Marshmallow Coast began as a solo recording project of Andy Gonzales (AKA Andy Sailboat, A. G. Forrester or
Andrew Lee). He grew up in Denver, Colorado and first began releasing recordings under this moniker in 1996.
His first release was a self-titled 4-song cassette. Andy had some help on these recordings from friends Joel
Richardson (who also played on some of the early Minders 7"s) and Anthony Petrovich.
The next Marshmallow Coast release was a split 7" with Midget and Hairs
called I'm a Big Kid Now. Andy and Paige recorded these songs in Seattle and he released the record on
his own label, Fuzzy Aloof.
In 1997 Neutral Milk Hotel were in Denver recording their album
Aeroplane Over the Sea and Andy's old friend Julian Koster was staying at his house. Julian had brought his
studio with him and this was when the recordings for Marshmallow Coast's first full-length album
Timesquare were done. But its release was delayed for 2 years due to some problems at the label.
Some contributors to this CD were Joel Richardson, Ryan B and Julian Koster (Music Tapes,
Neutral Milk Hotel). The photo on the face of the CD is of Joel, Paige Dearman of
Midget and Hairs and Andy.
The next record was a 7" single entitled The Scent of Credibility released on Spare Me.
This was recorded during the same sessions as Timesquare.
About 4 months after the recording of Timesquare, Julian called Andy and asked him if he wanted to move
to Athens and go on tour with his band Music Tapes. Andy agreed and
Music Tapes went on a few tours and to Europe.
Once in Athens, Andy met Kevin Barnes (Of Montreal). They had a mutual admiration
for one another's songs and became friends. At this time, Kevin was putting together a new line-up of
Of Montreal after the departure of Bryan Poole (Late B.P. Helium). So Andy was "stolen" from
Music Tapes and joined Of Montreal. (Although he still
plays with Music Tapes.)
The compilation Happy Happy Birthday to Me Vol. 1 was released in July 1999 which includes the
song Lotus Person (which was later re-named Mashed Potato Light).
With the help from Kevin Barnes (Of Montreal) and Jeremy Barnes (A Hawk and A Hacksaw,
Neutral Milk Hotel, Marta Tennae, Bablicon) , Andy recorded
his second album Seniors & Juniors. It was released in Kindercore Records in 1999.
In the fall of 1999, Marshmallow Coast released a single as part of the Happy Happy Birthday to me singles club.
March 2000 brought the release of a split single with My First Keyboard as part of the
Kindercore singles club. And the Timesquare CD finally saw the light of day in May 2000 after such an
unfortunate delay.
Marshmallow Coast did a tour of the west coast of the US in June 2000 with Of Montreal,
whose members have become Andy's backing band. They released
a split 7" of the two bands called Archibald of the Balding Sparrows which was sold on this tour.
Marshmallow Coasting, the band's third album was released in Sept. 2000 on Kindercore. In addition to
Andy and the gang from Of Montreal, the album has contributions from Scott Spillane
(Neutral Milk Hotel, The Gerbils) and Julian Koster (
Music Tapes, Neutral Milk Hotel).
In early 2001, Andy began a new endeavour through his website. He would compose and record personalized
songs for individuals for a small fee of which the final product was owned exclusively by the commissioning party.
You could submit lyric ideas and style preference (if any) or subject matter or name dedication.
The 4th Marshmallow Coast album entitled Ride the Lightning, was recorded over the summer
of 2001. It was released December 2001 on Quattro Records in Japan and was released April 2002 on
Misra Records in the US.
With the addition of Sara Kirkpatrick on flute, they released their fifth album entitled Antistar on Misra Records
in November 2003.
Derek Almstead (Circulatory System) re-joined Andy for the sixth album, Say It In Slang. They also decided to shorten
the name to M. Coast. The album was recorded at Andy's home and Derek's studio. It is due to be released
in early 2006.
Official web page: www.marshmallowcoast.com
Other projects involving M. Coast members:
Of Montreal, Music Tapes, Circulatory System
