The Czars were an American alternative rock band, formed in 1994 in Denver by John Grant and Chris Pearson.
[2] Members Andy Monley and Roger Green, along with musician David Devine, appear on Sorry I Made You Cry as guitarists.
[3] Following the band's breakup, Grant took some time off from the music business, and returned to recording and performing in 2010 with his debut solo album Queen of Denmark.
Prior to forming the band, John Grant aspired to be a translator in Germany before realizing that his English skills were poor and he would be unable to have the job he desired.
It took a few years before the official Czars' line-up was formed: John Grant on vocals and piano, Jeff Linsenmaier on drums, Andy Monley and Roger Green on guitar, and Chris Pearson on bass.
[5] The same year The Czars released The La Brea Tar Pits of Routine, Simon Raymonde, former bassist of the Cocteau Twins, formed the record label Bella Union.
The demos that were sent after the initial disc impressed Raymonde and the band was invited to start an album on the Bella Union label.
Grant's long writing process as a songwriter caused a lot of the music to be recorded before any lyrics were attached to the song.
[5] He decided to abandon his previous form of songwriting, which mostly relied on improvisation, and started to write lyrics that were more set in stone.
"[6] Violinist Elin Palmer joined the band in 2003 and contributed to the album, Goodbye, which was also produced and engineered by Colin Bricker at Mighty Fine Audio in Denver.