingtonBellingham is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island, Portage Island, and the Lummi Peninsula, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia...
in 1997. The band consists of
Ben GibbardBenjamin "Ben" Gibbard is an American musician known as a member of several successful indie rock bands. He is the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service, and is also known for his project ¡All-Time Quarterback! and his first band, Pinwheel.-Personal life and career:Gibbard was...
(vocals, guitar, piano),
Chris WallaChristopher 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...
(guitar, production, keyboards),
Nick HarmerNicholas Harmer is the bass guitarist for the group Death Cab for Cutie.-Personal life:Harmer was born in Landstuhl, Germany. He attended Governor John R. Rogers High School in Puyallup, Washington, and was President of his senior class...
(bass) and
Jason McGerrJason McGerr is the current drummer for the band Death Cab for Cutie. McGerr was previously in Krusters Kronomid and Eureka Farm as well as the Seattle jazz trio Rockin' Teenage Combo. McGerr is an instructor at the Seattle Drum School when not playing drums for Death Cab for Cutie...
(drums).
Gibbard's first album,
You Can Play These Songs with ChordsYou 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...
, was released as a demo, leading to a record deal with
Barsuk RecordsBarsuk Records is an independent record label based in Seattle, Washington, started and still managed by the members of the band This Busy Monster, Christopher Possanza and Josh Rosenfeld, who created the label in 1994 to release their band's material. Its logo is a drawing of a dog holding a...
. It was at this time that Gibbard decided to expand the project into a complete band, and recruited band members to join.