The eclectic duo of Iron Chrysalis (aka ROSCOE FORTE aka CHRYS aka DJ Firequench) and Butterfly Emerging (aka JIMMY NICKLES aka MERGER aka PUMPIT) were first known as Whitey On The Moon UK, and released two 7"s as such. Then there was some name dispute, and a name change to DOE, and then an album. Their real history and names remains a mystery, hidden behind amusing stories, until the UK release of their album on Melodic. The duo of Daniel and Fred are set to make more music, but now relying less on samples and more on live instrumentation.
Department of Eagles began in 2001, when Daniel Rossen and Fred Nicolaus were randomly assigned to live together by New York University. During their academically lax spring semester, they made an "album" of beat-type songs best described as "What DJ Shadow's retarded little brother would sound like." Nevertheless, a small record company in California heard the CDR and wanted to release a couple of 7" singles. Around that time, a friend's father, Jeff Saltzman, invited the group to record in his new studio. Fred and Dan used the opportunity to record the bulk of their debut album, which featured a blend of the beat-type stuff and more straightforward songwriting. It was released in 2003 and did fine, selling a modest number of copies and garnering some decent press.
In 2004, the group graduated from college and moved into an apartment in Brooklyn with an aggressive, hirsute landlord named Baki. Shortly thereafter, Daniel joined the group Grizzly Bear and began playing guitar and singing with them (he went on to write a goodly portion of their sophomore album, Yellow House). Fred tried to escape his boring magazine job by going on tour opening up for the band Subtle, but the tour was cancelled when Subtle's bus crashed, tragically injuring keyboardist Dax Pierson. DOE was on something of a hiatus. Then in 2005, a British label re-released their debut album in Europe under a different title, and the group began working on new material. This time around, the music featured little-to-no electronic embellishments and was inspired by Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks, Paul Williams, and Paul McCartney. On October 7, 2008 they released their follow-up, In Ear Park, on 4AD.
Daniel plays guitar, bass, piano, drums, cello, and sings. He majored in Linguistics. His grandfather, Robert Rossen, directed the critically acclaimed movies All the Kings Men and The Hustler. Fred plays drums and various random instruments. He majored in Art History. His father, Martin Nicolaus, wrote the definitive translation of Karl Marx's Gundrisse.
www.departmentofeagles.com
Department of Eagles went on to join Grizzly Bear with their recording of 2009 LP 'Veckatimist'
From Wikipedia:Department of Eagles is a band formed in 2000 by friends and New York University (NYU) roommates Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear) and Fred Nicolaus. The roommates created music from collected samples, assembled into songs and recorded with pirated recording software and a microphone borrowed from their neighbor, Chris Taylor, who would later become Rossen's bandmate in Grizzly Bear, as well as Department of Eagle's producer and recording engineer.
The duo's music combines folk, electronica and other influences. Initially, Rossen and Nicolaus planned on distributing their dorm room beats-and-samples CD only among friends, but they ended up releasing some of these early tracks on two limited-edition vinyl singles on California-based independent label Isota Records. They recorded additional tracks for these singles and for their debut album with producer Jeff Saltzman, the father of a friend from NYU. Saltzman went on to produce Hot Fuss, the debut CD by The Killers.
During this period the duo went by the tongue-in-cheek name Whitey on the Moon UK. However, to avoid a dispute with a San Francisco-based band of the same name (excepting the UK), they changed their name to "Department of Eagles" before the release of their debut full-length CD. The Whitey on the Moon UK LP saw release on Isota Records in 2003. The band played their one (and only) live performance on KDVS radio on a show hosted by music director Richard Hicks, an early champion of the group. Soon after, Rossen joined Grizzly Bear. The group played early sketches of material that would end up on Grizzly Bear's album Yellow House during this performance on KDVS.
The Whitey on the Moon UK LP was released in the UK as The Cold Nose on Melodic Records in 2005. It was well-regarded by the British media,[citation needed] and the band began work on a new album. They have described the new material as sounding like Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman, and Paul McCartney. This album, In Ear Park, was released by 4AD on October 7th, 2008.
Their name is a reference to artist Marcel Broodthaers' Institutional Critique.
They played "No One Does It Like You" live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on October 1st, 2008.