Murder By Death

Murder by Death is an American five-piece indie rock band formed in 2000 in Bloomington, Indiana. Their name is derived from the 1976 Robert Moore film of the same name. Members of the band include Adam Turla (lead vocals, lead guitar), Matt Armstrong (bass), Sarah Balliet (cello, keyboards), Dagan Thogerson (drums) and Scott Brackett (multiple instruments). Original keyboardist Vincent Edwards left the band in 2004 and original drummer Alex Schrodt left the band in 2007.

They were first known as Little Joe Gould and released a self-titled EP in 2001. In 2002 they contributed the song “I'm Afraid of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf” to the TEAM AV compilation “Foreign Nationals.” A short time later the group changed their name to Murder By Death, which they felt better represented their sound.

The band’s first full-length album, “Like The Exorcist, but More Breakdancing,” was issued by Eyeball Records in 2002. It was recorded in several Chicago studios with Tim Iseler, then a guitarist with the TEAM AV-affiliated band Re:Rec.

A concept album based around the Devil and a small Mexican border town against which he wages war, their second LP “Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?,” was issued by Eyeball in 2003. Its title was a reference to the tagline of the 1974 film “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.” Guests who appeared on the album included Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, Geoff Rickly of Thursday and William Elliott Whitmore.

Pianist Vincent Edwards left the band in 2004 in order to return to school. Their third album, “In Bocca Al Lupo,” was released in 2006 on their own label Tent Show Records, an imprint of East West Records. The title is an Italian good luck wish, literally translating as "in the mouth of the wolf" and like its predecessor it was a concept album, that built on the band's previous experimentations with unusual musical styles to include waltzes, jigs and gospel music. The songs were presented in the same spaghetti western theme as previous works, but Turla's vocals were sung in a new baritone range, which has been likened by many to that of country singer Johnny Cash.

“Red of Tooth and Claw,” Murder By Death's fourth album, and first with Vagrant Records, was released in 2008. The title came from a reference in Lord Tennyson's poem “In Memoriam A.H.H. “Produced by Trina Shoemaker, recorded at Dark Horse Recording Studio and mixed at East Iris Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, the record featured former keyboardist Vincent Edwards on the song “Ball & Chain” and was also their first album to feature new drummer Dagan Thogerson, who replaced founding member Alex Schrodt.

Their second release through Vagrant Records, “Good Morning, Magpie” was issued in 2010. After having been a touring member in the fall of 2010, multi-instrumentalist Scott Brackett (of Okkervil River fame) joined as a permanent member in May 2011.

“Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon,” the band’s sixth full-length album was released in 2012 on the Bloodshot Records label. Grammy-nominated John Congleton produced the album which was partially funded through a Kickstarter campaign.