Tally Hall is an American rock band formed in December 2002 based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Now under the Atlantic Records recording label, Tally Hall was previously signed to indie label Quack! Media who helped finance and nationally distribute their studio debut album, Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum. They are known for their upbeat melodies and whimsical lyrics, the band members themselves having once described their musical style as "wonky rock" (though it should now be noted that they refer to themselves as a "fabloo rock" band[1]).
History
Often recognized by their trademark colored ties, Rob (yellow-vocals/guitar), Zubin (blue-vocals/bass), Ross (grey-percussion), Joe (red-vocals/guitar), and Andrew (green-vocals/keys) make up Tally Hall which got its start in 2002. Andrew, the only member not originally from Michigan, began writing songs when he was eight years old and eventually headed to the University of Michigan to study composition. There he met Rob, who had attended high school with Zubin and joined Joe's film production group. When Tally Hall's original drummer left the band, they recruited Ross, who had gone to high school with Joe.
Tally Hall was the name of an indoor shopping plaza on Orchard Lake Road in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum, the arcade whose name shares the title of their debut album, is all that remains.
The band toured promoting their album, with shows mostly featuring tracks from the album. However, their live concerts often feature a couple cover songs such as "Free Bird", "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?", "Blinded by the Light", "Who Loves The Sun", "Praise You", "Happy Together", "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill", and "To Be with You", but they're probably best known for their cover of Biz Markie's "Just a Friend", which they used to end every set with. As of 2008, it was said to be "retired" from their set but they will still perform it from time to time (they included it in a July 2009 show in Detroit). A live version of Just a Friend can be found on The Pingry EP. In 2006, a studio version was recorded and is now considered a bonus song provided by Atlantic Records and distributed via download codes handed out at live shows and through the hiddeninthesand.com Twitter account[2].
The band has received an amount of national media attention, performing their song "Good Day" on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on August 2, 2006 as well as appearing in MTV's segment You Hear It First in September 2006[3]. The band appeared at the 2007 South by Southwest Music Festival. On August 3 2008, Tally Hall was a performer on the BMI stage at Lollapalooza.
Tally Hall was invited back by The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on September 16 to help promote the launch of Tally Hall's Internet Show. They performed "Welcome to Tally Hall" in newly donned black vests over top of their traditional colored ties, white shirts, and black pants.[4]
The band worked on several projects after the completion of "Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum", including covering the song "Smile Like You Mean It" by The Killers for the sixth The O.C. soundtrack: Music from the OC: Mix 6.
The band re-released Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum on April 1, 2008 with their new record label, Atlantic Records after some re-recording and re-mixing was done.
On September 9th, 2009, Hidden in the Sand (HITS), a prominent Tally Hall fan site, broke the news that Tally Hall was going to release a collaborative song this fall, featuring Nellie McKay which would be released as a free download from mp3.walmart.com when customers of Walmart purchased a book called The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo. [5] The book had been made available for purchase earlier that day.
The same day, HITS reported the title of the song, Light & Night, along with a short audio clip of it in another update. Instructions on downloading the song can be found in the HITS Blogs post. [6] It is not known whether Light & Night will be included on the upcoming 2010 LP.
The band is managed by The Hornblow Group, who also manages They Might Be Giants, OK Go, and Oppenheimer.
Videos
In addition to music, the band also creates numerous movies. These movies include both music videos and humorous skits. The best known of these videos is the music video for "Banana Man" which resulted in significant publicity among online users visiting the website Albino Blacksheep, along with "The Bidding", another popular title by the group.
Corresponding with their single "Good Day", released on February 26, 2008, the band released a music video for Good Day on YouTube.
In August 2008, the band performed a three-song live video set for LiveDaily Sessions, including the songs "Good Day," "Be Born" and "Greener"[7], which premiered on August 28, 2008.
Tally Hall's Internet Show
Taking on an even larger role within the band's video portfolio is the ten part bi-weekly variety-show series Tally Hall's Internet Show (T.H.I.S.), which debuted on September 15, 2008. Each episode is ten minutes long and is posted on their website http://www.tallyhall.com. The content includes skits, sock puppets, music, music videos, and pictures of bodily functions.
With the release of Tally Hall's Internet Show in September 2008, it became clear that many music videos would be released within the Internet Show. "Good Day" was the first music video to be seen in episode one. Other music videos include "Welcome to Tally Hall", "Two Wuv", "The Whole World and You", "Greener", "Ruler of Everything" and "Hidden in the Sand".
Episode List
- Good Day (9/15/2008) - 9:24
- Death Request (9/29/2008) - 11:35
- Taken for a Ride (10/13/2008) - 9:17
- Welcome to Tally Hall (10/27/2008) - 11:37
- Who Cares (11/10/2008) - 9:24
- Mary-Kate And Ashley (11/24/2008) - 10:31
- 15 Seconds of Bora (12/8/2008) - 9:08
- The Whole World and You (12/22/2008) - 11:06
- Potato Vs. Spoon (1/5/2009) - 8:32
- Good Night (1/19/2009) - 10:53
Second LP
In late April 2009, the band posted a scheduled event on their Facebook page entitled "Tally Hall May Tour," with a subtitle of "The Last Pre-Recording Hurrah." It stated that, after a number of shows in May, they would begin recording their second album.[8].
The band has played several new songs at live shows, including:
• Misery Fell (written by Andrew Horowitz)[9]
• & (pronounced "AND")(written by Joe Hawley)[10]
• Never Meant To Know (written by Rob Cantor)[11]
• Sacred Beast (written by Joe Hawley)[12]
• The Gap (written by Zubin Sedghi)[13]
• You And Me (written by Rob Cantor)[14]
• Hymn For A Scarecrow (written by Joe Hawley)[15]
• A Lady (written by Joe Hawley)[16]
• Turn The Lights Off (written by Joe Hawley)
• I'm Gonna Win (written by Joe Hawley)
• Mind Control (written by Andrew Horowitz)
• You Are (written by Rob Cantor)
• The Start Of Our City (writer unknown)
• Maybe In The Night (written by Rob Cantor)
The latter songs (with the exception of "Maybe In The Night") were most recently played in February of 2009, at Union Hall in Brooklyn, NY. "Maybe In The Night" was first played November 3, 2007, in Pittsburgh, PA. It is not confirmed whether or not any of these songs will appear on the band's upcoming album.
Tally Hall recently told fans via email that they will begin recording their long-awaited second album at Sunset Sound Factory in Los Angeles, California, with producer Tony Hoffer (Beck, The Fratellis, The Kooks). Their first day of pre-production in the studio was October 19th, 2009, and actual recording began October 26th, 2009. On Twitter they announced that they completed tracking at 1:38am, November 26th, 2009 (Thanksgiving Day) leaving them one day to prepare for their tour with Rooney and Crash Kings beginning on November 27th. The album is being anticipated for an early/mid 2010 release.
The more recent editions of the band's "BORALOGUE" video series (episode V and on) lightly chronicle the recording process.[17]
Band members
Current members
- Rob Cantor (Yellow tie) - Guitar and vocals
- Ross Federman (Grey tie) - Drums (2004-present)
- Joe Hawley (Red tie) - Guitar and vocals
- Andrew Horowitz (Green tie) - Keyboards and vocals
- Zubin Sedghi (Blue tie) - Bass and vocals
Past members
- Steve Gallagher (Grey tie) - Drums (2002-2004)
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
- Good Day - Single (2008) (Atlantic Records)
- Light & Night (f/ Nellie McKay) (2009) (N/A)
E.P.'s
Compilations/Soundtracks
Trivia
- Vaughn English, an unsuccessful contestant on the 2009 season of American Idol, auditioned by singing Tally Hall's song, "Banana Man." The contestant dressed in a yellow suit during the audition. [18]
- "Good Day" was featured on the television series The O.C.
- Tally Hall's "The Whole World and You" can be heard in a commercial for Crayola's 3D Sidewalk Chalk[19].
References
- ^ MTV interview with Tally Hall, where Rob describes the band's dropping of the "wonky rock" genre in favor of a less-restrictive title.
- ^ HITS Twitter, where Tally Hall bonus songs are randomly distributed.
- ^ Article about Tally Hall, including video clip of band's segment that was featured on MTV [1]
- ^ Performance of "Welcome To Tally Hall" on The Late, Late Show (9/16/08)
- ^ [2] HITS Blogs update announcing Tally Hall's upcoming collaboration with Nellie McKay.
- ^ [3] H.I.T.S. update featuring a clip of "Light & Night" with Nellie McKay.
- ^ Video performance of "Good Day," "Be Born" and "Greener" by Tally Hall at LiveDaily Sessions
- ^ Tally Hall's Facebook page event list, containing their second album announcement.
Their next album will likely be released in late 2010. [4]
- ^ Tally Hall performing their new song, "Misery Fell" on Fearless Music.[5]
- ^ Tally Hall performing their new song, "&".[6]
- ^ Tally Hall performing their new song, "Never Meant To Know".[7]
- ^ Tally Hall performing their new song, "Sacred Beast".[8]
- ^ Tally Hall performing their new song, "The Gap".[9]
- ^ Tally Hall performing their new song, "You & Me".[10]
- ^ Tally Hall performing their new song, "Hymn For A Scarescrow".[11]
- ^ Tally Hall performing their new song, "A Lady" followed by "Sacred Beast".[12]
- ^ Tally Hall's YouTube account page, where the entire BORALOGUE series can be viewed.[13]
- ^ Vaughn English singing Banana Man on American Idol[14]
- ^ Crayola commercial featuring Tally Hall's "The Whole World and You" [15]
External links
