Death Cab for Cutie is coming!

The Cal Poly Recreation Center stairs will become narrower when world-renowned indie-rock band Death Cab for Cutie takes the stage at Cal Poly next week. The group that brought you such hits like, “I Will Follow You into the Dark” and “Soul Meets Body” is set for their debut performance along with special guest Matt Costa at Cal Poly’s Recreation Center Monday, Oct. 27 at 8 p.m.

“The tour has been going great, our fans have been great,” said bassist Nick Harmer. “The crowds have been responding really well to the new album,” he said of the album “Narrow Stairs,” which he himself named.

The voice of lead singer/songwriter and guitarist Ben Hibbard, accompanied with the beat of drummer Jason McGerr, songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Chris Walla and bassist Nick Harmer has been labeled “boyish romanticism” by “Rolling Stone.” Often called “melancholy” and “gloomy” love songs, the music also touches on topics of maturing.

When describing the reasoning behind the title, “Narrow Stairs,” the band’s second album on the major record label, Atlantic Records, Harmer said the name came to him while he was looking back at the precarious times of his life. He explained that narrow stairs symbolize sharp turns.

“It reminds me when you are younger and see things more wide open, but as you get older you realize things aren’t so open,” Harmer said. “It’s during that period when you have to be more careful with every step.”

Harmer said the band’s intended to capture the sensation of a live performance. They recorded the album in three different recording studios, including some owned by the band members. The album is darker and creepier than previous albumns, the band said.

Although Harmer is proud of the band’s sixth album, he wouldn’t say how it compared to their other projects. “I just don’t do that, especially at this point in our career.”

Cal Poly is the only university left on the band’s tour schedule and Harmer expressed his thoughts about playing at campuses versus other venues. “It’s not too much different; maybe it’s different on campus because there’s not alcohol being served, but the people who come to the shows are like-minded because they like our music,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where we play in the world.”

While Death Cab for Cutie will be the headliner onstage Monday, they bring along someone that Harmer calls a friend of the band – singer/songwriter Matt Costa.

When Costa, of Huntington Beach, got the call that told him he was going to be opening for Death Cab for Cutie a week ago, he recalled his excitement.

“I’m a fan of those guys, I’ve been inspired by those guys so it was great knowing I was going to open up for them,” Costa said.

Although much of his music is influenced by his life growing up skateboarding in southern California, Costa’s sophomore album “Unfamiliar Places” came to him during some unusual downtime.

He wrote the album while recovering from a broken leg. “During that period, I had a lot of time to write,” he said. “If it wasn’t for my broken leg, my album would have been way different.”

After his most recent tour with the band Oasis, Costa said he is back to writing, at times performing at some local shows in Los Angeles before he was asked to join Death Cab for Cutie at Cal Poly.

Death Cab for Cutie got together a decade ago in Bellingham, Washington. The four-person band has since toured the world. Currently they are coming off of shows in Canada and heading down the West coast to San Luis Obispo. Trips to Europe will follow this act, and the tour will finally end back in the States.

Tickets are available on Vallitix.com. For more information, contact Associated Students Inc.