Biography

The Stills only bore scant similarities to Interpol, but like those suit-wearing New Yorkers, the Stills launched their career with a stately post-punk sound inspired by the likes of Echo & the Bunnymen and Joy Division. Having known one another since the age of 12, the band's founding members -- vocalist Tim Fletcher, drummer Dave Hamelin, guitarist Greg Paquet, and bassist Oliver Crowe -- played in various bands before forming the Stills in 2000. Two years later, they temporarily left their native Montreal for a two-month stay in New York City, where they recorded songs with a four-track recorder and pursued a record deal. An offer from Vice Recordings followed before the year's end; however, joint shows with the Music, the Rapture, the Streets, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were what cemented the Stills a temporary spot among the city's ever-changing indie rock scene. The Rememberese EP appeared in June 2003, and stateside dates with Interpol followed that fall. Logic Will Break Your Heart marked the Stills' full-length debut in October, and the band spent time touring the U.K. and North America before heading into the studio to record a second album in late 2004. Founding member Greg Paquet announced his departure from the lineup the following year, and drummer Dave Hamelin responded to the change by switching roles and filling Paquet's spot on guitar. Touring keyboardist Liam O'Neil and Sea Ray drummer Colin Brooks were also added to the lineup. The resulting Without Feathers, released in 2006, was something of a departure for the group, relying less on new wave and post-punk and more on rootsy, '70s heartland rock (Hamelin also became the band's co-frontman, sharing vocal duties with Fletcher). 2008's Oceans Will Rise saw the Stills stretching their boundaries even further, this time incorporating sonic experimentalism and uplifting, anthemic rock into their sound. The evolution stopped there, however, with the band announcing its decision to split up on April 15, 2011. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi