The Halo Benders was a band formed in 1994 as a side project by Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening and Doug Martsch of Built to Spill.

Following a hiatus through the early 2000s, the Halo Benders reformed in March 2007 for a pair of shows at the Visual Arts Collective in Boise, Idaho.

The band featured Doug Martsch, Ralf Youtz, Calvin Johnson, Brett Netson, and Stephen Gere.

November 2010, a reformed version with Doug, Calvin, Ralf Youtz and Wayne Flower appeared for a benefit for Friends of Mia, a child who had started an organization to help children with cancer and their families before herself passing away of cancer, at the Capitol Theater in Olympia, WA.

[citation needed] While the band was touring Utah in the 90's, they were pulled over by police officers filming for the reality series Real Stories of the Highway Patrol.