Gates (stylized as gates) is a five-piece American post rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey,^[1][2] which consists of Kevin Dye (vocals/guitars), Dan King (guitars), Mike Maroney (bass), Ethan Koozer (guitars) and Daniel Crapanzano (drums).^[3] They have released two albums and three EPs.^[4]

Gates formed in 2011 while the various band members had settled in New Jersey.^[5] Koozer (ex Lydia),^[6] moved from Arizona while King, Maroney and Crapanzano were in the band Bears & Bright Lights. Koozer joined the band and Dye replaced the original singer, prompting the name change to Gates.^[5] Originally from Michigan, Dye moved to Brooklyn in 2010 after earning a degree in Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media. He interned at a number of studios, including Levon Helm Studios under the tutelage of Justin Guip.^[7] In 2011 they self-released debut EP titled The Sun Will Rise And Lead Me Home.^[8][9] The following year they released their second self-released EP titled You Are All You Have Left To Fear.^[10] Both recordings were produced and engineered by Dye.^[11]

In 2012 their six-track debut EP was re-released on vinyl by Devildance Records.^[12] On April 30, 2013, Gates signed to Pure Noise Records. Their second EP was remixed by Mike Watts and re-released in the fall of 2013 via Pure Noise Records.^[13][14] In April 2014 Gates announced they were supporting Have Mercy and Pentimento on their co-headlining tour.^[15] They also supported The Gaslight Anthem in the same year,^[1] and embarked on their first UK tour with Fallacies.^[16][17]

In September 2014, Gates premiered a new song titled "Low" from their first full-length album.^[18] In September, the band released another song from the album titled "Not My Blood" and premiered "Born Dead" via Alternative Press.^[19] Bloom & Breathe was released on October 21, 2014, via Pure Noise Records.^[20] It was recorded at VuDu Studios and produced by Mike Watts and Kevin Dye. In February 2016 the band release a split 7-inch with Matthew Pryor that featured the song "Captive".^[21]

In April 2016, the band debuted a music video for their new song, "Habit".^[22][23] The track comes from their second release, Parallel Lives on Pure Noise Records that appeared on June 3, 2016.^[24] As opposed to the previous record, Dye began using a piano and a sampler to develop songs such as "Color Worn".^[25] On alreadyheard.com the album was described as an "airy and ethereal listen".^[26] As with the previous effort, it was co-produced by Dye and Mike Watts and recorded at VuDu studios.^[27]

For the first two EPs and Bloom & Breathe the band worked on arrangements before Dye would add his lyrics. He noted that he found the lyric writing process for the first album " very difficult and frustrating".^[28] On the second record he largely wrote songs on an acoustic guitar where majority of the lyrics had already been written.^[25]

Studio albums

• Bloom & Breathe (2014)
• Parallel Lives (2016)

EPs

• The Sun Will Rise and Lead Me Home (2011)
• You Are All You Have Left to Fear (2012)
• Here and Now (2021)