Genres Indie rock Genre Indie rock | Years active 2006–2011 Albums Napoleonic EP, Napoleonic | |
 | ||
Associated acts Light Music, Collections of Colonies of Bees, Group of the Altos Past members Brendan Benham
Shae Lappen
Dan Mena
Cody Olson
Ed Zuehlke Origin Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States | ||
The Four Hundred was an American indie rock band formed in 2006 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
Contents
History
After the breakup of their previous band, Brendan Benham and Dan Mena discussed the idea of forming a new band with Shae Lappen. Around the same time that Lappen was approached about the idea, Cody Olson approached him about forming a band with a drummer he had been playing with, Ed Zuehlke. Consequently, The Four Hundred was born with Lappen filling in on vocals and guitar, Benham on vocals, guitar and synthesizer, Mena on bass, Olson on guitar and Zuehlke on drums.
In 2006, The Four Hundred had a fruitful year, as they recorded their Napoleonic EP in Milwaukee at Bobby Peru's Recording Studio with Shane Olivo. On April 4, 2006, "Fiji", a track from the Napoleonic EP was featured on the popular music blog "Just Pretend" as the "Song of the Day." The Four Hundred opened for national acts such as The Romantics, The Melismatics, The New Loud, Dr. Dog and The Black Keys. They headlined many shows of their own, and played two music festivals, Summerpalooza and Metrojam.
The Four Hundred disbanded in early 2008, but re-united briefly in 2011.
Re-emergence with Light Music
In 2013, four of the five members (minus Mena), re-formed in Milwaukee with new project Light Music. Benham had risen to prominence in Milwaukee playing with Collections of Colonies of Bees and Group of the Altos. Light Music's debut Ocean's Daughter was recorded and mixed by acclaimed producer and engineer Beau Sorenson (Death Cab for Cutie, Bob Mould, Superchunk). It was released August 21, 2015, on label The Record Machine. receiving attention for their diverse sound—a seamless blend of progressive rock and pop. The album received coverage by national outlets like PopMatters and CMJ. Piet Levy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel declared Ocean's Daughter "the year's best Milwaukee album."