Everest (band)

In an interview with CityBeat, bassist Elijah Thomson explained the origin of band name: "Russ and Jason had named their studio Everest Recordings because of a pack of cigarettes that Geoff Emerick had. He was an engineer on a lot of the Beatles stuff and supposedly Abbey Road was originally going to be named Everest and they were going to do a photo shoot in Nepal. It became a logistical nightmare and, as the legend goes, Paul or somebody said, "Let’s shoot a picture out front and be done with it." So the name Everest has significance to them, however it is sort of a common thing for something to be named. It is hard to Google something like that. That is something you have to think about nowadays and maybe it gets lost in the shuffle a little bit."[1]

The first record released by the band was the Everest EP, recorded at New Monkey Studio in the San Fernando Valley, California. It features the original Everest lineup with Rob Douglas on bass and Davey Latter on drums. Two of three songs from the EP were later featured on Everest's first full-length album.[2]

The band's debut album, Ghost Notes, was recorded over a two-week period in August 2007 at New Monkey Studio. The album was produced, engineered and mixed by Foo Fighters producer Mike Terry. It was released in May 2008 through Vapor Records, a label owned by Neil Young.[3]

Everest's second album, titled On Approach, was recorded in a Cotati, California studio called Prairie Sun, which is a converted ex-chicken farm, with some additional recordings done at New Monkey Studio.[2] It was produced by the band, engineered by Fritz Michaud, and mixed by Rob Schnapf at Sonora Recorders, Los Angeles. The album was released in May 2010 through Vapor Records and Warner Bros. Records.

In the beginning of 2011, the band was freed from a deal with Warner Bros. Records. Still slightly road-weary from touring to promote On Approach, they decided to regroup for their next album and teamed up with Richard Swift at National Freedom studios in Cottage Grove, Oregon. After several weeks of recording, the band returned to Los Angeles to work with producer Rob Schnapf, known for his work with Beck and Elliott Smith, to produce additional recording sessions for the record. The album was released on 26 June 2012 through ATO Records.

"This feels like the first real Everest record," said Russell Pollard about the album. "It’s the natural result of years of touring and spending time together. It’s the result of years of late night conversations about what kind of band we want to be and what kind of music we want to step onstage and play every night. It’s the sound of us finally hitting our stride."[4]

In 2013, founding member Jason Soda decided to leave the band, and guitarist Aaron Lee Tasjan and drummer Dan Bailey joined the line-up.[1] According to an update posted to the band's website in February 2015, Everest is on extended hiatus.