In medias res (band)

In Medias Res
Ryan Flowers, Andrew Lee and Steve Watts at the Media Club in Vancouver in June 2009.
Background information
Also known as	IMR
Origin	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Indie rock, post-rock
Years active	1999 (1999)-present
Labels	Anniedale, File Under: Music, Heavy Lark
Website	inmediasres.bandcamp.com
Members	Andrew Lee Ash Poon Ryan Flowers Robert Tornroos
Past members	Steve Watts

In Medias Res (also known as IMR) is an indie rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The band consists of Andrew Lee (lead vocals and guitar), Ash Poon (lead guitar), Ryan Flowers (bass) and Robert Tornroos (drums). The band's original drummer, Steve Watts, left in 2011. After forming in 1999, In Medias Res have released one EP and two full-length albums, Of What Was (2003) and It Was Warm and Sunny When We First Set Out (2011). They have been categorized in the media as alternative, post-rock and math rock, while being stylistically compared to such bands as Pedro the Lion, Radiohead and TV on the Radio.

Prior to the In Medias Res' formation, Lee and Poon played in a band with the latter's older brother and another bassist. They won a Battle of the Bands show at Lee's high school, competing against another group that Flowers and Tornroos played in (Lee, Flowers and Tornroos attended the same high school). After Poon's brother left town, Watts joined the band, having known the group's members from summer camp. Playing out of a church basement, In Medias Res formed in 1999. A year later, Flowers replaced the band's original bassist.

The band's name, frequently misspelled or mispronounced in the media and at shows, is a literary term referring to a narrative that begins in the rising action portion of a story; translated from Latin, it means "in the middle of things." Poon has explained that the band "chose the name because the middle is where the real story is, like our music."

During the band's early years, they all lived separately in Richmond, British Columbia, with the exception of Watts, who resided in nearby Surrey. Watts has recalled wanting to quit at one point in the band's beginning stages until they played a show in 2000 with Seattle indie band Pedro the Lion, a band they grew up idolizing. Poon has further identified opening for Pedro the Lion as a turning point in the band's career, commenting "It...let us know that we could make this a viable musical endeavor." The show was held at Trinity Western University, where the band played regularly and subsequently developed much of their early fan base.