With their peculiar name and remote place of origin, Alaskan experimental indie pop band Portugal. The Man are an unlikely success story. After heading southward to the musical hub of Portland, Oregon, the group -- co-founded by the duo of John Gourley and Zach Carothers -- delivered a series of unique, artfully crafted independent albums throughout the late 2000s, touring hard and eventually signing a deal with Atlantic in 2010. The band's diligence paid off during their major-label tenure with each subsequent album gaining them a wider fan base and increased acclaim. On 2013's Evil Friends, they forged a collaboration with producer Danger Mouse, who again helped out on the group's politically driven eighth album, 2017's Woodstock, which yielded the Grammy-winning hit single "Feel It Still."
Formed in Wasilla, Alaska, Portugal. The Man grew out of the ashes of Anatomy of a Ghost, a post-hardcore band whose vocalist and guitarist -- Gourley and Carothers, respectively -- opted to continue working together. Regarding the band's obscure name, Gourley once explained it as an attempt to create a demi-mythic entity bigger than the individual members. The group recorded their major-label debut album, "In the Mountain in the Cloud", in late 2011. Produced by John Hill and mixed by Andy Wallace, it was released in July 2012. Around that time, "Sleep Forever", a 13-minute short directed by Michael Ragen and shot entirely in Gourley's hometown, premiered on the Independent Film Channel. It would be the last recording for members Sechrist and Neighbors, who were replaced by drummer Kane Ritchotte and keyboardist Kyle O'Quin.
Portugal. The Man enlisted Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) as producer for 2013's "Evil Friends", which was released in June. They returned to the studio in 2014 with the Beastie Boys' Mike D for their eighth studio album. The recordings were eventually scrapped, however, and the band emerged in 2017 with fresh material via the self-produced Woodstock. Led by the single "Feel It Still," it was named in honor of the 1969 festival and the group's attempt to "say something that mattered" in a context of sociopolitical unrest. A critical and commercial success, "Feel It Still" earned Portugal. The Man a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
