The Gerbils

The Gerbils
Origin	Athens, GA, U.S.
Genres	Indie pop
Years active	1995–1999, 2001, 2004–2006
Labels	Hidden Agenda Orange Twin

Past members	Scott Spillane John D'Azzo Will Westbrook Jeremy Barnes

The Gerbils were an indie rock band that formed in Athens, GA in 1995. Part of the Elephant Six Collective, the band released two albums and toured nationwide during their tenure.

Bio

The band consisted of Scott Spillane, John D'Azzo and Will Westbrook, who were college roommates in Ruston, LA, along with cellist Penny Burbank. They released a couple singles on different independent record labels between 1996 and 1998 before recording an album (which included the four previously released songs) in 1998 on Hidden Agenda Records.

Spillane's Neutral Milk Hotel bandmate Jeremy Barnes eventually joined as drummer, which drove the somewhat twee pop sound of the band's first album towards a more energetic hard rock. The members of the band soon decided to call it quits unofficially with a farewell show in 1999 in Athens. While D'Azzo pursued interests in California, Spillane and Westbrook (with the help of members of Of Montreal and Elf Power) finished mixing the album that was completed with Chris Bishop prior to their separation. After the album, The Battle of Electricity, was completed, the Gerbils did a national tour with Elf Power before again separating. The band eventually reformed in 2004, playing regularly and becoming fully active.

Guitarist Will Westbrook died on Monday, December 11, 2006 due to an undisclosed illness. After his death, The Gerbils disbanded, with Spillane and D'Azzo occasionally performing Gerbils' songs together afterwards.

Releases

Along with various contributions to compilation albums, the Gerbils have released two albums and three singles on a variety of labels.

Albums

Are You Sleepy? (CD/LP) - Hidden Agenda - 1998
The Battle of Electricity (CD/LP) - Orange Twin - 2001

Singles

"Grin"/"Crayon Box" (7") - Spare Me Records - 1996
"Glue"/"Is She Fiona" (7") - Hidden Agenda - 1997
"Lucky Girl"/"Big White Limo" - Earworm - 1997

Notes

http://www.subspacebiographies.com/2009/02/03/general/are-you-sleepy-a-brief-introduction-to-the-gerbils/

The Elephant 6 Recording Company

Members of the collective	Bill Doss Jeff Mangum Robert Schneider Will Cullen Hart Hilarie Sidney Jim McIntyre Laura Carter John Hill Eric Allen Jeremy Barnes Jill Carnes David Barnes Kevin Barnes Eric Harris Peter Erchick Julian Koster Derek Almstead Scott Spillane John Fernandes Bryan Poole Lisa Janssen

Bands in the collective	The Apples in Stereo Thee American Revolution Beulah Black Swan Network Chocolate USA Circulatory System Dixie Blood Moustache Dressy Bessy Elf Power The Essex Green Frosted Ambassador The Gerbils The High Water Marks The Ladybug Transistor Major Organ and the Adding Machine Marbles The Minders The Music Tapes Neutral Milk Hotel of Montreal The Olivia Tremor Control Orchestre Fantastique Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't Secret Square The Sunshine Fix Synthetic Flying Machine Ulysses Von Hemmling

Other notable bands and side projects	Bablicon Casper & the Cookies Echo Orbiter Fablefactory Great Lakes A Hawk and a Hacksaw Icy Demons The Instruments Kingsauce The Late B.P. Helium M Coast Marta Tennae Calvin, Don't Jump! Midget and Hairs My First Keyboard Thimble Circus Visitations The Diminisher Eyes and Arms of Smoke Perry Weissman 3

Projects subsequent to the E6 disbandment	The New Sound of Numbers Guignol Ham1 Lorkakar Folklore Supercluster Andy From Denver James Husband The Observatory Faster Circuits Nana Grizol Nesey Gallons Madeline

Related articles	Pet Sounds Studio Orange Twin Records HHBTM Records Cloud_Recordings

Authority control	MusicBrainz: 9c28d96d-e800-4e80-899f-4de002687a33

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