Piano-based art pop with heartfelt vocals, jazzy drums, atmospheric guitars and layered strings.

12 MP3 Songs
POP: Piano, POP: Beatles-pop



Details:
Grand Hallway is a four piece art-pop ensemble from Seattle, Washington. Consisting of Tomo Nakayama (Asahi, Jen Wood Band) on piano and vocals, Erik Neumann (Lillydale, Maldives) on bass, Bob Roberts (Joules, Vermillion) on drums, and Jeramy Koepping (Voyager One) on guitar, the quartet has been making music since
the fall of 2005. Equally influenced by Nina Simone, Nick Cave, The Smiths, Jeff Buckley, and Neil Young, Grand Hallway inhabits a richly melodic and deeply personal musical world akin to that of Andrew Bird, Rufus Wainwright, and Antony & The Johnsons.

Their debut album, âYes Is The Answerâ was recorded in the summer of 2006 by Koepping and Moe Provencher at Jack Straw Studios. The eleven songs which comprise the album feature Nakayamaâs instantly memorable melodies, supported by layers of guitars, upright bass, pedal steel, jazzy percussion, and strings (arranged by the band themselves.) Grand Hallwayâs music spans a myriad of genres, often within a single song, all the while evoking a sense of familiarity in its spacious structures and plain spoken words. âYes Is The Answerâ is released exclusively in Japan on Sideout Records (home to Bright Eyes, Cursive, Nada Surf, The Velvet Teen), and self-released by the band in the US.

Grand Hallway will spend the coming months in support of the album, starting with a co-headlining tour of Japan in September with Arthur & Yu (Hardly Art Records). Grand Hallway is also writing new material for a planned book/cd collaboration with Japanese artist Heisuke Kitazawa / PCP (Her Space Holiday, The Postal Service), who also created the artwork for âYes Is The Answerâ.

Press Quotes:

⢠âLike Asahi, Grand Hallway are jaw-droppingly beautiful, but they're also more grandâthe compositions are sturdier, the melodies are even more sweeping, and Nakayama's voice feels stronger and more present in the mix of well-crafted orchestras of piano and strings.â â MEGAN SELING, THE STRANGER
⢠âA promising new band with piano pop orchestrations.â
â TOM SCANLON, SEATTLE TIMES
⢠âThe most beautiful singing voice in Seattle.â
â SEAN NELSON, THE STRANGER / HARVEY DANGER
⢠âGrand Hallway's Tomo Nakayama still has the most heartbreaking voice in local rock. Think Thom Yorke if he'd ever penned a straightforward love song.â - RACHEL SHIMP, SEATTLE WEEKLY