This acclaimed Canadian band was formed in 1999 by high school friends Win Butler (b. USA) and Josh Deu, but after a series of poorly received live shows in Boston the original line-up fell apart. Butler relocated to Montreal, Canada to study religion and Russian literature at McGill University, where he began working with Régine Chassagne (b. Haiti), a student of medieval music. A creative and romantic partnership soon flourished, with the couple becoming husband and wife in 2003. The first line-up of Arcade Fire recorded a self-titled and independently released EP before splitting up in a very public fashion, on stage at the launch of the EP. The third line-up of the band saw Butler and Chassagne joined by Butler’s younger brother William Butler (b. Houston, Texas, USA; keyboards/percussion), multi-instrumentalist Richard Parry (b. 4 October 1977, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and Timothy Kingsbury (bass). Having already built up a healthy following for their passionate live performances, which would regularly spill out into the streets around a venue, they recorded tracks for their debut album at a studio run by engineer/drummer Howard Bilerman. Released by independent label Merge Records at the end of 2004, the title of their debut album Funeral was informed by the death of several close relatives of the band members, most notably the Butlers’ grandfather, the composer/arranger Alvino Rey. The use of string and horn sections helped add rich layers to the band’s theatrical fusion of indie rock and chamber pop, with the heart of the album residing in the opening quartet of songs sharing the title ‘Neighborhood’.
The album proved to be one of the critical hits of the year in both the independent and mainstream press, with the initial push coming through enthusiastic backing from a number of Internet review sites. Stars including David Bowie, Coldplay, David Byrne and U2, who used ‘Wake Up’ as the entrance music on their 2005 world tour, also came out in support of Arcade Fire, and the band was featured on the April 2005 cover of the Canadian edition of Time magazine. The band was subsequently augmented in live shows by violinist Sarah Neufeld (b. 27 August 1979, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada) and drummer Jeremy Gara. The much-anticipated and bombastically brilliant Neon Bible did not disappoint and placed Arcade Fire on a pedestal as one of the most original and inventive conglomerations in recent years.
