The Walkmen

The Walkmen
The Walkmen performing in New York (April, 2004)
Background information
Origin	New York City/Washington, D.C., United States
Genres	Indie rock, post-punk revival
Years active	2000–2014 (on hiatus)
Labels	Record Collection, Startime, Talitres, Gigantic, Fierce Panda, Fat Possum, Bella Union
Associated acts	Jonathan Fire*Eater, Flashy Python, The Recoys, Light Heat
Website	thewalkmen.com
Members	Hamilton Leithauser Paul Maroon Walter Martin Peter Bauer Matt Barrick

The Walkmen is an indie rock band, with members based in New York City and Philadelphia. The band formed in 2000 with three members from Jonathan Fire*Eater—Paul Maroon (guitar, piano), Walter Martin (organ/bass), and Matt Barrick (drums)—and two from The Recoys, Peter Bauer (bass/organ) and Hamilton Leithauser (vocals, guitar). Bauer attended Maret School in Washington, D.C., while the other band members attended St. Albans, also in Washington.

They prefer the sound of vintage musical instruments, particularly the upright piano, and have often recorded at Marcata Recording, a recording studio built in Harlem in 1999 by the three former members of Jonathan Fire*Eater. A house engineer later relocated the name to upstate New York.

The band are currently on hiatus, with Leithauser, Bauer and Martin all pursuing solo careers.

Each of the members of the Walkmen grew up in and around the Washington, DC area, played in many of the same bands from early in their careers, and even attended the same Washington-area high school, St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.). The bandmates eventually moved to Harlem.

The band was formed in 2000 following the breakup of two separate bands: Jonathan Fire*Eater, whose members included Martin, Maroon and Barrick, and The Recoys, whose members included Leithauser and Bauer. The three members from Jonathan Fire*Eater, which had recorded for Dreamworks Records, had money left over from that past recording contract and used the remaining funds to construct a rehearsal space in uptown New York. The rehearsal space featured a 24-track recording studio and was dubbed Marcata Studios.