Fun. Biography

Fun (stylized fun.) is an American indie pop band based in New York, New York that was formed by Nate Ruess, formerly of The Format. After the 2008 breakup of The Format, Ruess left Arizona to develop his career in New York City. Ruess then formed Fun with Andrew Dost of Anathallo and Jack Antonoff of Steel Train. Fun recorded their debut album, Aim and Ignite in August 2009 with producer Steven McDonald and arranger Roger Joseph Manning, Jr., the former keyboardist of Jellyfish.

Fun made its first single, “At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used To Be)” available as a free download by signing up for the band’s mailing list.” In addition, the band announced that if Fun’s Facebook page reached 40,000 fans by December 1, a new Christmas single, “Believe In Me,” would be released for free download. This goal was met, and Fun did indeed release the single for free.

In February 2010, Fun supported Jack’s Mannequin on their headline tour, along with Vedera which was followed by their first UK appearances in March. Their current touring band also includes Rob Kroehler, Emily Moore, Nate Harold, and Jon “Jonny Thunder” Goldstein.

In April 2010, Fun supported Paramore’s headline tour. Other support for the tour includes Relient K and Harriet Ellis of Summer Beats hosted by Sprint Mobile. The band then embarked on a full UK tour in May.

In September 2011, Fun announced they would support Janelle Monáe on The Campus Consciousness Tour.

History

In February 2008, The Format split, and Nate Ruess immediately asked Andrew Dost, of Anathallo, and Jack Antonoff, of Steel Train, to join his new project. Dost had previously toured with The Format, providing various instrumentation, and Ruess knew Antonoff after The Format toured with Steel Train. The three began working together in New Jersey within a week, with Ruess singing melodies for the other two to provide music for. The first song the band recorded a demo of was “Benson Hedges,” which was then made available for free in Spin’s September 20, 2008 article on the band.

Fun approached Steven McDonald, who had previously produced The Format’s Dog Problems with Ruess, to produce their debut album. McDonald, who also played bass guitar on the album, was enthusiastic about the project, at one point saying, “I can’t believe what we’re working on here. This crushes anything I’ve ever done.”

Recording took place in the Fall of 2008, and the band’s first single, “At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used To Be)” was made available as a free download on the band’s Myspace page on April 6, 2009.

Fun began its first North American tour on November 8, 2008 with Jack’s Mannequin. The debut album Aim and Ignite was released on August 25, 2009. In reviewing the album, The Washington Post called some of the arrangements “theatrical, much like those on Panic! at the Disco’s 2005 debut”.

Fun and Relient K opened up for Paramore on their Spring Tour 2010.

On August 4, 2010, Fun announced that they had signed with label Fueled by Ramen.

On August 14, 2010, it was announced via the Official Paramore Fan Club that fun. would be opening for Paramore on their November UK tour.

In 2010 Fun’s single, “Walking the Dog,” was used in a commercial for the travel site Expedia.com.

In 2010, Will Noon (formerly of Straylight Run) will play drums with Fun on tour, according to Noon’s twitter page.

To celebrate the Paramore UK tour and the band’s new single ‘Walking The Dog’, Hassle Records gave away a free download of an acoustic version of the track.[17]

On February 12, 2010, Nate Ruess announced at a live show in Washington, D.C. that after the current tour the band will be returning home to begin work on a new album.

On April 27, 2011, a video of the band performing a new song entitled “Carry On” was uploaded to YouTube.[18]

On May 17, 2011, the band released “C’mon” as a joint single with Panic! at the Disco, who they opened for on their 2011 Vices & Virtues Tour.

On September 14, 2011, the band announced that the first single off of their next album would be called “We Are Young” and will feature Janelle Monáe.

On November 7, 2011, the band announced that their next album would be titled Some Nights and released on February 21, 2012.

On December 6, 2011, the band’s song “We Are Young” was covered by the TV show Glee in the episode “Hold On to Sixteen”, after the end of Sectionals in the auditorium of McKinley High. The single for the Glee version of the song hit #1 on iTunes that night.
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Band members
Current members
Jack Antonoff – guitars, trumpet (since 2008)
Andrew Dost – vocals, piano, guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, trumpet, flugelhorn, glockenspiel, drums, percussion (since 2008)
Nate Ruess – lead vocals (since 2008)
Current touring members
Nate Harold – bass guitar (since 2009)
Emily Moore – guitars, vocals, keyboards (since 2009)
Will Noon – drums (since 2010)
Former touring members
Jon Goldstein – drums (2008–2010)
Rob Kroehler – guitar (2008–2010)
Michael Newsted – bass guitar (2010)
Maggie Malyn – violin (2008)
Evan Winiker – bass guitar (2011)
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Discography
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Albums
Aim and Ignite (Nettwerk, 2009)
Some Nights (Fueled by Ramen, 2012)
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Live albums
fun. Live At Fingerprints (Nettwerk, 2010)
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Singles
2009: “At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used To Be)”
2009: “All The Pretty Girls”
2010: “Believe In Me”
2010: “Walking the Dog”
2011: “C’mon”
2011: “We Are Young”