Robbers on High Street are an American indie rock band from New York.They began performing publicly during the summer of 2002, but the band’s roots stretch back much farther. Ben Trokan and Steve «Sparky» Mercado have been friends since their preteen years growing up in the upstate New York town of Poughkeepsie. After high school, Trokan moved to New York, where he met and began playing with Tomer Danan, who were both big fans of Spoon. In Poughkeepsie, Mercado reconnected with Jeremy Phillips, an old school friend.
Robbers on High Street—the name came from a lyric of one of the band’s early, discarded compositions—was officially born when the four began playing together.
Phillips left the band in 2005 and was replaced by Florida native Morgan King. In addition to playing bass, King is proficient in horns and brass instruments, and occasionally plays them on stage.
The band also added a full-time keyboard player in early 2006. Those duties are sometimes fulfilled by downtown New York musician Matt Trowbridge (Rana, The King of France, Sam Champion) and Dave Sherman (Goodbye Girl Friday). Danan left the band in August 2006 and live drum duties have been taken over by Mikey Post (Sonny Oaks).
Grand Animals is the band’s second full length album, released on July 24, 2007.
