About Me
Arcade Fire (often known as "The Arcade Fire") is an indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 2003 by the husband and wife team Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, the band's work features lush, anthemic arrangements and diverse instrumentation, necessitating a larger personnel than a traditional rock band. Their acclaimed debut album Funeral was followed in 2007 by the critical and commercial success Neon Bible.Formation and early historyArcade Fire formed around the husband and wife duo of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. Starting in mid-2003, the current lineup solidified in late 2003/early 2004, when their first full-length album Funeral was recorded. Before this an eponymous EP (often referred to by fans as the Us Kids Know EP) had been sold at early shows. The EP was subsequently remastered and given a full release once the band started becoming more prominent. Arcade Fire is known for its enthralling live performances, as well as its use of a large number of musical instruments. In addition to mainstays guitar, drums, and bass guitar, members play piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, xylophone, keyboard, French horn, accordion, hurdy gurdy and harp and mandolin. With several able musicians, Arcade Fire takes most of its instrumental diversity on tour and band members switch instrumental duties throughout their shows. The number of instruments, along with a wide set of musical influences has provided a substantial number of resources on which to draw during the recording process. The promise showed by the band in its live shows allowed it to land a record contract with the independent record label Merge Records.When asked about the rumour that the band's name refers to a fire in an arcade, Win Butler replied: "It's not a rumour, it's based on a story that someone told me. It's not an actual event, but one that I took to be real. I would say that it's probably something that the kid made up, but at the time I believed him." The arcade in question was the Exeter arcade and bandstand in the town square of Exeter, New Hampshire, where both Butlers attended Phillips Exeter Academy preparatory school.FuneralTheir first album, Funeral, debuted in September 2004 in Canada and in February 2005 in the UK, and was highly acclaimed by critics.[2] The title of the debut album was chosen because of the deaths of several relatives of band members during recording. These events created a somber atmosphere which influenced songs such as "Une année sans lumière" ("A Year Without Light"), "In the Backseat", and "Haiti", Chassagne's elegy to her lost homeland. "Neighborhood 3 (Power Out)" is based on their experiences of the North American ice storm in 1998.
