Music has been a big part of Nicholas Harmer's life since he was a preteen.
"I started playing piano and then guitar in elementary school," Harmer said by phone from Australia. "And I stuck with the guitar through high school. Then when I was in college, a band needed a bass player, so I started playing bass. And I fell in love with it."
From band to band, Harmer played his bass. And then he hooked up with Death Cab for Cutie, which also features guitarist/vocalist Ben Gibbard, guitarist Chris Walla and drummer Jason McGerr. "They were putting some songs together and needed a bass player. That was how I joined the band."
Playing music is the reward for the traveling and songwriting, he said. "It's hard leaving family and friends behind. We've been on the road since we formed. We end up usually playing something like 200 nights a year. With a schedule like that, it's hard to maintain a relationship. But being able to make music for a living is an amazing thing. I never thought I'd get a chance to do it. And when I look around, it's what I do."
The band released the album "Plans" on Atlantic Records back in the fall of 2005 and knew what kind of project it wanted to release. "It was going to be a cohesive whole," he said. "It wasn't going to be just a collection of songs. The songs were going to be a structure for the album. So we got together the songs and put them on the album."
The creative process for Death Cab is easy, said Harmer. "We don't fight a lot. We all have the same idea for the band. We don't necessarily write songs for the radio. We write songs that fit together.
"What we release as a single — such as the new single 'I Will Follow You Into the Dark' — is all marketing by the marketing department. We just provide them the materials."
With the touring and recording and the radio play, there isn't much more Death Cab for Cutie could ask for, said Harmer. "Everything has been so great so far. We've been working hard, and it's been worth it."
If you go
What: Death Cab for Cutie, Mates of State
Where: David O. McKay Events Center, Utah Valley State College, Orem
When: Monday, 7 p.m.
How much: $25-$28
Phone: 467-8499 or 800-888-8499
Web: www.smithstix.com
E-mail: scott@desnews.com