Musical Chairs

In autumn of 1988 Ian Schlein initiated his pop-oriented endeavor under the Musical Chairs banner. Drawing from Orange Juice, Red House Painters, and Magnetic Fields, he started out tracking material alone in lo-fi conditions at home and later refined the studio approaches that shaped his indie pop aesthetic. Although the Musical Chairs name first appeared in 1988, the project expanded into a complete band only in 1993 when Mike Vercelli joined on drums and Scott Neilson took up bass. The resulting unit generated some of the most blissful indie pop sounds in the East Coast scene of the mid- to late '90s. Pillarbox Red Records issued the official debut, the 1993 Bottled Up EP. Somersault Records followed with the 1994 Time Lapse EP. Their first full-length album, Wit's End, finally surfaced in 1998 on Harriet Records, now with Jay Adelberg handling drums. Scott Garon came aboard on guitar in 2001. The band also contributed tracks to assorted indie pop compilations. Live performances stayed rare, yet the group shared bills with prominent indie acts such as the Apples in Stereo, the Pastels, and the Legendary Jim Ruiz Group. Musical Chairs likewise appeared at various East Coast indie pop festivals in cities including Boston and New York.