About
Arcade Fire is a popular alternative rock band from Montreal, Canada that has attracted die-hard fans across the country and world with their multi-layered anthemic tunes.
Arcade Fire was originally made up of members Richard Parry, Tim Kingsbury, Regine Chassagne, and brothers William and Win Butler. Win began writing songs with Chassagne after seeing her perform at an art exhibit in Montreal in 2003, and the two began a relationship shortly afterward. After adding Kingsbury on bass, Parry on organ, and William on synth and percussion, Arcade Fire began to build their signature sound, influenced by everything from punk, pop, French Chanson, to bossa nova.
The band came out with its self-titled EP in 2003, a gripping piece which got them noticed by Merge Records, and subsequently signed. After a series of family deaths, Arcade Fire focused their grief into their first full-length album, Funeral, released in 2004. Funeral was an immediate critical and commercial success, leading to a wave of widely attended performances across the U.S., including at festivals like Coachella and Lollapalooza.That year, the band also earned a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album and went on tour with U2.
Neon Bible followed in 2007, an ambitious project which featured a military choir, pipe organ, and full orchestra. Arcade Fire went on to play over 120 shows that year, finishing with several performances in support of then-candidate Barack Obama. The Suburbs, an eclectic tribute to childhood and the suburban experience ended up hitting number one on charts in both the U.S. and U.K., ultimately winning the band a Grammy for Album of the Year as well as BRIT awards for Best International Album and Group. Yet another sold-out tour followed, as well as a deluxe version of the album featuring a short film directed by Spike Jonze.
Arcade Fire’s fourth album, Reflektor, was a double-record produced by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy. The following year saw the release of a documentary film of the tour for that album, The Reflektor Tapes. The band’s fifth studio album, Everything Now, came out in 2017, a highly anticipated record produced by members of Daft Punk, Pulp, and Portishead. Arcade Fire still performs regularly, and can be booked for private parties and corporate entertainment events.
