Quiet Company is an American rock band from

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, fronted by Taylor Muse. They have released five albums, which includes a re-release of their debut album '' Shine Honesty'', multiple EPs, a live DVD, and Christmas-themed offerings. They were the first band signed by

Grooveshark Grooveshark was a web-based music streaming service owned and operated by Escape Media Group in the United States. Users could upload digital audio files, which could then be streamed and organized in playlists. The Grooveshark website had a sear ...

, which folded in 2015, as part of their Artist Development Program. Their latest album, ''Transgressor'', was released February 24, 2015.

History

2000 - 2008: Formation and early success

Muse started his musical aspirations as part of the

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that consists of approximately 38 counties. It is roughly divided into Northeast Texas, Northeast, Southeast Texas, Sout ...

indie music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties afforded by in ...

boom with his participation in several projects at the time, which included Uncle Andrew, Neckpunch, The Lonely Hearts and a short stint as bass fill-in for

Eisley Eisley is an American rock band from Tyler, Texas, originally consisting of siblings Sherri DuPree, Chauntelle DuPree, Stacy DuPree and Weston DuPree. Remaining recording/touring members are their sister Sherri DuPree, Sherri DuPree-Bemis and th ...

. A key contributor in the songwriting process for Eisley's debut album for

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

, Muse also gave the band a new name that, if only in part, would stick, MossEisley. After an unsuccessful year with the Connotations in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Muse returned to Austin to begin writing and recording what would become the band's first album ''Shine Honesty'' under the name Quiet Company. The record was quickly picked up for online distribution by the boutique Christian label

Northern Records Northern Records is an independent record label in California. It was founded in 1999 and is distributed in the United States and Canada by RED Distribution ( Sony BMG). Releases See also * List of record labels * RED Distribution RED ...

. Recording ''Shine Honesty'' mostly by himself, Muse was in need of band mates to play live shows, providing the pretext for Quiet Company's first permanent addition, Tommy Blank, via a

Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is a privately held American company operating a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussi ...

ad, in 2005. The band embarked on a number of small national tours in the subsequent the years. Shortly after, the band left their label in order to exert more self control over their content. The band's next offerings were decidedly more festive, with 2007 bringing a recording of "

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a song written in 1943 by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical '' Meet Me in St. Louis''. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics. ...

" as part of ''Peace on Earth: A Holiday Album'', in which proceeds from sales went to the

Toys for Tots Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve which distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas. It was founded in 1947 by reservist Major Bill Hendricks. The Marine T ...

charity, as well as their own release ''A Merry Little Christmas EP''.

2009 - Present: New additions and continued success

In 2009, the band recorded and self-released their second album, ''Everyone You Love Will Be Happy Soon'', with local producers Charlie Vela and Louie Lino of

Nada Surf Nada Surf is an American alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1992, consisting of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals). After initially operating under the name Helicopter, Caw ...

fame, and mixed by Tim Palmer, who had worked previously with U2 and

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

. Following the release, Jeff Weathers (drums) and Matthew Parmenter (bass guitar) joined the group as permanent members, with Parmenter's addition to the group the result of another Craigslist ad. While filming their music video for the single, "On Modern Men", the band added their fifth member, Cody Ackors on trombone. In 2010, Quiet Company released ''Songs for Staying In'', a 6-song EP, produced by Quiet Company and recorded by bass player Matt Parmenter in his apartment studio, Ice Cream Factory Studios. Continuing to be recognized, 2011 began with the band being nominated for the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards under the Pop/Rock Song category for "It's Better To Spend Money Like There's No Tomorrow Than Spend Tonight Like There's No Money". By mid-2011, Quiet Company joined forces via an Artist Development deal with the former music-streaming service

. The band's partnership with the service helped to encourage a global audience by increasing exposure on platforms like

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

and increasing overall listenership on the steaming site, making the band's offerings available to a wider audience. The band spent most of 2011 promoting their new album ''We Are All Where We Belong'' around Texas, in addition to scoring slots at

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

and DeLuna Festival. Songs from the new album have peaked on popular blog-aggregator websites such as

Hype Machine Hype Machine is a music blog aggregator created by Anthony Volodkin. History Hype Machine was originally a music database created in 2005 by Anthony Volodkin, then a sophomore computer science major at Hunter College.Heilemann, JohCapturing the ...

and We Are Hunted (#49 Most Hyped and #5 on Rock Charts, respectively), in addition to receiving attention on websites such as

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

and the TV show ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with '' ...

''. In a dominant showing, Quiet Company and its members won a total of ten awards at the

Austin Chronicle Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

's 30th Annual Austin Music Awards in 2012, including Best Band and Album of the Year, with Muse receiving Musician of the Year honors. Returning to the studio in 2014, Quiet Company recorded its fifth album ''Transgressor'' at Orb Recording Studio in Austin, with producer

Matt Noveskey William Matthew Noveskey (born June 16, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, guitarist, and bassist, best known as the bassist in the bands Blue October and Harvard of the South (band), Harvard of the South, and as bassist ...

. The album was released February 24, 2015 on Modern Outsider Records. 2016 proved to be a year of transitions for the group – with existing members exiting the group and new ones taking their places. The following years have proceeded with three EPs with themes centering around Muse's divorce from his wife, which took place after the release of ''Transgressor''.

Religious influences, criticism

Though Muse's Quiet Company was initially signed to a Christian label

, played the Christian rock oriented

Cornerstone Festival Cornerstone Festival was a Christian music festival put on by Jesus People USA and held annually around July 4 near Bushnell, Illinois, drawing some 20,000 attendees each year. In a given year, many artists that played at Cornerstone also playe ...

and Muse himself repeatedly drawing heavy religious comparisons in his lyrics, he has stated that he is no longer a Christian and has posited that Quiet Company has never been a Christian band: "I've always fallen back on religious imagery as a songwriting tool, just because it was familiar to me and I liked the aesthetic of it," says Muse in a recent interview with the Austin Chronicle. Early efforts by the band include heavy use of Christian themes and iconography, but have shifted over time, with the meaning behind the metaphor's usage evoking something much different than it did previously for the band. Speaking specifically about the 2011 release ''We Are All Where We Belong'', Muse states, "It's easily the most personal thing I've ever written. It is, essentially, a break up record, only the romance that's ending was between myself and religion." The album left most of the band's pre-existing Christian fan base confused. Muse says he receives e-mails frequently from fans who "love the record" but are "concerned" about his departure from religion.

Exposure and touring

Quiet Company's music has been and continues to be featured by various Austin rock-oriented radio stations such as

KUTX KUTX (98.9 FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Leander, Texas and serving the greater Austin, Texas area with an adult album alternative format. The station is owned by University of Texas at Austin with headquarters at the Belo ...

, KSGR, KROX,

KUT Kūt (), officially Al-Kut, also spelled Kutulamare, Kut al-Imara, or Kut Al Amara is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about south east of Baghdad, and the capital of the Wasit Governorate. the estimated populatio ...

KOOP __NOTOC__ Koop or KOOP may refer to: People *Koop (surname), multiple people Culture and entertainment *Koop (band), a Swedish jazz duo consisting of Magnus Zingmark and Oscar Simonsson *KOOP (FM), a radio station (91.7 FM) in Austin, Texas, Unit ...

and KLBJ. Expanding exposure outside the local scene, a sampling of the band's songs have been used in television shows such as E!'s

Keeping Up With the Kardashians ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' (often abbreviated ''KUWTK'') is an American reality television series which focused on the personal and professional lives of the Kardashian family, Kardashian–Jenner Stepfamily, blended family. It aired ...

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's The Real World:

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

Hart of Dixie ''Hart of Dixie'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The CW from September 26, 2011, to March 27, 2015. The series, created by Leila Gerstein, stars Rachel Bilson as Dr. Zoe Hart, a New Yorker who, after her dreams of ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

My Generation "My Generation" is a song by the English rock band The Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend. One of the band's most recognizable songs, it was placed number 11 by ''Rolling Stone'' on its list of the " 500 Greatest S ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Royal Pains ''Royal Pains'' is an American comedy-drama television series that ran on the USA Network from 2009 to 2016. The series is based in part on contemporary concierge medicine practices of independent doctors and companies and follows Hank Lawson, ...

and in The Sims 3: Showtime expansion pack for

The Sims 3 ''The Sims 3'' is a 2009 social simulation video game developed by the Redwood Shores studio of Maxis, and published by Electronic Arts. Part of ''The Sims'' series, it is the sequel to ''The Sims 2''. It was released on June 2, 2009, for Micros ...

. Quiet Company has done several national tours but plays predominantly in and around their home state, Texas. They have played with many notable acts, such as

Blue October Blue October is an American Rock music, rock band originally from Houston, Texas, formed in 1995. It currently consists of singer/guitarist Justin Furstenfeld, drummer Jeremy Furstenfeld, multi-instrumentalist #Personnel, Ryan Delahoussaye, b ...

, Rooney,

Stoney Stoney may refer to: Places * Stoney, Kansas, an unincorporated community in the United States * Stoney Creek (disambiguation) * Stoney Pond, a man-made lake located by Bucks Corners, New York * Stoney (lunar crater) * Stoney (Martian crater) ...

, Ghostland Observatory, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Deadbeat Darling,

Alpha Rev Alpha Rev is an American alternative rock band from Austin, Texas, fronted by Casey McPherson (formerly of Endochine). McPherson remains the group's only consistent member. However, historically the core members have also included Zak Loy on l ...

The Rocketboys The Rocketboys is an indie rock band from Austin, Texas. History Formerly known as Homer Hiccolm & the Rocketboys, the band formed late 2005 in Abilene, Texas. The original line-up met while they were attending Abilene Christian University. Si ...

Dear and the Headlights Dear(s) or The Dears may refer to: Manga * ''Dear'' (manga), a 2002–2007 Japanese manga series by Cocoa Fujiwara * '' DearS'', a 2002–2005 Japanese manga series by Peach-Pit, and a 2004 anime series and visual novel *'' Dear+'', a Japanese m ...

Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major-label reco ...

Dashboard Confessional Dashboard Confessional is an American rock band from Boca Raton, Florida, formed in 1999 and led by singer Chris Carrabba. The name of the band is derived from the song "The Sharp Hint of New Tears" off their debut album, '' The Swiss Army Roma ...

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1970 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Their work bridged elements of '60s pop rock, guitar pop, '70s har ...

Evan Dando Evan Griffith Dando (born March 4, 1967) is an American musician and the frontman of the rock band the Lemonheads. He has also embarked on a solo career and collaborated on songs with various artists. In December 2015, Dando was inducted into t ...

Bob Schneider Robert Schneider (born October 12, 1965) is an Austin, Texas based musician and former lead singer of the rock band Ugly Americans. He has recorded and officially released over 20 studio albums and EPs, many on his own Shockorama Records label. He ...

Old 97's Old 97's is an American Rock music, rock band from Dallas, Texas, Dallas, Texas. Formed in 1992, they have released thirteen studio albums, two full extended plays, shared split duty on another, and they have one live album. Their most recent r ...

and

The Toadies Toadies are an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1989 in Fort Worth, Texas, Fort Worth, Texas, best known for the song "Possum Kingdom (song), Possum Kingdom". The band's classic lineup consisted of Vaden Todd Lewis (lead vocals, rhythm ...

Members

Current members

* Taylor Muse - vocals, guitars, piano/keyboard, extraneous percussion, songwriter * Tommy Blank - guitars, keyboard, accordion, melodica, backing vocals * Tomas Garcia-Olano - bass guitar, backing vocals * Drew Silverman - drums * Justin Washington - trumpet, percussion, backing vocals * Niamh Fahy - violin, strings, backing vocals * Bill Gryta - guitars, baritone guitar, keyboard, synthesizers, backing vocals Other contributors: * Leah Muse - vocals, and ex-wife of Taylor Muse * Betsy Aune - vocals, and wife of Thomas Blank * Paul Osbon - vocals, and manager

Former members

* Jesse Garcia (drums) * Tim Robbins (drums) * Michael Delaney (drums) * Jeff Weathers (drums) * Evan Smoker (drums) * Drew d'Entremont (drums) * Justin Huling (drums) * Matthew Parmenter (bass) * Cody Ackors (horns) * Alex Bhore (drums, percussion, bass) * Jeff Stringer (drums, percussion, backing vocals) * Trevor Dowdy (bass, backing vocals)

Discography

LPs

* '' Shine Honesty'' – March 7, 2006 * ''Everyone You Love Will Be Happy Soon'' – March 10, 2009 * ''We Are All Where We Belong'' – October 4, 2011 * ''A Dead Man On My Back: Shine Honesty Revisited'' – April 9, 2013 * ''Transgressor'' – February 24, 2015

EPs

* ''A Merry Little Christmas EP'' - November 14, 2007 * ''Songs for Staying In'' – May 11, 2010 * ''Winter Is Coming'' - November 29, 2012 * ''Other People's Hits: Vol 1'' - May 6, 2014 * ''Regressor'' - October 21, 2016 * ''It's Not Attractive & It Changes Nothing'' - March 31, 2017 * ''Your Husband, The Ghost'' - August 18, 2017 * ''On Corners & Shapes'' – January 4, 2019 * ''Are You a Window? '' – June 19, 2020

Compilations

* ''Scene But Not Herd - Unsigned Band Compilation #3'' – 2001 * ''Peace on Earth: A Holiday Album'' – 2007 * ''Music For The City, Vol. 1'' - 2009

Videography

Music videos

* "Fashionabel" (2007) ''(directed By Cameron McCasland)'' * "On Modern Men" (2010) ''(directed by Justin Kirchhoff)'' * "Fear & Fallacy, Sitting In A Tree" (2011) ''(directed by Justin Kirchhoff)'' * "You, Me, & the Boatman" (2011) ''(directed by Josh Sobel)'' * "The Emasculated Man and the City That Swallowed Him" (2013) ''(directed by Justin Kirchhof and Tommy Blank)'' * "Celebrity Teeth Poacher" (2017) ''(directed by Quiet Company and Alex Chod)''

DVD

* ''Live from Studio 6A'' (2010)

References

External links

Quiet Company official website
* {{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from Texas Indie pop groups from Texas Musical groups from Austin, Texas Musical groups established in 2000 2000 establishments in Texas