Search - :: Yes Is the Answer

Piano-based art pop with heartfelt vocals, jazzy drums, atmospheric guitars and layered strings.
Grand Hallway is an orchestral art-pop ensemble from Seattle, Washington. Consisting of Tomo Nakayama (Asahi, Jen Wood Band) on piano and vocals, Erik Neumann (Lillydale, Maldives) on bass, Bob Roberts (Joules, Vermillion) on drums, Jeramy Koepping (Voyager One) on guitar, Alina To and Jaclyn Shumate on violins, and Esther Shin on cello, Grand Hallway has been making music since
the fall of 2005. Equally influenced by Nina Simone, Nick Cave, The Smiths, Jeff Buckley, and Neil Young, Grand Hallway inhabits a richly melodic and deeply personal musical world akin to that of Andrew Bird, Rufus Wainwright, and Antony & The Johnsons.

Their debut album, Yes Is The Answer was recorded in the summer of 2006 by Koepping and Moe Provencher at Jack Straw Studios. The eleven songs which comprise the album feature Nakayamas instantly memorable melodies, supported by layers of guitars, upright bass, pedal steel, jazzy percussion, and strings (arranged by the band themselves.) Grand Hallways music spans a myriad of genres, often within a single song, all the while evoking a sense of familiarity in its spacious structures and plain spoken words. Yes Is The Answer is released exclusively in Japan on Sideout Records (home to Bright Eyes, Cursive, Nada Surf, The Velvet Teen), and self-released by the band in the US.

Grand Hallway will spend the coming months in support of the album, starting with a co-headlining tour of Japan in September with Arthur & Yu (Hardly Art Records). Grand Hallway is also writing new material for a planned book/cd collaboration with Japanese artist Heisuke Kitazawa.
1 (an introduction)
2 Seward Park
3 Napoleon's Left Shoe
4 Darling, Wife
5 Piano Room
6 Giant Novels
7 Waltz (On A Headache)
8 Smiles Through Stale Breadcrumbs
9 Minimum Wage
10 Philadelphia
11 Brooklyn
12 As A Tower