Benjamin "Ben" Gibbard is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist.
He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie rock band Death Cab
for Cutie, with whom he has recorded seven studio albums, and as one half of the electronica
duo the Postal Service.
Gibbard released his debut solo album, Former Lives, in 2012, and a collaborative studio
album, One Fast Move or I'm Gone, with Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt's Jay Farrar.
While performing guitar in the band Pinwheel, Gibbard recorded a demo cassette under the
moniker Death Cab for Cutie, entitled You Can Play These Songs with Chords.
After receiving a positive response to the material, Gibbard expanded the project into
a full band, with the addition of Chris Walla, Nick Harmer and Nathan Good.
The following year, the band released its debut album, Something About Airplanes, on
Barsuk Records, and released its follow-up, We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes, in
2000.
Life and career Gibbard was born in Bremerton, Washington,
where he spent his formative years, during the time of the grunge musical explosion in
the early 1990s.
He graduated from Olympic High School in 1994.
He also cites Jack Kerouac as a major influence.
He studied engineering at Western Washington University.
He was raised Roman Catholic and referred to himself as "this indoctrinated Catholic
even though I haven't been to church of my own volition in 10 or 15 years now."
In a 2003 interview Gibbard stated that while he had previously been a vegan, he had recently
become a pescetarian.
He had a small role in the John Krasinski film Brief Interviews with Hideous Men based
on the David Foster Wallace short story collection of the same title.
He completed a solo tour through the US in the spring of 2007 that featured David Bazan
of Pedro the Lion and singer-songwriter Johnathan Rice.
Gibbard became engaged to actress and musician Zooey Deschanel in 2008.
The couple married in September 2009 near Seattle, Washington.
They announced their separation on November 1, 2011.
Deschanel filed for divorce on December 27, 2011, citing irreconcilable differences.
The divorce became final on December 12, 2012.
He reportedly gave up alcohol in 2008 and began running marathons.
Gibbard is a strong agnostic, lapsed Catholic: "I don’t want to falsely believe in something
solely so I can jump to the front of the line for whatever this awesome place is we go after
we die.
[...] The vastness of that idea is so beyond my comprehension that I feel like if there
was a God, then that God would accept me saying I’m not able to believe because it’s so
outside of my ability to understand it.
I understand that’s where faith comes into play."
Gibbard is an activist for gay rights and wrote an article in The Daily Beast voicing
why this issue is important to him.
He stated that when his lesbian sister got married, that it was "the most beautiful thing"
he had ever seen.
In the article, he voiced his strong support for Referendum 74 and discussed raising money
for the issue.
He stated, "I would just feel so much pride for my state if we could pass it by a popular
vote and show the rest of the country that this is the direction we are going in."
In popular culture Gibbard is the subject of the song, "Ben's
My Friend", by indie folk act Sun Kil Moon.
The track appears on the project's sixth studio album, Benji.
Gibbard had previously made a guest appearance on the band's third studio album, April.
Discography Death Cab for Cutie
1997 You Can Play These Songs with Chords 1998 Something About Airplanes
2000 We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes 2001 The Photo Album
2003 Transatlanticism 2005 Plans
2008 Narrow Stairs 2011 Codes and Keys
Ben Gibbard 2003 Home Volume V
2012 Former Lives The Postal Service
2003 Give Up 2013 Give Up 10th Anniversary Edition - Give
Up#10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition ¡All-Time Quarterback!
1999 ¡All-Time Quarterback!
1999 The Envelope Sessions 2002 ¡All-Time Quarterback!
With Jay Farrar 2009 One Fast Move or I'm Gone
Pinwheel 1996 Pinwall
See also Jason McGerr
Nick Harmer Chris Walla
References
External links Official site