Portugal.The Man

There has to be some credit given at least for this band's name alone -- co-founder John Gourley once explained it as an attempt to create a demi-mythic entity bigger than the individual members. Whatever the exact origins of the name, Portugal. The Man itself came together in Alaska in the wake of the initial dissolution of Anatomy of a Ghost, with guitarist/vocalist Gourley and bassist/singer Zach Carothers continuing to work together. Portugal. The Man formed with the addition of keyboardist/singer Wes Hubbard, himself a veteran of other Alaska groups, leading to the three eventually relocating from Alaska to Portland, OR, to record and perform. Their initial existence there was the typical hardscrabble life of a band with few resources having to live day to day, but drummer Jason Sechrist, formerly of Konmai Defense System, joined to form a more stable lineup. Attention grew through word of mouth, given even more widespread reach thanks to the Internet (the band made heavy use of its sites on both MySpace and PureVolume), leading to an initial EP release in 2005 followed by its debut album, Waiter: You Vultures!, in early 2006. The next year Portugal. The Man, who was now a three-piece (Hubbard had left), issued Church Mouth.