Skybox is an American

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

that formed in Tempe,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

in 2005. After singer Tim Ellis moved from

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

to Tempe with

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low b ...

Johnny Kenepaske, they soon formed a trio with

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's ...

Aurelio Damiani. Finally,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

-lead

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

ist and vocalist Christian Fields, and

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

ist Anthony Hornyak joined. Their musical influences include 1960s

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound effects and recording te ...

, 1970s

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

and 1980s

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. Lat ...

. Bassist-vocalist Jeff Gonzales replaced Kenepaske, and the band relocated to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. They released their 14-track debut album '' Arco Iris'' in 2006, which was recorded by Jamie Woolford (

The Stereo The Stereo is a pop-rock and roll band started in early 1999 by former ska-punk band frontmen Jamie Woolford (of Animal Chin) and Rory Phillips (of The Impossibles). The pair were initially brought together on recommendation of their record ...

, Let Go) and mastered by

Jason Livermore Jason Livermore (born 25 April 1988) is a Jamaican track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. He has personal bests of 10.05 seconds and 20.13 seconds for the distances, respectively. He was the bronze medallist in ...

(

The Ataris The Ataris are an American punk rock band from Anderson, Indiana. Formed in 1996, they released five studio albums between 1997 and 2007. Their best-selling album is ''So Long, Astoria'' (2003), which was certified gold. Their high-charting s ...

Rise Against Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rooted in hardc ...

MxPx MxPx () is an American pop punk band from Bremerton, Washington, founded in 1992 as Magnified Plaid. As of 2016, current members include Mike Herrera on lead vocals and bass guitar, Yuri Ruley on drums and percussion, Tom Wisniewski on lead g ...

). The band was praised by ''Billboard magazine'', among others. The band's song "Light" was later featured in a Target commercial. Gonzales was later replaced by Rick Roberts. In 2008, that lineup disbanded until several weeks later Ellis and Fields reconnected to work on new material. Mike Holtz and Dan Ingenthron were recruited to develop and later record those songs with some contributions from bassist Matt Schuessler. The band's second studio album, produced by

Sean O'Keefe Sean Charles O'Keefe (born January 27, 1956) is a university professor at Syracuse University Maxwell School, former chairman of Airbus Group, Inc., former Secretary of the Navy, former Administrator of NASA, and former chancellor of Louisiana ...

(

Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hur ...

Motion City Soundtrack Motion City Soundtrack is an American rock band that formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1997. The band's line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Justin Courtney Pierre, lead guitarist Joshua Cain, keyboardist Jesse Johnson, bassist Matthew ...

The Plain White T's Plain White T's are an American rock band from Lombard, Illinois, formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, and Ken Fletcher, and joined a short time later by Steve Mast. The group had a mostly underground following in Chi ...

) titled Morning After Cuts was released in January 2010. The band parted ways with Ingenthron who was later replaced by Sean Brennan. As of 2012, the band has separated. Tim Ellis is currently working under the label Outsides. Fields and Damiani are producing music with the band wellthen. Fields also plays drums for The Work Basement, as well as his own project, A Lesser Culture. In 2013, Gonzales released his solo debut. Mike Holtz plays with several bands all over Chicago including Clip Art and Leadfoot Band. Dan Ingenthron also plays all over Chicago with several projects playing bass, guitar and keys. Sean Brennan has since located from Arizona to LA and has continued to be active with Yellow Minute and Party Gardens. Johnny Kenepaske has been heavily involved with Adam Lee, adding his talents as The Dead Horse Sound Company playing guitar, providing background vocals and producing. The Dead Horse Sound Company doubles as the name of his recording company based in Kansas City, Missouri.

Discography

* ''Arco Iris'' (2006) * Sounds From the Basement: Vol 1 (Compilation) (2008) * Morning After Cuts (album) (2010)

References

"Live Review: Figurines w/ Skybox @ Beat Kitchen 6/24/06." Radio Free Chicago. 30 June 2006.

External links

Skybox
official site Musical groups from Tempe, Arizona American indie pop groups {{US-band-stub