For the past month, this Berkeley quartet has been busy spreading positive vibes across the nation and melting some Midwest snow (and girly hearts) with their warm, feel-good California tunes. Understandably drained from the strains of being on tour and playing a show in a different city every night, the morning benders have returned to their Bay Area home base and conjured up enough energy to rock their last stop - the Noise Pop Festival in San Francisco.  Right before the show at Slims, singer Chris Chu and drummer Julian Harmon sat down with us and shared their secrets to surviving a national tour, serenading border patrol, and producing magical melodies that make hearts flutter - and then let their music do all the talking.



the morning benders official bio:

Chris Chu began writing songs as 'the morning benders' in October 2005. The first EP 'Loose Change' was recorded at home on a laptop with one microphone, and was released just under a year later in September 2006. In December 2006, Chris met Joe, Julian and Tim while attending classes at UC Berkeley. The next EP was a collaborative effort recorded at the band's home practice space. Released in February 2007, the EP 'Boarded Doors' gained the boys recognition throughout the Bay Area for their 'perfectly percolating pop thrills' (SF Bay Guardian) with 'brill building-like melodies' (SF Weekly). Excited to play their new tunes for their growing fan-base, the benders began picking up gigs locally and eventually all along the West Coast.

In summer 2007, the boys hunkered down at Different Fur Studios in the Mission District of San Francisco to record their full-length debut. Chris got a part-time job working as an assistant engineer to pay for the recording of the album and went on to produce, engineer, and mix all of the tracks, with the production help of Different Fur head honcho Patrick Brown. The album, titled 'Talking Through Tin Cans,' was released on the newly launched +1 Records on May 6th, 2008.  The release of 'Talking Through Tin Cans' catapulted the morning benders to national attention, as it had an amazing reaction amongst critics across the board - from national and regional media, to the blogs, to online and digital supporters like iTunes, YouTube, Myspace and Imeem. The benders began to win people over one by one, from the most mainstream media outlets to the bedroom blogs.

Following the release of their debut album, the benders recorded an album of cover songs in Chris Chu's bedroom with little more than a guitar, a mic and a computer. They relased the album for free on their blog under the moniker 'The Bedroom Covers' to Great Blog and Online Support.

The morning benders then released an iTunes exclusive EP in November 2008, which included alternate versions of several songs from 'Talking Through Tin Cans', as well as a cover of Disney's Jungle Book classic, 'I Wanna Be Like You'. In December 2008, iTunes continued their support by selecting 'Talking Through Tin Cans' as their top independent album of 2008, a prestigious honor for such a brand new band.

Over 2008, the benders successfully completed nation wide tours with The Kooks, Ra Ra riot and We Are Scientists, and then a co-headline US tour with The Submarines in early 2009. They have also performed at Monolith, Sasquatch and Treasure Island Festivals, as well as played shows with Yo La Tengo, MGMT, Yeasayer, Supergrass, The White Rabbits, The Long Winters, The Deadly Syndrome and more.

The benders are spending early 2009 in the studio, recording their sophomore album slated for release in fall 2009.

The morning benders are Chris Chu (vocals, guitars, organ, Rhodes, pianos), Joe Ferrell (guitars, Rhodes, pianos, organ), Julian Harmon (drums, percussion) and Tim Or (bass).