Based in Athens, GA,
the Instruments are not so much a group as an informal gathering of musicians assembled for performing and recording purposes by singer/guitarist/cellist
Heather McIntosh, also a member of
Japancakes and
Circulatory System. To record the band's debut album,
Billions of Phonographs, for Orange Twin Records,
McIntosh recruited Katie Bierman (bassoon), Chris Bishop (bass guitar, vocals), Laura Carter (clarinet, accordion, vocals; from
Elf Power), John Dazzo (vocals), Pete Erchick (keyboards, vocals; from
the Olivia Tremor Control), John Fernandes (clarinet, vocals; from
the Olivia Tremor Control),
Andy Gonzales (guitar),
Eric Harris (theremin, bells; from
the Olivia Tremor Control), Will Cullen Hart (drums, vocals; from
the Olivia Tremor Control and
Circulatory System),
Julian Koster (singing saw; from
the Music Tapes),
Jeff Mangum (vocals; from
Neutral Milk Hotel), Susan McCarrell (flute), and
Scott Spillane (mellophonium). The album was released on October 1, 2002. Derek Almstead (electric guitar), Erchick, Fernandes,
Harris, Hart, Hannah Jones (percussion, vocals), Sallie Lupis (double bass), Mangum, Doug Owens (oboe), and Spillane appeared with
McIntosh on
the Instruments' second album,
Cast a Half Shadow, released May 9, 2006. By the time of the third album, Dark Smaland, released May 13, 2008,
McIntosh had organized two different lineups of
the Instruments, one based in Athens, the other in Brooklyn, NY. Players on the album included Almstead, Erchick, Fernandes,
Harris, Hart, and Mangum. ~ William Ruhlmann