Explosions in the Sky

Explosions in the Sky is an American post-rock band, formed in Austin, Texas, in 1999. The band is a quartet, composed of drummer Chris Hrasky and guitarists/keyboardists Michael James, Munaf Rayani, and Mark Smith. The band originally played under the name Breaker Morant, then changed to the current name in 1999. They primarily play with three electric guitars and a drum kit, although James will at times exchange his electric guitar for a bass guitar, and all three guitarists also add additional keyboard and synthesizer parts. The band later added a fifth musician to their live performances, largely to accommodate for these bass and keyboard parts. This role was occupied by multi instrumentalist Carlos Torres from 2010 to 2018 and reprised in 2024. The band has released eight studio albums to date; their most recent, End, was released in September 2023.The band has garnered popularity beyond the post-rock scene for their elaborately developed guitar work, narratively styled instrumentals – which they refer to as "cathartic mini-symphonies" – and their emotional live shows.Originally called Breaker Morant, Explosions in the Sky was formed in Austin, Texas, in 1999. Drummer Chris Hrasky is from Rockford, Illinois, and the rest of the band hails from Midland, Texas. The new name of "Explosions in the Sky" came from a comment Hrasky made in reference to the noise or sight of fireworks when they left KVRX on the night they played their first set and recorded their first track, "Remember Me as a Time of Day", that would be released on a compilation. Their 2000 debut album, How Strange, Innocence, was locally distributed in the form of CD-Rs. Rehearsal footage is featured on the feature film Cicadas, which won an Austin Film Festival award.Explosions in the Sky quickly gained a reputation among other established bands such as Lift to Experience. Temporary Residence Limited signed the band on the strength of their demo after only half a listen; the demo was submitted by fellow Austin band The American Analog Set with a brief note saying, "This totally fucking destroys."They garnered a small amount of media attention with their second album, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever, due to rumors linking it to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The band denied any connection in interviews. The album art shows an airplane with the caption "This plane will crash tomorrow." There were false reports that the last track was called "This Plane Will Crash Tomorrow" and that the album was released on September 10, 2001; the concept had actually originated in 2000, and the album was officially released on September 4, 2001. Bassist Michael James was detained in an airport as a threat to security and had to explain why his guitar contained the words "this plane will crash tomorrow".

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.