James Mercer (musician)

James Mercer
James Mercer performing in 2014
Background information
Birth name	James Russell Mercer
Born	(1970-12-26) December 26, 1970 (age 46) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Origin	Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
Genres	Indie rock indie pop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals guitar harmonica bass drums percussion ukulele banjo glockenspiel lap steel piano harmonium keyboards
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Sub Pop Transgressive
Associated acts	The Shins Broken Bells Modest Mouse Flake Flake Music Sparklehorse
Website	theshins.com www.brokenbells.com
Notable instruments
Gibson Les Paul Special Double Cutaway Silvertone Jupiter Guild Starfire Fender Telecaster, Gibson J45

James Russell Mercer (born December 26, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and musician. He is the founder, vocalist, lead singer-songwriter, and sole remaining original member of the indie rock group The Shins. In 2009, Mercer and producer Danger Mouse formed the side project Broken Bells, for which they released a self-titled album in March 2010, followed by After the Disco in 2014. Mercer has also acted, appearing in Matt McCormick's feature film Some Days Are Better Than Others, which premiered in 2010.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mercer attended high school in both England and Germany; he lived in England from 1985 to 1990, as his family moved there because his father was in the United States Air Force. James was raised Roman Catholic but is now an atheist.

In the early 1990s, Mercer belonged to a group called Blues Roof Dinner. In 1992, Mercer founded the band Flake Music (originally called Flake) with drummer Jesse Sandoval, keyboardist Marty Crandall, and bassist Neal Langford. Together, they produced the well-received album When You Land Here, It's Time to Return, and toured with Modest Mouse and Califone.

Shortly after the release of When You Land Here, in 1999, Mercer formed The Shins in Albuquerque, New Mexico as a side project. Mercer named the band The Shins after the family in the musical The Music Man, a favorite of Mercer's father. The project began as a way to explore three-minute pop songs with conventional chord structure. Mercer recruited Jesse Sandoval to play drums and the two began performing as a duo. The Shins played with Cibo Matto and the American Analog Set, with Mercer serving as the primary songwriter for the band. As The Shins rose to popularity, Flake Music eventually disbanded in 1999, leaving Mercer, Sandoval, and Langford, who joined after Flake Music's disbanding, to focus completely on The Shins. In 2002, the band relocated to Portland, Oregon.