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The Pharmacy is a psychedelic/indie rock band from
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...
, consisting of three members: Scott Yoder (guitar, lead vocals), Brendhan Bowers (drums, backing vocals), and Stefan Rubicz (keyboards, backing vocals). They also have been known to record with a wide array of other instruments including strings, horns, and many different types of synthesizers/keyboards. They occasionally play live with bassist Aaron Khawaja.


History

The Pharmacy were founded on
Vashon Island Vashon () is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon–Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. Before the constru ...
,
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
in 2002 by Scott Yoder and Brendhan Bowers. The band was founded while they were in their freshman and junior years in high school. Drawing influence from
Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...
,
The Unicorns The Unicorns were a Canadian rock band formed in the year 2000 by Nicholas Thorburn (Nick Diamonds) of British Columbia and Alden Penner (Alden Ginger) of Quebec. J'aime Tambeur joined in December 2003. The band announced their split in late ...
,
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
,
Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangement ...
and Andrew W.K. the two created a messy mix of garage and punk, later evolving into a dance-able pop band. Don't Stop Believin' Records(Seattle), a like-minded local record label released a collection of home demos titled ''"B.F.F."'' with Scott singing and playing guitar, Joey Seward playing keyboards and bass, and Brendhan playing drums. After graduating high school on Vashon, they moved to Seattle and Olympia. They continued to play while Brendhan attended
Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a ...
in
Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...
. They first reached local prominence in 2005, after completing their first United States tour with
Kimya Dawson Kimya Dawson (born November 17, 1972) is an American folk singer-songwriter, one half of the anti-folk duo the Moldy Peaches. Dawson's work with the Moldy Peaches earned them a cult following and critical acclaim, with their 2001 song " Anyone ...
of
the Moldy Peaches The Moldy Peaches are an American independent music, indie group founded by Adam Green (musician), Adam Green and Kimya Dawson. Leading proponents of the anti-folk scene, the band had been on Recess (break), hiatus since 2004, but in 2023 announ ...
. Throughout most of the tour, they performed as her backing band. In early 2006 recording sessions began at a
Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
Temple in Seattle. After a few weeks the project was permanently shelved. They instead spent the year with more touring following the release of the ''Overcast Summer'' 7-inch EP. They performed at
Plan-It-X Plan-It-X Records (PIX) was an independent record label. Originally based in Georgetown, Indiana, PIX was based in Bloomington, Indiana following brief stints in Olympia, Washington, Gainesville, Florida, and Cairo, Illinois. The label released ...
Fest in July of this year. 2006 also saw the departure of Joey Seward and his subsequent replacement by keyboardist Stefan Rubicz and bass player Ryan Thompson. Not long after Joey's departure he soon joined both Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground as well a
Doomhawk
By the beginning of 2007, they had released the ''Abominable'' 7-inch on Chicago label ''Tic Tac Totally''. It featured the song "Tropical Yeti Song" which was accompanied by a music video. They toured frequently throughout the rest of the year, performing at several music festivals including
Bumbershoot Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. One of North America's largest such festivals, it takes place every Labor Day (United States), Labor Day weekend (leading up to and ...
,
Capitol Hill Block Party The Capitol Hill Block Party is an annual three-day music festival and block party held each July in the Capitol Hill, Seattle, Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. Performance genres include Pop music, pop, Rhythm and ...
and the Seattle Weekly Reverb Festival. In September bassist Ryan Thompson was kicked out of the band amid the recording sessions for Choose Yr Own Adventure. In January 2009 they re-located to
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 ...
, Louisiana, where they recorded ''Weekend'' in a house that they shared, on a Tascam 4-track. The ''Weekend'' LP was released by Don't Stop Believin' Records, and in Europe by Seayou Records (Austria). In September 2009, the Pharmacy played the New Island Festival on Governors Island in New York Harbor. The Pharmacy has toured Europe three times, playing shows in over 18 countries. In 2008, a split 7-inch with Japanther was released by Austrian label Bachelor Record

In May 2010 they played at Yo Garage in Monterrey, Mexico during a 5 month long tour of the US/Europe. In January 2011 they played at the Rock & Roll Circus at Lincoln Center. In 2011 the band released their well received 7-inch EP, "Dig Your Grave" via Kind Turkey Records, Bobby Hussy's (The Hussy, Fire Heads, Cave Curse, TIT) record label based in Madison, WI.http://www.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/01/30/the-pharmacy-dig-your-grave They currently live in Seattle. Scott Yoder also performs/records in a side-project called Fuzzy Cloaks with fellow Pharmacy member Stefan Rubicz. Bobby Hussy's label Kind Turkey Records released the debut cassette shortly after the band formed.


Albums

*''B.F.F.'' LP/CD (June, 2005, 2nd press blue cover - January 2006) *''Choose Yr. Own Adventure'' CD/LP/Cassette (February 29, 2008) *''Weekend'' LP/CD/Cassette (March 2010) *''Stoned & Alone'' LP/CD/Cassette (2012) *''Spells'' LP/CD (2014)


Singles, EPs, Collections

*''Ship of Fools,'' a five-song 7-inch record (August, 2003) *''Ray-Gun Mariachi'' demo CD-R (2004) *''B.F.F.'' LP/CD (June, 2005, 2nd press blue cover - January 2006) *''Abominable,'' a two-song 7-inch record lmtd. 500 copies (
Tic Tac Totally Tic Tac Totally was an independent record label run by Matt Clark in Chicago, Illinois. He also runs the "Dumb Audio" zine. Since forming in 2006 Tic Tac Totally has released over 50 records. The label has released LPs and 7"s by punk and garage ...
March, 2007) *''Overcast Summer,'' a four-song 7-inch record lmtd. 333 copies (March, 2006) *''WAYDWYL'' split 7-inch with
Japanther Japanther was an American punk band established by Matt Reilly and Ian Vanek, then students at Pratt Institute. Japanther was featured in the 2006 Whitney Biennial, the 2007 Performa Biennial, and the 2011 Venice Biennale, and collaborated ...
(September, 2008) *''Solid Melts'' split cassette with Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk (September, 2009) *''Dig Your Grave'' a four-song 7-inch record lmtd. 500 copies (Kind Turkey Records, February 3, 2012) *''Josephine'' a four-song EP (Seayou Records, May 11, 2012) *''Apparition'' a one-song 7-inch picture disc (Electricity & Lust Records, March 5, 2013) *''Trouble Maker'' a four-song digital EP (Seayou Records, October 31, 2013)


Videos


Tropical Yeti Song
(2007) from the ''Abominable'' 7-inch on
Tic Tac Totally Tic Tac Totally was an independent record label run by Matt Clark in Chicago, Illinois. He also runs the "Dumb Audio" zine. Since forming in 2006 Tic Tac Totally has released over 50 records. The label has released LPs and 7"s by punk and garage ...
*"Little Toys On A Shelf" (2008) from the ''Choose Yr Own Adventure'' LP/CD *"WAYDWYL" (2009) from the ''Weekend'' LP - directed by SKINNY (Directing Team) *"Dig Your Grave" (2012) from the ''Dig Your Grave'' 7-inch EP *"Pines" (2012) from the ''Dig Your Grave'' 7-inch EP


References


External links


Don't Stop Believin' RecordsPark the Van RecordsMySpace pageA live review in the Seattle Post-IntelligencerFeature in The StrangerA Spin "Band Of The Day," featureFeature in The StrangerReview on Three Imaginary Girls
* AllMusic.com bio {{DEFAULTSORT:Pharmacy, The American psychedelic rock music groups Indie rock musical groups from Washington (state)