The Czars

The Czars started in May 1994 when vocalist John Grant and bassist Chris Pearson had a chance meeting at Rock Island, a club in Denver’s lower downtown warehouse district. It took over a year to pull a complete band together and play their first show. The early years were slow, but recording began with local music icon Bob Ferbrache in 1995, who produced the first two albums. Contrary to press releases, the band actually self-released two albums, “Moodswing” and “La Brea Tar Pits of Routine” on their own label, Velveteen Records in 1995 and 1997, the later was sent to Cocteau Twins' Bella Union in London. Bella Union initially balked, but a follow-up five-song demo was quickly recorded and sent to Cocteau’s Simon Raymonde. He offered the band a four album deal soon after. The Czars would be the first American band to sign with London's Bella Union. A string of local opening gigs followed with opening slots for Low, the Dirty Three, and Ween (! ? !). Recording on “Before...but longer” was initiated at London’s September Sound studio in September ’98, and Raymonde finished production on the album in December, but shelved the album because he was hoping to procure an American record deal. Then after playing SXSW in '99 and '00 then waiting for an American label to jump on the proverbial bandwagon, the album would languish for almost two years before finally being released in Europe in May 2000 without that elusive American deal. Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures stepped up to the plate sending a representative to see the band play at the Bluebird Theater in May ’99, but they passed on the Czars and ended up signing the more-hyped bands Supreme Beings of Leisure and Cousteau instead. They made the right choice there. Czars members wanted to quit but couldn’t because of a little thing known as “potential”. By the end of ‘99 The Czars were named Best Rock Band by Westword (a local Denver music magazine), which immediately catapulted them into more promises of fame and fortune, but they continue in obscurity and innuendo. Best “Rock” Band had a nice ring to it, but it wasn’t their bailiwick. The band would have preferred Best Non-Rock Band, but all publicity is good publicty for record sales. Gotta keep that momentum going! The following year the band was approached to compose the soundtrack for an independent film, “I’d Rather Be … Gone.” Although it never saw the light of day outside of the Gay and Lesbian film festival in San Francisco, the soundtrack mini EP was released by Toronto's Absalom Recordings that November. Self-produced by the band in Denver with Colin Bricker at NFA studios, unfortunatley Bella Union “was quite disappointed (and) the sounds of things were very 'flat' and a bit uninspired,” but Splendid e-zine called it a “darkly beautiful ambience.” We tended to agree with Splendid. The mini-CD remains a fan favorite today and is the number one seller off the band web-site. Next up was the second Bella Uion album “The Ugly People vs. The Beautiful People.” Recorded in Denver over a month in early 2001, it was released in October with cover art featuring asses and tattoos. After 23 takes at “Black and Blue” the band nearly killed each other, but the recording was finished and accolades poured in, winning the 2002 album of the year in Westword (again!) and receiving critical praise from Mojo, Q, and NME. That elusive American label would finally sign the band (thanks Manifesto Records!), agreeing to a licensing deal for one album with a label option for a second. What happened? The payola was direct-deposited from one label to another. Money and record sales pour in and Bella Union signs a whopping 36 bands, including a Jewish rapper from Nova Scotia. Not bad for a label with only 5 people on the staff. Times were good! The Czars toured Europe opening for David Gray (?), 16 Horsepower, and The Flaming Lips. Europeans came out in droves to see the band. Three small US tours followed. Americans drove by marquis but didn’t see the band, probably getting them mixed up with the metal band “Czar”, Detroit's "The Sounds of the Czars", or the Hollywood Records pop-tarts “Tsars”. Not to be deterred, the band recorded and self-produced the tour EP “X Would Rather Listen to Y Than Suffer Through a C of Z’s”, a reference to John’s linguistics book on Russian sentence structure. By late 2003 the band was itching to begin work on a new album, but Bella Union wouldn’t or couldn’t pay for studio time. Months and e-mails passed. The band's proposals were too high, but a counter offer was never made. Stalled and frustrated and, with time and energy running out, the band resorted to begging for donations and loans from its fans to complete the follow-up album, "Goodbye.” Work was completed in June 2004, and “Goodbye” was released to much acclaim (again!) last September. Picked as the 38th on the Top 50 albums of the year by Mojo, it beat out such luminaries as The Shins, Morrissey, and Bjork. Not bad for a bunch of hacks that work day jobs and self-produce their own albums. The band took loans out and second mortgages to get the album produced. This couldn’t or shouldn’t happen. We were just a bug on the windshield of Morrissey’s Jaguar. The album sold well and the band would receive their first royalty check ($270!). Not a fortune, but it was enough to pay off some back debt and buy a drink or two. Little would it last. In 2004, the core of the band would dissolve away over the course of the ultimately prophetic last album entitled “Goodbye”. Over the span of nine months would see the departure of five out of six members, including original founding members Jeff and Chris (after 10 years), plus long-time guitarists Andy and Roger, as well as violinist Elin Palmer. Apparently “potential” had an expiration date. A "quasi" band still exists under the name "The Czars", but it is a shell of its former self with only the lead-singer at the helm.