Ben Gibbard

Benjamin "Ben" Gibbard (born August 11, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, with which he has recorded eight studio albums, and as one half of the electronica duo the Postal Service. Gibbard released his debut solo album, Former Lives, in 2012, and a collaborative studio album, One Fast Move or I'm Gone (2009), with Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt's Jay Farrar.

While performing guitar in the band Pinwheel, Gibbard recorded a demo cassette under the moniker Death Cab for Cutie, entitled You Can Play These Songs with Chords (1997). After receiving a positive response to the material, Gibbard expanded the project into a full band, with the addition of Chris Walla (guitar), Nick Harmer (bass) and Nathan Good (drums). The following year, the band released its debut album, Something About Airplanes (1998), on Barsuk Records, and released its follow-up, We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes, in 2000.

Gibbard was born in Bremerton, Washington, where he spent his formative years, during the time of the grunge music explosion in the early 1990s. He graduated from Olympic High School in 1994. He also cites Jack Kerouac as a major influence. He studied engineering at Western Washington University. He was raised Roman Catholic and referred to himself as "this indoctrinated Catholic even though I haven't been to church of my own volition in 10 or 15 years now." In a 2003 interview Gibbard stated that while he had previously been a vegan, he had recently become a pescetarian.

He had a small role in the John Krasinski film Brief Interviews with Hideous Men based on the David Foster Wallace short story collection of the same title. He completed a solo tour through the US in the spring of 2007 that featured David Bazan of Pedro the Lion and singer-songwriter Johnathan Rice.

Gibbard became engaged to actress and musician Zooey Deschanel in 2008. The couple married in September 2009 near Seattle, Washington. They announced their separation on November 1, 2011. Deschanel filed for divorce on December 27, 2011, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce became final on December 12, 2012. Gibbard married photographer and tour manager Rachel Demy on October 21, 2016 in Seattle, Washington.

He reportedly gave up alcohol in 2008 and began running marathons. He ran his first trail ultra-marathon (a running race longer than 26.2 miles) in 2013 and since then has completed several each year.

Gibbard is an agnostic, lapsed Catholic: "I don’t want to falsely believe in something solely so I can jump to the front of the line for whatever this awesome place is we go after we die. [...] The vastness of that idea is so beyond my comprehension that I feel like if there was a God, then that God would accept me saying I’m not able to believe because it’s so outside of my ability to understand it. I understand that’s where faith comes into play."

Gibbard is an activist for gay rights and wrote an article in The Daily Beast voicing why this issue is important to him. He stated that when his lesbian sister got married, that it was "the most beautiful thing" he had ever seen. In the article, he voiced his strong support for Referendum 74 and discussed raising money for the issue. He stated, "I would just feel so much pride for my state if we could pass it by a popular vote and show the rest of the country that this is the direction we are going in."

In September 2014, it was reported that Gibbard would appear as a guest on the Foo Fighters' eighth studio album Sonic Highways.

As of May 2015, Gibbard tours with four modified 1970s Fender Mustang guitars. Additionally he uses two custom-built Acme Silvertone amplifier heads. For use on acoustic songs he relies on two 2008 Gibson J-45 Acoustic Guitars with B-Band pickup systems. In the past, Gibbard used Fender Telecasters and G&L ASAT guitars.

Gibbard is the subject of the song, "Ben's My Friend", by indie folk act Sun Kil Moon. The track appears on the project's sixth studio album, Benji (2014). On Sun Kil Moon's follow-up album, Universal Themes (2015), primary recording artist Mark Kozelek again refers to his friendship with Gibbard on its closing track, "This Is My First Day and I'm Indian and I Work at a Gas Station". Gibbard previously made a guest appearance on the band's third studio album, April (2008).

Death Cab for Cutie

• 1997: You Can Play These Songs with Chords
• 1998: Something About Airplanes
• 2000: We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes
• 2001: The Photo Album
• 2003: Transatlanticism
• 2005: Plans
• 2008: Narrow Stairs
• 2011: Codes and Keys
• 2015: Kintsugi

Ben Gibbard

• 2003 Home Volume V (A split LP with Andrew Kenny)
• 2012 Former Lives

The Postal Service

• 2003 Give Up

Kind of Like Spitting

• 2002 Bridges Worth Burning (Drums)

¡All-Time Quarterback!

• 1999 ¡All-Time Quarterback! (EP)
• 1999 The Envelope Sessions
• 2002 ¡All-Time Quarterback! (Album)

With Jay Farrar

• 2009 One Fast Move or I'm Gone

Pinwheel

• 1996 Pinwheel

In addition, Gibbard, alongside Steve Fisk, composed and recorded the score for AJ Schnack's 2006 documentary, Kurt Cobain: About a Son. The film also features his cover of Beat Happening's "Indian Summer".