Jimmy Eat World

Jimmy Eat World

Biography

Jimmy Eat World formed in Mesa, Arizona, United States in 1993. They are associated with an array of genres including emo, alternative rock, indie rock and pop punk. Singer/guitarist Jim Adkins and drummer Zach Lind, who had been friends since kindergarten, joined forces with co-vocalist/guitarist Tom Linton and bass player Mitch Porter to try their hand at music. In its early years the band emulated the style of their punk rock influences, and they eventually recorded and released three singles and a full-length, self-titled album on local label Wooden Blue Records.

The name Jimmy Eat World did not refer to lead singer Jim Adkins. Tom Linton’s younger siblings, Ed and Jimmy, fought constantly when they were younger. Jimmy, who was stronger and heavier, would usually win. On one instance, Ed, as revenge, drew a picture with crayons of Jimmy shoving the entire world into his gaping mouth with the caption, “Jimmy eat world.” The picture, and by extension the band name, may have been inspired by an episode of the cartoon show ‘Tiny Toon Adventures’, where the main characters put on a student film festival. Dizzy Devil’s film, “Dizzy Eat World”, was a 5 second piece drawn crudely in crayon where Dizzy’s gaping jaw engulfed the Earth.

In 1995 the band signed to Capitol Records. Around this time bass player Mitch parted ways with the band and was replaced by Linton’s friend Rick Burch. After a brief scouting for producers, the band joined up with Drive Like Jehu drummer Mark Trombino to record their debut album Static Prevails.

In 1998 the band entered the studio again to record their follow-up, Clarity. Clarity was released in 1999, the band released a video for Lucky Denver Mint, which also featured on the soundtrack for the film Never Been Kissed. The band was dropped by Capitol in 1999. They released Singles in 2000 and some splits. In 2001 working for a third time with Trombino, the band recorded the album Bleed American. After searching for a new label, they eventually signed with Dreamworks. The completed album was released in July 2001. The current issue of the CD originally known as Bleed American was re-released as Jimmy Eat World after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Four singles were released: Bleed American, The Middle (Reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100), Sweetness (Reached #75) and A Praise Chorus (Reached #16 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart). The song The Authority Song was used as the theme music for the popular teen film ‘Van Wilder’. The Middle landed Jimmy Eat World in the mainstream,and while Sweetness did a little worse, it still found success. Bleed American went platinum in a few months.

After lengthy touring in support of Bleed American the band regrouped to work on the follow-up in early 2004. Once again the band joined up with Trombino but the collaboration was short-lived. The band decided to part ways with Trombino, instead bringing in producer Gil Norton, well-known for his work with Pixies and Foo Fighters. Futures was released in October 2004 with lead single Pain immediately finding success in alternative radio and reaching #93 on the Billboard Hot 100. By this time, Dreamworks had been acquired by the much larger Interscope. Work and Futures became the other two singles to be released from the album, reaching #3 and #27 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart respectively. Simultaneous to the album launch was the release of a deluxe edition which included both the original album and demo versions of the same tracks. Additional demos from the Trombino sessions were later made available through the Jimmy Eat World Message Board, two of which, entitled Coming Home and Lying Dressed, would later become Disintegration and Closer, both of which featured on the Stay On My Side Tonight EP. Futures went gold by the end of 2004.

In 2004, the song Just Tonight appeared on the Electronic Arts video game “Burnout 3”, and later that year Pain appeared on the Activision title; “Tony Hawk’s Underground 2” as well as Rockstar’s “Midnight Club 3”.

The band later released an EP entitled Stay On My Side Tonight, released online on September 13, 2005, and on CD on October 4 of the same year. The EP featured songs recorded with producer Landon Stark as (unused) demos for the Futures album, as well as a cover of the Heatmiser song, Half Right and a remixed version of the song Drugs Or Me from the Futures album.

After a lengthy tour with Green Day, a joint-headliner with Taking Back Sunday across the US and sold-out concerts in Europe, Australia and Japan, the band regrouped to begin writing the follow-up to Futures in February 2006. A video series entitled ‘A World of Adventure’ was made available through the band’s website during the tour, focusing mainly on guitarist Tom Linton.

Recording sessions for Jimmy Eat World’s album, Chase This Light began on August 7, 2006. After a lengthy writing and recording period the mixing for this album began in June 2007. The lead single, Big Casino, was released on August 28 and the album itself on October 16. The album debuted at #5 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart selling about 62,000 copies in its first week. It also contains the song Carry You, originally written for Jim Adkins’ side project, Go Big Casino.

The song Electable (Give It Up) from their 2007 album Chase This Light features in the Electronic Arts game “Burnout Paradise”.

The band’s seventh and latest album, Invented, was released on 28th September 2010 with the second track, My Best Theory, being released as a digital download single on 10th August 2010. The reception was good and sold just under 40,000 units in the first week.

The band’s official website can be found at http://www.jimmyeatworld.com/.

Gnarls Barkley

Gnarls Barkley

Biography

Gnarls Barkley is an alternative/soul group which formed in 2003 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The group consists of Cee Lo Green (vocals) and Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton (multiple instruments). The group is best known for the international smash hit “Crazy”.

“Crazy” - which was their first single - debuted at #1 on the British pop charts on April 2, 2006. It was the first #1 UK single to be obtained solely through Internet downloads. The success of the single in the UK was due largely to its use in a promotional trailer for Radio 1 across all of the BBC TV channels prior to the single’s release. ‘Crazy’ stayed at #1 for almost 9 weeks.

The buzz for “Crazy” helped generate a lot of press coverage of their debut album, St. Elsewhere, which was released on May 9, 2006.

The album is seen as a cross-over between hip-hop, rock and soul. Both artists have previously been known to have a quirky experimental side, moving between different genres of music.

Producer DJ Danger Mouse began his career doing remixes of indie rock artists like Neutral Milk Hotel and downbeat instrumental music under the ‘Pelican City’ alias. He later went on to emphasize more hip-hop production: most notably his The Grey Album, a remix of Black Album, with samples exclusively from The White Album; 2005’s Dangerdoom collaboration with MF DOOM; and, most recently, the double platinum Demon Days.

Gnarls Barkley singer Cee Lo Green started out in the classic southern rap group Goodie MoB, but later developed a unique funk-inspired soulful style of singing which developed on his solo albums.

Modest Mouse

Modest Mouse

Biography

Modest Mouse is an alternative rock band which formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, United States. The band’s original lineup consisted of guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green and bassist Eric Judy. Since being signed to Sony’s Epic Records in 2000, Modest Mouse has attained significant popular success with songs such as “Float On” and “Dashboard.”

The band’s current configuration is Isaac Brock (vocals, guitar), Tom Peloso (strings, horns, bass, keyboards), Jim Fairchild (guitar), Eric Judy (bass), Jeremiah Green (drums) and Joe Plummer (drums). Plummer has recently become the new drummer for The Shins.

Brock came up with the name “Modest Mouse” when he read the Virginia Woolf stream of consciousness essay The Mark On the Wall in which the author described the working middle class as “modest mouse-coloured people”

Brock frequently moved around with his mother when he was a child. Around this time, his mother left his father for his father’s brother (Brock’s uncle). Brock’s mother’s house flooded and forced them to move into his mother’s new husband’s trailer, but there was no room for Brock. Brock stayed behind, living in the second story of the flooded house, until he was eventually evicted by police. He then moved into a shed next to his mother’s house and it is said this is where Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green and bassist Eric Judy first began playing music.

In 1994, the band recorded their debut EP, Blue Cadet-3, Do You Connect?, at Calvin Johnson’s Dub Narcotic Studios, which was then released on Calvin’s record label K Records. Then followed a single with Sub Pop that was recorded by producer Steve Wold at Moon Studios. Wold, who in the mid-2000’s would begin to perform under the name Seasick Steve, would also perform on the band’s albums, but was never an official member of the band. After moving to Up Records Modest Mouse put out several releases recorded at Moon Studios, including 1996’s This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About. This double LP was produced and recorded by Steve Wold. The next offering on UP was Interstate 8; also produced by Steve Wold. 1997’s The Lonesome Crowded West, (also recorded at Moon Studios, by Scott Swayze) turned out to be the band’s breakthrough album. The Lonesome Crowded West gained the band a cult following and is now widely considered by many critics to be one of the defining albums of mid-90s indie rock.

In 2000, Modest Mouse released The Moon and Antarctica, their first album on a major label (Epic Records). The band enjoyed some success on alternative radio with the singles “3rd Planet” and “Gravity Rides Everything.” Lead singer Isaac Brock has since put out an album with his side project Ugly Casanova on Sub Pop Records.

In 2003, drummer Jeremiah Green quit the band; the official word was that he was quitting to work with his side project, Vells. He was replaced with two members, drummer Benjamin Weikel (who also drummed for The Helio Sequence) and guitarist Dann Gallucci (Murder City Devils). Weikel being new to the band and Gallucci returning to the band for the first time since This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About. On April 6, 2004, Modest Mouse released the platinum-selling Good News For People Who Love Bad News, which scored two hits with “Float On” and “Ocean Breathes Salty”. In 2004 Jeremiah Green returned to the band, and Benjamin Weikel now drums exclusively for The Helio Sequence. Dann Gallucci left the band in August, and they toured with Hutch Harris of The Thermals during the fall of 2004.

Modest Mouse was mentioned by name in the 2005 Supreme Court decision in the case of MGM v. Grokster. Justice Souter wrote that on the Grokster P2P network, “Users seeking Top 40 songs, for example, or the latest release by Modest Mouse, are certain to be far more numerous than those seeking a free Decameron, and Grokster and StreamCast translated that demand into dollars.”

In 2005, multi-instrumentalist Tom Peloso, who already played various instruments on Good News For People Who Love Bad News, officially joined the band. In 2006, Johnny Marr, former guitarist for The Smiths, became an official member of the band.

On March 20, 2007, the band released their fifth album, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank. Four singles were released from the album: “Dashboard”, “Missed the Boat”, “We’ve Got Everything” and “Little Motel”. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. James Mercer of The Shins provides backing vocals on three songs.

In 2009, they released No One’s First and You’re Next, an EP of unreleased songs from around the time Good News and We Were Dead were recorded, and two songs that had already been released, “I’ve Got It All (Most)” and “King Rat”. The video for King Rat was directed by late actor Heath Ledger.

In 2009, Johnny Marr left the band and was replaced by Jim Fairchild, formerly of Grandaddy. The band performed at several festivals throughout 2009 and 2010, including the main stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2010. The band is currently recording their sixth album.

Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode

Biography

Depeche Mode are an English alternative band, founded in 1980, originally from the town of Basildon, Essex, United Kingdom. They are one of the most enduring and successful bands to have emerged during the 80s, and particularly from the new wave/new romantic era. The band name is derived from a French fashion magazine, Dépêche mode, which means “fashion dispatch.”

The band have been highly influential in the electronic dance music scene, especially synthpop, techno and trance, in part due to their innovative work, recording techniques and use of sampling. Their most successful album is arguably 1990’s Violator, which reached the #2 position in the UK, #7 in the US, and sold over 8 million copies worldwide. The band has released a long series of high-charting singles over their three-decades long career. Enjoy The Silence is their most recognized song and is one of the most covered songs in history.

The original line-up was Dave Gahan, Martin L. Gore, Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke. In December 1981, Clarke left the band and later went on to form Yazoo, The Assembly and Erasure. Alan Wilder joined the group initially in January 1982 as a live keyboardist but became an official member in December 1982. He left mid-1995 to fully concentrate on his Recoil project and the band continued as a trio. In 2010 Wilder re-joined Depeche Mode on stage after 16 years, for a performance of Somebody during a show at London’s Royal Albert Hall in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Depeche Mode’s origins date back to 1977, when Vince Clarke and Andrew Fletcher formed a band called No Romance in China, with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass. In March 1980, Clarke, Gore and Fletcher formed a band called Composition of Sound, with Clarke on vocals/guitar, Gore on keyboards and Fletcher on bass. Soon after the formation of Composition of Sound, Clarke and Fletcher switched to synthesizers. Dave Gahan joined the band in 1980 after Clarke heard him perform at a local scout hut jam session, singing to a rendition of David Bowie’s ”Heroes”, and Depeche Mode were born.

While playing a live gig at the Bridge House in Canning Town, the band were approached by Daniel Miller, the founder of Mute Records, who proposed them a verbal contract. The result was their first single Dreaming Of Me, recorded in December 1980 and released in February 1981, reaching number 57 in the UK charts and followed soon by a real contract with Mute.

As of 2006, it was estimated that Depeche Mode had sold over 100 million records (60 million albums / 40 million singles) worldwide and have had 48 songs in the UK singles chart. They are the best selling band to have never had a UK number 1 single. According to Q Magazine, Depeche Mode is “the most popular electronic band the world has ever known.”


To date, Depeche Mode have released:

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• 12 studio albums: Speak & Spell (1981), A Broken Frame (1982), Construction Time Again (1983), Some Great Reward (1984), Black Celebration (1986), Music For The Masses (1987), Violator (1990), Songs Of Faith And Devotion (1993), Ultra (1997), Exciter (2001), Playing The Angel (2005), and Sounds Of The Universe (2009);
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• 8 compilations: People Are People (1984), The Singles 81-85 (1985), Catching Up With Depeche Mode (1985), Greatest Hits (1987), The Singles 86>98 (1998), Remixes 81-04 (2004), The Best Of Depeche Mode Volume 1 (2006), The Complete Depeche Mode (2006);
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• 4 live albums: 101 (1989), Songs Of Faith And Devotion Live (1993), Recording the Angel (a series of live recordings; 2006), Recording the Universe (a series of live recordings; 2009);
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• 49 singles: including Just Can’t Get Enough, Everything Counts, People Are People, Master And Servant, Shake The Disease, Stripped, A Question Of Time, Strangelove, Never Let Me Down Again, Personal Jesus, Enjoy The Silence, World In My Eyes, Policy Of Truth, I Feel You, Walking In My Shoes, In Your Room, Barrel Of A Gun, It’s No Good, Home, Dream On, Freelove, Precious and Wrong;
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• 11 video materials (VHS/DVD): The World We Live In and Live in Hamburg (1985), Some Great Videos (1985), Strange (1988), 101 (1989), Strange Too (1990), Devotional (1993), The Videos 86>98 (1998), Some Great Videos 81>85 (1998), One Night in Paris (2002), The Videos 86>98 + (2002), Touring the Angel: Live in Milan (2006), The Best of - Volume 1 (2006)

O.A.R.

O.A.R.

Biography

O.A.R. (Of A Revolution) is an alternative rock band which formed in Rockville, Maryland, United States in 1996. The band consists of Marc Roberge (vocals, guitar), Chris Culos (drums, percussion), Richard On (guitar, backing vocals), Benj Gershman (bass), and Jerry DePizzo (saxophone, guitar, backing vocals). The band has released seven albums: “The Wanderer” (1997), Soul’s Aflame (2000), “Risen” (2001), “In Between Now and Then” (2003), “Stories of a Stranger” (2005), “All Sides” (2008), and King (2011).

After gaining a following as a popular live act on college campuses, the band has gained popular success since signing to Lava Records in 2005, with their singles “Love and Memories” and “Shattered (Turn the Car Around)” gaining mainstream radio airplay. Speaking with Songfacts in an interview, Roberge explained “Love and Memories” was inspired by the Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet movie, The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

The members of O.A.R. first came together in Rockville, Maryland in the basement of drummer Chris Culos’ childhood home in 1996. As a young group of musicians, they were the prototype of the modern, self-starting band—taking charge of their fate by working the internet and building an identifiable sound. The band’s music, a rock/reggae fusion, consisted of songs that were fully accessible, yet teasingly elusive. Attracting fans all across the country, the band members toured relentlessly, pushing their album sales through boundless dedication and word-of-mouth appeal, never waiting for the industry to catch up. O.A.R. owes much of their success to piracy and Napster, the mp3 sharing engine. Around 2000, O.A.R.’s popularity greatly increased among college students because their song “Crazy Game of Poker” was a huge hit on Napster.

By the time the band had reached their 10 year anniversary together, they had sold over 1.2 million albums and performed in front of over 1 million people. Their studio record, Stories of a Stranger, produced radio favorites “Love and Memories” and “Heard the World” as well as mtvU’s Most Downloaded Video of 2006, “Lay Down.” The band followed up the successful release with a live double disc CD and DVD set, Live From Madison Square Garden, recorded during the band’s second sold-out performance at the prestigious arena.

Early in 2008, the band members holed themselves up in a studio in Los Angeles to work on their next project, All Sides. The album was released on July 15th.

The Heaven Songfacts reports that the first single from O.A.R.’s seventh studio album, King was released on June 7, 2011 on Wind-Up Records.

The Cure

The Cure

Biography

The Cure are a new wave/post-punk band which formed in 1976 in Crawley, England, United Kingdom. The band originally consisted of Robert Smith (vocals, guitar), Porl Thompson (guitar), Michael Dempsey (bass) and Lol Tolhurst (drums), with the band’s lineup overgoing several changes throughout the years and Smith remaining as the only constant member throughout the band’s history. The band has released 13 studio albums and have sold 27 million albums worldwide and are considered a major influence on goth rock, alternative rock and new wave music.

The Cure’s full lineup history is as follows: Robert Smith (Vocals & Guitar 1976-present), Lol Tolhurst (Drums & Keyboards 1976-1989), Michael Dempsey (Bass 1976-1979), Porl Thompson (Guitar & Keyboards 1976-1978, 1983-1992, 2005 -present), Simon Gallup (Bass & Keyboards 1979-1982, 1985-present), Matthieu Hartley (Keyboards 1979 -1980), Andy Anderson (Drums 1983-1984), Phil Thornalley (Bass 1983-1984), Boris Williams (Drums 1984-1994), Roger O’Donnell (Keyboards 1987 -1990, 1995-2005), Perry Bamonte (Guitar & Keyboards 1990-2005), Jason Cooper (Drums 1995-present).

Just as the group’s lineup has changed, the band’s sound has evolved throughout the years, starting off as a post-punk band similar to Wire and Gang of Four before morphing into a gothic rock band in the early 80’s, to a synthpop group in the mid-80’s and a power-pop-alternative band in the early 90’s. The Cure has always been an alternative and very independent band which was evident from the early days. Shunning the anarchistic tendencies of many punk bands after their formation in 1976 , The Cure’s first release was Killing An Arab, based on material from French writer Albert Camus’ “L’Etranger” (translated into English as The Stranger or The Outsider). This track courted controversy because of its theme (misinterpreted as racist, it was in fact, about the futility of killing any ethnicity), but it started to secure a small following, which grew following the release of debut album Three Imaginary Boys and non-LP single Boys Don’t Cry in 1979, the latter of which would become one of The Cure’s most famous songs. At that time, The Cure embarked on tour as the support for Siouxsie & The Banshees’ Join Hands Tour. After the sudden departure of guitarist John McKay, Robert was recruited as guitarist for the Banshees as the band ‘felt he was the only person capable of taking on the task.’ As a result, Robert completed the tour playing two sets a night with The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Following this, The Cure moved from their punk leanings into the portentous post-punk territory, releasing three albums of doom-laden rock in three years, Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography, the latter of which charted inside the UK top 10, though the band were repeatedly dogged by the “Second-class Joy Division” tag. Following their third set of line-up changes, the group released Japanese Whispers, a compilation of three singles and their b-sides. Through their desire to escape the Joy Division description, the singles were a poppier effort, featuring danceable tracks like Let’s Go To Bed alongside pop songs like Love Cats. Following the commercial disappointment of follow-up album The Top in 1984, The Cure returned to form with 1985’s The Head On The Door. Featuring the singles In Between Days and Close To Me, The Head On The Door was distant from the band’s punk roots, having more in common with successful alternative bands like The Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen than their gloomier roots.

Two years later, the eighth studio album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me was a more stadium-sized effort, though featuring audacious pop songs like Why Can’t I Be You, it was seemingly caught between two styles. However, it was the band’s ninth effort (following the departure of last surviving founder member other than Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst), Disintegration, that would be their greatest success, both critically and commercially. Disintegration spawned hit singles like Lullaby (no.5 in the UK), Love Song (an impressive no. 2 in the USA), Pictures Of You, and Fascination Street. The album itself was a culmination of The Cure’s directions through the eighties, featuring the poppier side combined with the more tender aspects, as well as the gloomier facets.

Following this, a remix compilation named Mixed Up was released in 1990, featuring one new track, Never Enough, and two years later tenth studio album Wish surfaced, which was a hit mainly from the momentum gained by Disintegration, though it also featured their most famous pop song, Friday I’m In Love (no.6 in the UK and no.18 in the US). During the years following this, the band became distracted and discouraged by the lawsuit launched by former member Lol Tolhurst, who felt he had been deprived of royalties. As a result, the 1996 album Wild Mood Swings felt unfocused, and was a critical and commercial failure, though the single Mint Car was a moderate hit.

In 1997, The Cure released the compilation Galore, featuring new song Wrong Number. Three years later, at the release of original album Bloodflowers, Robert Smith announced it would be the last album for the band, the album itself being a return to the gloomier rock of Pornography and Faith. Resultantly, another hits compilation was released in 2001. However, in 2004, the band surprised all by returning with a self-titled album, their twelfth studio album, which was a surprise hit, reaching the US Top 10, its lead single - The End Of The World - becoming a modest hit on Modern Rock radio, and receiving a relatively warm reception from the press.

In May 2005, Smith fired Roger O’Donnell and Perry Bamonte from the band, along with Bamonte’s brother Daryl, who had been The Cure’s tour manager for many years. The remaining members of the band (Robert Smith, longtime bassist Simon Gallup and Jason Cooper) made a few appearances as a trio before it was announced that founding member Porl Thompson would be returning to The Cure.

In early 2007 the band toured Asia and Oceania, but a planned North American tour in Autumn 2007 was delayed until Spring 2008 so the band could continue recording their next album.

The band released their thirteenth album 4:13 Dream on 27 October 2008. Four singles and a remix EP called “Hypnagogic States” were releases on the 13th of each month preceding the album’s release.

In 2009, Robert Smith won the Godlike Genius award at the NME Awards. On April 19, 2009, the band performed at the Coachella Festival in California.

During 2010, Robert Smith contributed songs to the soundtrack of the Tim Burton film “Alice in Wonderland” and provided guest vocals on the songs “Not in Love” by Crystal Castles and “Come to Me” by 65daysofstatic.

Between 31 May 2011 and 1 June 2011, the band performed three concerts at the Sydney Opera House performing the entirety of one of their first three albums on each night. Porl Thompson did not perform with the band at any of the concerts, but Roger O’Donnell performed with the band for the “Seventeen Seconds” and “Faith” concerts, and co-founding member Lol Tulhurst performed with the band for the first time since 1988 for the “Faith” concert.

Godsmack is a hard rock/alternative metal

Godsmack

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Biography

Godsmack is a hard rock/alternative metal band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, United States which formed in 1995. They are often mis-categorized as post-grunge or nu metal. The band comprises founder, frontman and songwriter Sully Erna, guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merrill, and drummer Shannon Larkin. Since its formation, Godsmack has released five studio albums, one EP, four DVDs, and one greatest hits collection.

The band has had three consecutive #1 albums (Faceless,IV,The Oracle) on the Billboard 200. Godsmack’s fifth studio album, titled The Oracle was released on May 3, 2010. The band has also parked a ratified 18 top ten rock radio hits, including 15 songs in the Top Five, more than bands such as Linkin Park and Metallica. Godsmack are one of the most popular metal acts of the last decade in the United States, selling over 19 million records worldwide.

Since its inception, Godsmack has toured on Ozzfest on more than one occasion, and have toured with many other large tours and festivals, including supporting its albums with its own arena tours. In the summer of 2009, Godsmack toured as support to Mötley Crüe’s Crüe Fest 2 tour.

In February 1995, Sully Erna decided to start a new band as the lead singer after playing the drums for more than 23 years, including over two years in the now-defunct band Strip Mind. His new band The Scam formed with Erna on vocals, Robbie Merrill on bass, local guitarist and friend Lee Richards on guitar, and Tommy Stewart on drums. The Scam quickly changed its name to Godsmack, after recording one demo. The newly formed band started playing small bars in their hometown of Boston, Mass… Locally popular songs such as “Keep Away” and “Whatever” soon brought them to the top of the hit charts in the Boston/New England area.

The band’s name, according to Merrill in the Smack This! DVD, was taken from the Alice in Chains’ song “God Smack”. However, Erna stated in a 1999 interview that “I was making fun of somebody who had a cold sore on his lip and the next day I had one myself and somebody said, ‘It’s a godsmack.’ The name stuck. We were aware of the Alice in Chains song but didn’t really think much about it. It’s a cool song and the name had meaning for us”.

In 1996, Tony Rombola and Joe D’Arco joined Godsmack as the guitarist and drummer, after Richards left after finding out he had a six-year-old child and Stewart left due to personal differences. In the same year the band entered the studio for the first time, recording its first CD titled “All Wound Up”. The CD was recorded in just three days for $2,600.

For the next two years, the band played throughout the Boston area. Eventually Godsmack’s CD landed in the hands of Rocko, the night-time DJ for Boston radio station WAAF (FM). The radio station put “Keep Away” into heavy rotation and the song rose to the number one spot at the station very quickly. Newbury Comics, a New England record store chain, agreed to sell the CD on consignment. Shortly after the success of “Keep Away”, Godsmack went back into the studio and recorded a single titled “Whatever”, which became the new local favorite on WAAF (FM).

In an interview Sully Erna stated, “we had been selling maybe 50 copies a month at the time WAAF picked up the album. All of a sudden we started moving over records a week. It was insane. Even crazier, I was doing all this from my bedroom. After years of grinding away, things finally started taking off.”

Alice in Chains is believed to be the primary influence to Godsmack. Many believe Godsmack obtained their name from the Alice in Chains song “God Smack” off the album Dirt. In an interview with MTV upon the death of Alice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley, Godsmack frontman Sully Erna stated that Staley “was single-handedly the guy that got me to start singing.” Erna went on to later confirm that indeed “God Smack” is the inspiration for the bands name and the reason their sound sounds similar to that of Alice in Chains Other bands cited by Godsmack members as their primary influences typically include Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Black Sabbath, ² and White Zombie. More recently, Godsmack have attempted to distance themselves from the Alice in Chains comparison with Erna stating in an interview with Matt Ashare, “I’ve just never really heard that in our music.” In that same interview, Erna offers an alternative explanation to the origin of their band name by stating, “It happened at rehearsal when our drummer came in with a big cold sore on his lip. I was making fun of him all day because we had a photo shoot coming up. And then the next day when I came in, I had a big cold sore on my lip. So my guitar player said, See, God just smacked you for making fun of him.” Nevertheless, the comparison to Alice in Chains is well documented. Sully Erna’s style of singing mirrors that of Layne Staley’s while the overall sound of the band’s first two albums sound incredibly similar to the sound of Dirt. The logo of Godsmack is similar to the sun logo of Alice in Chains. Godsmack also released an album titled “Faceless” which is similar in name to Alice in Chain’s first album Facelift. The band even transcended from their heavy sound to a more mellow acoustic sound on their album “The Other Side” in the same manner Alice in Chains did in “Jar of Flies”.

In 2002, Godsmack received a Grammy nomination in “Best Rock Instrumental Performance” for the song “Vampires” from the album Awake. In 2004, they opened for Metallica, while headlining with Dropbox in the summer. They did acoustic shows for their newly released album The Other Side in the fall of 2004, while still opening for Metallica. In September 2004, Godsmack issued a live DVD titled “Changes” which the band recorded earlier that year. That same month, the group also released “Batalla de los Tambores”, a live cut available only via online services such as Apple’s iTunes Music Store, Real and Napster. They released their latest album ‘The Oracle’ on May 3rd, 2010.
Some songs from the album “Faceless” are also in the video game soundtrack for “Prince of Persia: Warrior Within”.

Current members

* Sully Erna - Vocals, Lyrics, Guitar and Percussion.
* Robbie Merrill - Bass and Backing Vocals
* Tony Rombola - Guitars and Backing Vocals
* Shannon Larkin - Drums/Percussion

Switchfoot is a grammy-winning alternative rock band from San Diego, California, United States

Switchfoot

Biography

Switchfoot is a grammy-winning alternative rock band from San Diego, California, United States. The band was formed in 1996 with the brothers Jon Foreman (lead singer/guitarist) and Tim Foreman (bass). Long-time friend Chad Butler (drums) joined soon after. Eventually the band evolved to what it is today with the addition of members Jerome Fontamillas (key/guitar/electronics - formerly of Mortal and Fold Zandura) and Drew Shirley (guitar - formerly of All Together Separate).

Although the band started out playing at Christian music festivals, they shun the label of “Christian rock,” with singer and guitarist Jon Foreman saying, “For us, it’s a faith, not a genre. We’ve always been very open and honest about where the songs are coming from. For us, these songs are for everyone. Calling us `Christian rock’ tends to be a box that closes some people out and excludes them. And that’s not what we’re trying to do. Music has always opened my mind — and that’s what we want.” They started out on Charlie Peacock’s label “re:think” and spent several years appearing at Christian festivals and enjoying Christian radio hits. Most of their early tours were with Christian bands and both of the band’s new members were borrowed from Christian bands.

Switchfoot did not see success outside of the Christian rock scene until they were featured alongside singer Mandy Moore on the A Walk To Remember Soundtrack. The band’s first true commercial success came in 2003 with the release of their fourth major label (and first mainstream label) offering, The Beautiful Letdown. The album went on to sell more than 2 million albums and Switchfoot became the most popular rock band to be associated with Christian music.

They were featured on the British Edition of the Spiderman II soundtrack along with the likes of Taking Back Sunday and Dashboard Confessional to name a few, in 2004 with the song ‘Meant To Live’.

In 2005 Switchfoot released “Nothing Is Sound”. The album went gold within 3 months and received much critical acclaim.

Switchfoot’s highly anticipated album, titled “Oh! Gravity.” was released on December 26th, 2006.

On November 10th, 2009, Switchfoot released their first album produced under their own label, lowercase people. “Mess of Me”, a single from the album released months before the CD, has enjoy chart-topping radio plays since its release.

In 2010 Switchfoot released their album, “Hello Hurricane”.

On September 27th, 2011, to much anticipation and excitement, Switchfoot released their newest album, “Vice Verses”.