Robbers On High Street

Robbers on High Street are an indie rock band from New York, New York. They began playing in public, and building a buzz on the NYC scene, during the summer of 2002. But the band's roots stretch back much farther. Ben Trokan and Steve "Sparky" Mercado have been friends since their preteen years growing up in the upstate New York town of Poughkeepsie. After high school, Ben moved to New York, where he met and began playing with Tomer Danan. Back in Poughkeepsie, Steve reconnected with noted virgin, Jeremy Phillips, an old school friend. Robbers on High Street—the name came from the lyric of one of the band's early, discarded compositions—was officially born when the four began playing together. Jeremy left the band in 2005 and was replaced by Florida native Morgan King. In addition to playing bass, Morgan is proficient in horns and brass instruments, and hasn't been afraid to use them on stage. The band also added a full-time keyboard player in early 2006. Those duties are sometimes fulfilled by downtown New York impresario Matt Trowbridge (Rana, The King of France, Sam Champion) and Dave Sherman (Goodbye Girl Friday). Tomer left the band in August of 2006 and live drum duties have been taken over by Mikey "Big Stax" Post (Sonny Oakes). "Tree City," the band's first full length album, was released in 2004. It received critical acclaim in the United States (in places pigeonholing the band in the "Lower East Side" indie rock scene) and they toured for most of 2004 and 2005. "Grand Animals" is the band's second full length release and was released on July 24, 2007. For this album the band connected with Italian film composer Daniele Luppi, known mostly for his string and orchestra work with Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley) and pop artists like John Legend. The band recorded in New York and mixed with Jeff Lipton (Beach Boys) in Los Angeles. The new collaboration brought out the band's clear obsession with 60s and 70s AM radio, and allowed them to explore broader sonic landscapes.