Royal City were formed in 1999 at Jim Guthrie's house in downtown
Guelph,
Ontario. The band was fronted by
Aaron Riches, known in the local all ages punk scene for having booked and opening up for
Fugazi, his releases on DROG Records, and for being the subject of a
Robert Munsch book as a child. The band's first album,
At Rush Hour the Cars, was released in 2000. Originally called The Royal City All Stars, the band moved to
Toronto after signing with
Three Gut Records. At Three Gut, Royal City joined label mates
Cuff the Duke and
The Constantines in Toronto's early 2000s music scene. While working with many collaborators, the core of Royal City consisted of
Aaron Riches,
Lonnie James, Simon Osborne, and
Jim Guthrie. James replaced original drummer Nathan Lawr in 2002. During their time as a band, Royal City toured across Canada, playing in
Whitehorse,
Yukon, and opening for
Sarah Harmer. They performed at the 2002
South by South West festival. In 2002, a then-unknown
Arcade Fire opened for the band on a series of tour dates, and in 2003 the band played in
Sufjan Stevens' living room as their first show in New York City. The band was also host to a number of notable collaborations, including
Leslie Feist,
Sufjan Stevens,
Final Fantasy,
Gentleman Reg, and
Bob Wiseman. After disbanding in 2004,
Aaron Riches went on to study
radical orthodoxy under
John Milbank at the
University of Nottingham. Nathan Lawr continues to release music as a solo artist and with his band the
Minotaurs.
Jim Guthrie has achieved considerable success scoring the video game
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, and the film
Indie Game: The Movie. He's also been a member of
Human Highway, and has toured as part of
Islands. Lonnie James went on to release two critically acclaimed solo records on Teenage USA records (This Land is Your Land, Dee-o). In early 2009,
Sufjan Stevens'
Asthmatic Kitty records released
Royal City, a collection of outtakes and
b-sides. ==Members==