| Portugal. The Man | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Wasilla, Alaska, USA |
| Genres | Rock Psychedelic rock Psychedelic pop Progressive rock |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | Fearless, Equal Vision, Atlantic |
| Associated acts | Anatomy of a Ghost |
| Website | www.portugaltheman.net |
| Members | |
| John Gourley Jason Sechrist Ryan Neighbors Zachary Carothers Noah Gersh |
|
| Past members | |
| Wesley Hubbard Nick Klein Harvey Tumbleson |
|
Portugal. The Man is an American rock band based in Portland, Oregon, but originally from Wasilla, Alaska. The group released their first two albums with Fearless Records. They also released material on their own imprint Approaching AIRballoons through indie label Equal Vision Records. They signed to Atlantic Records on April 2, 2010.
Lead singer John Gourley creates all the art work for every album cover, t-shirt and tour poster.
Contents |
The members of Portugal. The Man were all born and raised in Alaska, with the exception of Jason Sechrist, who was born in Portland, Oregon, and Ryan Neighbors, who grew up in Salem, Oregon. Around August 2002, the band Anatomy of a Ghost was formed after Gourley moved to Portland, having had no previous singing experience.[1] Anatomy of A Ghost quickly gained popularity, but before long, the group broke up. Portugal. The Man was originally started as John Gourley's side project, with Carothers playing bass. Before they had a drummer, they used drum machines and synth-loops as the backing beat. Gourley and Carothers teamed up with Wesley Hubbard, Nick Klein (former guitar tech for Anatomy of Ghost) and Harvey Tumbleson, and formed Portugal. The Man. The band left Alaska and went to Portland with the intent of recording and touring. The band recorded demos in the summer of 2004 and followed this with a tour with Chiodos that fall. In spring 2005, Klein and Tumbleson left and soon after Sechrist joined the band. Portugal. The Man's debut record Waiter: "You Vultures!" was released by Fearless Records on January 24, 2006. The album was produced by Casey Bates.
They have opened up for Labelmates Gatsbys American Dream on the Stampeding Machines tour, alongside similar acts such as HORSE the Band and Forgive Durden. In the summer of 2006 they were included on the Circa Survive headlining tour, and toured with The Fall of Troy, Tera Melos and Damiera. In early 2007, Portugal. The Man self-released a new E.P. entitled It's Complicated Being a Wizard on their own label, Approaching AIRballoons.
On June 22, 2007, they released their second full-length, Church Mouth, again produced by Casey Bates, and set out on a full U.S. headline tour with support from The Photo Atlas, Play Radio Play, Tera Melos, and The Only Children among others. They then toured Europe, and followed it up with another US headlining tour with support from Rocky Votolato and Great Depression during September and October. Following this tour, they joined Thursday on a short east coast tour in November alongside Circle Takes The Square.
In 2008 the band left their label, Fearless Records, and added Ryan Neighbors, their touring keyboardist, as an official member and the replacement for Wes Hubbard. In the summer of 2008 they were to be the main support band for Rx Bandits national headlining tour.
On July 30, 2008, it was announced that Portugal. The Man was releasing Censored Colors under its independent record label, Approaching AIRballoons , in partnership with Equal Vision Records. It was released September 16, 2008.[2] John Gourley was also chosen as the recipient of the 2008 AP Magazine's 'Best Vocalist of the Year'.[3]
In 2009 they played at Bonnaroo and at Lollapalooza in Grant Park, Chicago.[4]
On April 9 Portugal. The Man announced The Satanic Satanist, which was released on July 21, 2009. Originally named The Satanic Satanist of the Majestic Majesty, the album title was later shortened and an acoustic counterpart entitled The Majestic Majesty was released. The Satanic Satanist is themed around memories and stories from singer John Gourley's growing up in the state of Alaska. The album was recorded with the help of record producer Paul Q. Kolderie of Pixies and Radiohead fame, and it was the band's first time recording an album with pre-production.[5] The band released the first video from The Satanic Satanist for the track "Do You" on September 17, 2009.
On February 11, 2010, John announced that American Ghetto, the bands fifth studio album, would be released on March 2. In order to avoid another leak, virtually no copies of the album were solicited until the release date.[6]
In April 2010 the band announced their transfer to Atlantic Records.
During the summer of 2010, Portugal. The Man went back into the studio to record their new album with guitarist and producer John Hill. They recorded the album in El Paso, Texas, London, England, and San Diego, California. Grammy winner Andy Wallace mixed the album. Wallace has most notably mixed Rush, System of a Down, Nirvana, Paul McCartney, At the Drive-In and Coheed and Cambria records.
During their fall tour in 2010, Portugal. The Man played a new song known as "We Got It All." At the 2011 SXSW, they debuted another song titled "Senseless." Starting on April 7, 2011, Portugal. The Man began releasing one 30 second clip every week from their new album via their YouTube channel. The songs were "Once Was One," "All Your Light (Times Like These)" and "So American". On April 29, the first full track was released entitled "Got it all (This Can't Be Living Now.)" They released their second song on May 5 entitled "Sleep Forever." The new album is titled In the Mountain in the Cloud and was released on July 19. Zack and Ryan spoke about working on the new record with Atlantic Records.[7] Portugal. The Man's short film, "Sleep Forever", premiered via IFC.
Portugal. The Man also made their second appearance at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival 10th year anniversary in June 2011, as well as Lollapalooza in August.
On the 8th of August after their Lollapalooza show, Portugal. The Man's van and trailer were stolen. The van and trailer contained all of the band's instruments and performance gear. On August 9th, the van was recovered, but the contents of the trailer were missing. A list of the missing equipment was made available by the band.[8] On August 12th much of the band's gear was recovered from the home of a man who claimed to have purchased it at a flea market and the band subsequently posted a thank you note on their website saying, "it is more than just a win for PTM, it is also a win for twitter, the world of social media, the Chicago police, and old school journalism."[9][10] The man was charged with one felony count of theft for purchasing the stolen equipment.[11]
On June 6, 2011 Portugal. The Man released a short film featuring the songs "Sleep Forever" and "Got It All (This Can't Be Living Now)" from their latest album, "In The Mountain In the Cloud". [12] Produced by Richard Hutchins and directed by Michael Ragen, the film features 13 minutes and 16 seconds of Alaskan wilderness intertwined with scenes of PTM front man, John Gourley, dog sledding before he is forced to travel by foot after his dogs abandon him. [13] In the end, Gourley accidentally shoots himself in the face as he trips and falls in the snow. His dogs return and eat their owner, the dead John Gourley.
Currently, Portugal. The Man have also released music videos for their songs "So American", "People Say", "All Your Light", "Do You", "The Dead Dog", "AKA M80 The Wolf", "Lay Me Back Down", and "The Sun".
Noah Gersh
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [14] |
US Heat [14] |
AUT [15] |
CHE [16] |
||||||
| 2006 | Waiter: "You Vultures!" | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2007 | Church Mouth
|
— | 30 | — | — | ||||
| 2008 | Censored Colors
|
— | 10 | — | — | ||||
| 2009 | The Satanic Satanist
|
81 | — | — | — | ||||
The Majestic Majesty
|
— | — | — | — | |||||
| 2010 | American Ghetto
|
— | — | — | — | ||||
| 2011 | In the Mountain in the Cloud
|
42 | — | 60 | 70 | ||||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | |||||||||
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Under Waves of the Brown Coat
|
| 2006 | The Pines & The Devil
|
| 2006 | Devil Say I, I Say AIR
|
| 2007 | It's Complicated Being a Wizard
|
| 2007 | My Mind & Seventeen
|
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Alt [17] |
US Rock [18] |
||||||||
| 2008 | "Lay Me Back Down" | — | — | Censored Colors | |||||
| 2009 | "People Say" | 16 | 31 | The Satanic Satanist | |||||
| 2011 | "Got It All (This Can't Be Living Now)" | 36 | — | In the Mountain in the Cloud | |||||
| "So American" | — | — | |||||||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | |||||||||