Formation and Wild Like Children The group formed in 2001 after the demise of several Omaha groups, including
Conor Oberst's
Park Ave., of which
Neely Jenkins and Jamie Pressnall (then Jamie Williams) were members. Jamie brought along
Kianna Alarid from another band that broke up called Magic Kiss.
Derek Pressnall and Nick White, natives of
Dunwoody, Georgia were drawn to the music scene in
Omaha, Nebraska and moved. Nick White was also one of the few constants for
Bright Eyes in 2005, appearing on ''
I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn'', as well as touring worldwide with the band. Their first show was an open-mic night at the now defunct Ranch Bowl. Their first release,
Woo!, was recorded in
Conor Oberst's garage, self-published, and distributed at shows around the Omaha area. The group released a limited-pressing eponymous 7" on Rue Royale Records, followed by their debut LP,
Wild Like Children in 2004. It was the flagship release on Oberst's
Team Love label and made with the help of Presto studios.
Wild Like Children garnered the band a substantial amount of critical acclaim and propelled them to national tours with
Bright Eyes,
Rilo Kiley, and
Of Montreal. In early 2005, Tilly and the Wall became the first "band in residence" at Omaha's
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, using the Bemis Underground's Studio T to develop their follow-up album to
Wild Like Children. In September of that year, they released "
You and I Misbehaving" as a limited-pressing 7" in the UK through indie label
Trash Aesthetics. This release picked up further critical acclaim as well as support from
BBC Radio broadcaster
Steve Lamacq. They played their first show outside of the US at the Freebutt in
Brighton on February 14, 2006.
Bottoms of Barrels Bottoms of Barrels, the band's follow-up to
Wild Like Children, was released on May 23, 2006. Tilly and the Wall appeared on the
Late Show with David Letterman on October 27, 2006, to perform "Bad Education". The song was not played in full due to time constraints. A number of live dates were played to support the album. The band toured with
Jenny Lewis in support of her album featuring
The Watson Twins,
Rabbit Fur Coat. They then went on their first headlining tour to promote
Bottoms of Barrels, with acts such as
David Dondero,
Now It's Overhead, and Wolf Colonel supporting them. They played the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 27, 2007. In addition to performing at 2007's
Splendour in the Grass festival, Tilly and the Wall toured Australia. Band members Jamie Williams and Derek Pressnall were married shortly after the album's release, on August 12, 2006.
o On February 25, Tilly and the Wall released a video for a new song entitled "
Beat Control". The digital release of the song was on March 4, with a new album track "Cacophony" appearing as a b-side. "Beat Control" was released only as a single and was not included on the album released later in 2008. Tilly and the Wall's third album,
o, was released on June 17, 2008. Two songs they performed on their 2007 tour, "Too Excited" and "Chandelier Lake", appear on the album. The songs were played at their
Daytrotter show. Tilly recorded their own version of the ABC song for the new season of
Sesame Street. The first single from the album was "Pot Kettle Black". It was featured in the pilot episode of
90210, TV spots for the
Seth Rogen film
Observe and Report, the film
Whip It and its soundtrack album, and in the video game
Midnight Club: Los Angeles.
Heavy Mood Tilly and the Wall released a new album entitled
Heavy Mood on October 2, 2012, available in CD and vinyl formats. ==Flowers Forever==