The seeds of Seattle, Washington's Fleet Foxes were sown when high school friends Robin Pecknold (vocals, guitar) and Skyler Skjelset (guitar) started playing together, initially making music that leaned toward a 1960s baroque-pop style. By 2006, heavily under the influence of the late-'60s/early-'70s singer/songwriter scene, Pecknold and Skelset moved in more of a folk-rock direction. Having swelled to full-band size with the addition of Casey Westcott (keyboards), Nicholas Peterson (drums), and Craig Curran (bass), the band recorded a demo in 2006, self-released as an eponymous EP that impressed family friend Phil Ek enough to bring him into the band's camp. Ek, a producer who had worked with everyone from Mudhoney to Modest Mouse, had been keeping an interested eye on Pecknold for some time.
The EP generated a huge amount of interest in the band on a grass-roots level, and after a bidding war, Fleet Foxes signed with Sub Pop at the beginning of 2008. By this time, the band had already begun recording their first full-length album, which they had initially financed themselves. Still, their first Sub Pop release was Sun Giant, on which Ek helped the band hone their vision to create a rich, acoustic-based sound with echoes of everything from the Beach Boys to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Sun Giant met with a rapturous reception, both from critics and the public, and created a wave of anticipation for the debut album released in June of '08 and also produced by Ek. By this time, the band's rhythm section had shifted, including Christian Wargon on bass and drummer Joshua Tillman, who was already a respected singer/songwriter in his own right. Fleet Foxes quickly became one of America's most talked-about indie-rock bands, making TV appearances, selling out show after show, and turning up on the year-end best-of-'08 lists of countless publications. Their debut album became the first to go Gold in England for their U.K. label Bella Union.
