Future Islands

Formation and first album

The band met and formed while studying art at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Their first band was Art Lord & the Self-Portraits, which included Samuel T. Herring, William Cashion, Gerrit Welmers, Adam Beeby, and Kymia Nawabi. That band lasted from February 2003 until fall of 2005. In 2006, Cashion, Herring, and Welmers formed Future Islands with Erick Murillo, who played an electronic drum kit.

The name is meant to be vague. (...) We were either gonna be called Already Islands or Future Shoes. Because, seriously, you don't know what future shoes look like, but you know you'd want a pair! (you know?). So after deciding Already Shoes was a bad name, we combined them to Future Islands. That's the boring truth, sorry!

Future Islands released Little Advances in April 2006 and a self-released split CD with Welmers' solo project Moss of Aura in January 2007. They recorded their debut album "Wave Like Home" with Chester Endersby Gwazda at Backdoor Skateshop in Greenville, NC later that year. London-based label Upset The Rhythm released Wave Like Home in the Summer of 2008. The cover art was designed by Kymia Nawabi, a former member of Art Lord & the Self-Portraits.

Relocation to Baltimore

In late 2007/early 2008, the band relocated to Baltimore. The "Feathers and Hallways" 7" was recorded in Oakland, California, during their first U.S. tour and was their first release as a focused three-piece. Their second album, In Evening Air, was recorded in the band's living room in the historic Marble Hill neighborhood in Baltimore.

In 2009, the band signed to Chicago independent record company Thrill Jockey. Following a year of solid touring, they recorded their third album On the Water in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and released it in the autumn of 2011.

Singles

In early 2014, the band announced they had signed to 4AD, who released their new album, Singles, in March 2014. The band made their network television début on March 3, 2014, on The Late Show with David Letterman, performing the lead single "Seasons (Waiting on You)". Their performance on the show, particularly Herring's onstage antics, became an internet success, and garnered millions of views on YouTube. "Seasons (Waiting on You)" was eventually named the best song of 2014 by Pitchfork Media, the Pazz & Jop critics' poll, and Consequence of Sound.

Notable performances

The band performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live in May 2014.

They made an appearance on Later... with Jools Holland on September 30, 2014.

The band performed at the Glastonbury Festival on Sunday, June 28, 2015, on 'The Other Stage'.

On New Year's Eve 2015 they appeared once again with Jools Holland on his annual Hootenanny where they performed 'Back In The Tall Grass' and Seasons (Waiting on You)

The band performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on February 9, 2017.

Related projects

Keyboardist Gerrit Welmers has been creating solo as Moss of Aura since 2006.
In 2008, Sam Herring and William Cashion started a parallel project called The Snails with members of other Baltimore bands. Their debut EP Worth the Wait came out in April 2013. In February 2016, they released their debut album Songs from The Shoebox.
In early 2012, William Cashion formed Peals with Double Dagger's former bassist Bruce Willen, releasing their debut album Walking Field in May 2013.
Samuel T. Herring uses the stage name Hemlock Ernst when performing rap, appearing on collaborative hip-hop releases by Milo/Scallops Hotel, Busdriver, Open Mike Eagle & Paul White, Cavanaugh (Open Mike Eagle & Serengeti), Curse ov Dialect and Watercolor Warewolf amongst others. He has teamed up with producer Madlib for a rap project called Trouble knows Me, releasing an EP in 2015. As Samuel T. Herring, he has collaborated with Double Dagger, Microkingdom, Beth Jeans Houghton/Du Blonde, Gangrene and BadBadNotGood. A collaborative track with Clams Casino was released in July 2016.

Discography