Hotel Lights

Hotel Lights
Darren Jessee of Hotel Lights
Background information
Origin	North Carolina/Brooklyn, NY
Genres	Alternative rock Indie
Years active	2004-Present
Labels	Bar/None Records
Associated acts	Ben Folds Five
Website	[1]
Members	Darren Jessee Alan Weatherhead Jay Brown Zeke Hutchins

Hotel Lights is an American indie rock band led by singer and multi-instrumentalist Darren Jessee, the drummer for Ben Folds Five.

History

Hotel Lights (album) (2006) featuring Archers of Loaf drummer Mark Price and Sparklehorse touring guitarist Alan Weatherhead, had previously been available only as a very limited self-release, one that generated a serious interest and prompted lots of internet chatter about when the album might actually show up at the local bricks-and-mortar record store. The album was officially released by Bar/None Records in March 2006. In support of the first album, Hotel Lights toured with Bishop Allen, Tift Merritt, and Nada Surf.

2006 also saw the release of six song ep Goodnightgoodmorning and a Hotel Lights recording of "The End of the Tour" for They Might Be Giants tribute album, Hello Radio.

Firecracker People (2008), recorded at Butch Vig's Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin, features longtime collaborator and guitarist Alan Weatherhead with rhythm section Jay Brown and Zeke Hutchins of Tift Merritt's band. The album was praised for its understated elegance and songwriting. The fifth track, "Amelia Bright", was originally performed by Ben Folds Five on their final tour.

In 2009 The band joined Ben Folds on tour in the northeast and supported shows for Mark Eitzel and Joel Plaskett in Brooklyn, NY.

The album, Girl Graffiti, was released August 16, 2011 on Bar/None Records

Television and Film

• Hotel Lights song "Follow Through" was in the television shows Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill.
• "Miles Behind Me" was heard in the film Baby Mama.
• "Through the Crowd" NBC's Chuck.
• "Blue Always Finds Me" The World Made Straight film
• "You Come and I Go" Japanese TV commercial for At Home Real Estate

Discography

• Hotel Lights (2004/2006)
• Goodnightgoodmorning (2006)
• Firecracker People (2008)
• Girl Graffiti (2011)

External links

• Official Hotel Lights site
• Chris Parker's Independent Weekly "Homebrew" album review.
• Article: "Whatever happened to the rest of Ben Folds Five."
• Kitchen Mastering studios discusses the mastering of the 2005 Hotel Lights EP.