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Best of What's Next: The Morning Benders
The Morning Benders' frontman Chris Chu enjoys the simple things-cooking dinner at home, keeping a schedule. But with his band on the up and up, a normal life seems less like a viable possibility for his near future. The young quartet (24-year-old Chris is the oldest, his brother Jonathan the youngest at 19) has already logged tour dates with The Kooks, Grizzly Bear and Ra Ra Riot, and just made a cross-country move from their hometown of San Francisco to their new headquarters in New York; on March 9, they'll release their second LP, Big Echo.
While the UC Berkeley-educated Chu misses the laid-back energy of the West Coast, he and his bandmates have warmed up to the new town. "Being in New York, you realize how cool it is to be surrounded by people who are so passionate, generally and driven," he says. "I think it can be hard and competitive and scary sometimes, but it can also be inspirational to keep things moving and going."
"Keep things moving" seems to be The Morning Benders' ad hoc mantra. Since forming in 2006, they've pumped out a steady stream of smart, jaunty pop: a slew of EPs (including last year's Grain of Salt), a covers album (featuring songs by everyone from Randy Newman to The Cardigans) and a 2008 full-length debut, Talking Through Tin Cans. Now they're gearing up for the release of Big Echo, a heartfelt orchestral bop-along record that Chu co-produced with Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor.
In early February, Chu used Twitter to set up a string of house shows around New York; after those intimate gigs, the band is looking forward to returning to the road in March, when they'll set out for an extensive spring tour. Chu says he and his bandmates have "never had a tussle living together in those close quarters," but there are still some things he'll miss about his life at home. "Everything is just different every day, you have really weird hours every day, you're eating at different places and at random times every day," he says of touring. "It's hard on the road eating fast food at truck stops. That's probably the worst part-it's terrible."
Hometown: New York via San Francisco
Paste Magazine * February 2010
by Kristen Callihan
Band Members: Christopher Chu (vocals), Jon Chu (guitar), Julian Harmon (drums), Tim Or (bass)
Album: Big Echo
For Fans Of: Grizzly Bear, Dr. Dog, Fruit Bats