Morning Benders Hook Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor With 'Excuses'

For a band to take off, all they really need is one great song. For New York-via-San Francisco group the Morning Benders, that song has been 'Excuses' -- the Wall of Sound-inspired epic which, via an in-studio live performance that was filmed by San Fran based videographers Yours Truly, marked the beginning of the band's rise.

"The idea was to get everyone together to perform a song that was very much a product of the studio," band leader Chris Chu tells Spinner over a cup of joe at a New York City coffee house.

"When I wrote the song I knew it was meant to be a big production and to be able to recreate that live in the studio was a unique opportunity, so we filmed it and it took off from there."

But before it could wow bloggers and fans alike, the track's first devotee was none other than Grizzly Bear bassist/producer Chris Taylor, who was so moved by an early demo he immediately agreed to co-producing the band's aptly titled sophomore effort, 'Big Echo.'

The Morning Benders 'Excuses' from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

"I emailed Chris a long while back to say that I loved his production," Chu recalls. "He wrote back immediately to say that he loved the demo of 'Excuses' and would love to produce it and the album."

Though both were enthusiastic about the project, scheduling conflicts nearly prevented the collaboration from happening.

"When we met we had this good energy between us, but he wasn't able to produce the record when we were tracking it so we thought, 'Oh, he'll do the next one I guess,'" Chu remembers. "But when we finished the recording, there were a crap load of ideas and sounds on there and I thought we needed some clarity, so that's when I called Chris again and it turned out that this time we had perfect schedules lined up."

Currently wrapping up a North American tour in support of 'Big Echo,' the Morning Benders will get right back on the road opening for the Danger Mouse/James Mercer collab Broken Bells' first international tour.