Death Cab For Cutie were a band on the rise in 2003, and though it wasn’t part of the plan, hit teen drama The OC played a big part.
The same year that the Washington band released their now-iconic album, Transatlanticism, they were repeatedly referenced – and even appeared – in the Fox show, known as Seth Cohen’s favourite band. They even featured in the “Seth Cohen starter pack”.
Appearing on the latest episode of the Rolling Stone Uncut podcast, frontman Ben Gibbard reflected on the attention Death Cab received from the show due to its global success.
“One day we just got a licence request for a song off [2001 record] The Photo Album. At the time, we were pretty broke, so that was a considerable amount of money,” Gibbard told Rolling Stone AU/NZ Editor-in-Chief Neil Griffiths.
“We had a watch party — it was the first time we’d ever had a song in a TV show. And then all of a sudden they’re talking about our band on the show. We were as flabbergasted as anybody. It just kept happening. The band became a character in the show.”
The OC was one of the hottest shows on TV at the time, and Death Cab were one of a few bands that went on to become household names, including The Killers and Modest Mouse.
Gibbard said that while the show helped the band garner attention, they weren’t sure if it was for the right reasons.
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“We were a little uneasy — we were worried it might tip us in a not-so-great direction,” he said.
“We were this indie band. We kind of go and play clubs. We didn’t really ask for this.”
He continued: “It turned out to be incredibly beneficial. I get asked about it more by people from overseas than I do by people in America at this point, because the show going overseas was a lot of people’s first introduction to our band. Whereas in the States, we were kind of some people’s secret at that point — we were playing 800 to 1,000 cap rooms and carving out a nice little career for ourselves.”
On the episode, Gibbard also discussed joining Dua Lipa on stage late last year and Death Cab’s upcoming tour of Australia.
Watch above or listen to the full episode on Apple Music and Spotify (subscribe and follow!).
