Bangable DUDES!

Christopher drew
Oli Sykes and his hot p3*!$
And cute @$$ :)

Underoath Upcoming Shows

Upcoming Shows

Jun 26, 2009	Pomona, California	Pomona Fairplex
Jun 27, 2009	San Francisco, California	Pier 30/32
Jun 28, 2009	Ventura, California	Seaside Park
Jun 30, 2009	Phoenix, Arizona	Cricket Pavilion
Jul 01, 2009	Las Cruces, New Mexico	N.M.S.U. Practice Field
Jul 02, 2009	San Antonio, Texas	AT&T Center
Jul 03, 2009	Houston, Texas	The Showgrounds at Sam Houston Race Park ...
Jul 04, 2009	Bushnell, Illinois	Cornerstone Festival
Jul 05, 2009	Dallas, Texas	Superpages.com Center
Jul 07, 2009	Indianapolis, Indiana	Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Jul 08, 2009	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Post Gazette Pavilion
Jul 09, 2009	Cleveland, Ohio	Time Warner Cable Amphitheater
Jul 10, 2009	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Arrow Hall
Jul 11, 2009	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Parc Jean Drapeau
Jul 12, 2009	Hartford, Connecticut	New England Dodge Music Center
Jul 14, 2009	Washington DC, Washington DC	Merriwether Post Pavilion
Jul 15, 2009	Scranton, Pennsylvania	Toyota Pavilion
Jul 16, 2009	Buffalo, New York	Darien Lake Performing Arts Center ...
Jul 17, 2009	Camden, New Jersey	Susquehanna Bank Center
Jul 18, 2009	Uniondale, New York	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum ...
Jul 19, 2009	Oceanport, New Jersey	Monmouth Park Racetrack
Jul 21, 2009	Boston, Massachusetts	Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts ...
Jul 22, 2009	Virginia Beach, Virginia	Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Jul 23, 2009	Charlotte, North Carolina	Charlotte Verizon Wireless Amphitheater ...
Jul 24, 2009	Orlando, Florida	Central Florida Fairgrounds
Jul 25, 2009	Miami, Florida	Cruzan Amphitheater
Jul 26, 2009	Tampa, Florida	Vinoy Park
Jul 28, 2009	Atlanta, Georgia	Lakewood Amphitheater
Jul 29, 2009	Cincinnati, Ohio	Riverbend Music Center
Jul 30, 2009	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Marcus Amphitheater
Jul 31, 2009	Detroit, Michigan	Comerica Park
Aug 01, 2009	Chicago, Illinois	First Midwest Bank Amphitheater ...
Aug 02, 2009	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Canterbury Park
Aug 03, 2009	St. Louis, Missouri	Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Aug 04, 2009	Kansas City, Missouri	Sandstone Amphitheater
Aug 07, 2009	Boise, Idaho	Idaho Center Amphitheater
Aug 08, 2009	Salt Lake City, Utah	Utah State Fairgrounds
Aug 09, 2009	Denver, Colorado	Invesco Field
Aug 12, 2009	Calgary, Alberta, Canada	Race City Speedway
Aug 14, 2009	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada	Thunderbird Stadium
Aug 15, 2009	Seattle, Washington	Gorge Amphitheater
Aug 16, 2009	Portland, Oregon	Washington County Fairgrounds
Aug 19, 2009	Fresno, California	Save Mart Center
Aug 20, 2009	San Francisco, California	Shoreline Amphitheater
Aug 21, 2009	Sacramento, California	Sleep Train Amphitheater
Aug 22, 2009	San Diego, California	Cricket Amphitheater
Aug 23, 2009	Los Angeles, California	Home Depot Center

Underoath The Almost

The Almost and Underoath are two very different bands. What ties them together? Aaron Gillespie. While recording Underoath's Define The Great Line, Floridian drummer/vocalist Aaron started penning songs for a side project, and The Almost was born. Aaron even recorded all the instruments featured on the album except for bass on a few tracks, which featured The Starting Line's Kenny Vasoli. Since then, Aaron has taken to playing guitar and singing, adding four pals to the touring lineup. We chatted with Aaron about refusing to sell out, Shania Twain, and his childhood nickname, Pig -- read it all here.

So why did you decide to form The Almost?
When you do anything, you always want to branch out. I wanted to try to make a rock record and then I decided I wanted to try to do it by myself. Nothing too complicated. With Underoath, it's totally different. I just know that I love both things in different ways.

Is there more pressure with The Almost because it's your project?
No, no -- it was less pressure. I'm sure it'll be a lot more pressure the next time around. But this time I didn't care -- I just wanted to see if we could do it. It would be cool, but I didn't know how it would turn out.

Do you think Underoath fans listen to The Almost?? At first, totally, completely, and now they're still there. Underoath never got a lot of radio play, but The Almost got quite a bit of radio play in the past year, so there's a total different crowd from that alone. That's a whole different world to tap into.

What's your favorite song on the album?"Dirty and Left Out." I had never written a song in the studio. I'm very spastic when it comes to being prepared to make a record. I'm scared and I've mapped out how I'm going to do it. This is the first song ever that I wrote in the studio.

What effect did growing up down south have on you musically?
It has everything to do with everything. If I grew up here, I'd probably be influenced by much different things. Growing up down south, all that was around me was Christian gospel music. In the south, it's different -- people are different. It's weird we such regional cultural differences between the states and it's not that big of a place. Being from the south, life's kind of slower.

How did you get your nickname, Pig?
I used to weigh 215 pounds in the beginning of high school. Spencer [Chamberlain, lead singer of Underoath] made it up when we first met 7 or 8 years ago. So he called me that. He calls me on the phone now.

You've got a lot of tattoos. Which is your favorite?
I got a portrait of my wife for out first anniversary. That was pretty cool. It turned out great. [But] tattoos are kind of weird. I love having them, but I hate it. I sit in the chair and a week later, I'm miserable. It hurts so bad.

What's the biggest misconception people have about you?
A lot of times, I feel horrible because I'm just a normal guy and people want more and more and more. They don't give you a break, and I hate getting to that point. Then, you look like a "rock star." I don't ever want be a "rock star."

What do you mean by that?
In terms of selling out. When I was younger, I said I would never sell out. I tell people what I believe in and talk to people; I let people know where I come from and about my faith. And to a bigger audience it's better, more people. And when you sell out is when you begin to do it because it's what you do, not because you're passionate. "I'm in a band. We're huge." "Why?" "It's what we do." That's a cop out, in my opinion. They might feel that way, [but] that's the person I never want to be. Since their inception, Florida's Underoath has evolved from a run-of-the-mill Christian metalcore band into a fluid, dynamic, and energized rock group that adeptly blends emotive melody, charged punk rock rhythm, and chunky, engaging bottom end. Underoath formed in 1998 in vocalist Dallas Taylor's bedroom. Within a year, the group -- with guitarist Tim McTague, drummer Aaron Gillespie, and keyboardist Christopher Dudley -- had inked a deal with Alabama's Takehold record label. In July 1999, Underoath released the six-song Act of Depression CD, which sold over 2,000 copies. The five-song Cries of the Past followed a year later, selling over 3,000 copies.

In 2002, Takehold licensed all of its bands and releases to Seattle's Tooth & Nail/Solid State label. Underoath hit the studio and recorded the ten songs that would comprise their first album under the new partnership, appropriately titled The Changing of Times. Taylor abruptly left the group in the middle of 2003's Warped Tour, leaving distressed fans contemplating the band's uncertain future. Underoath -- which also included bassist Grant Brandell and guitarist James Smith -- continued on, however, enlisting ex-This Runs Through member Spencer Chamberlain as their new vocalist.

A year later, the new lineup released They're Only Chasing Safety and supported it on the road with bands like Thrice, the Bled, Hopesfall, and Fear Before the March of Flames. A special edition of the album was next released in fall 2005 that included four bonus tracks; touring continued with a spring 2006 headlining tour alongside Poison the Well, As Cities Burn, and others. Deciding to stick with Tooth & Nail instead of jumping to a major label, the sextet showcased substantial growth and maturity on their next effort, Define the Great Line, issued in June 2006.

A heavier, more emotional album than the breakout success of 2004's Chasing Safety, the record sold close to 100,000 copies in just its first week of release and was certified gold by the year's end. Embraced by fans and critics alike and considered the band's masterpiece by many, the group supported it on Warped's main stage that summer. But with a month of dates remaining, tensions within Underoath's ranks suddenly came to a head, causing them to drop off the traveling festival. Rumors swirled of their impending breakup, but the guys remained adamant that a much-needed break was merely due to sort things out. They proved themselves by returning in 2006 with Define the Great Line. Climbing all the way to number two, the album became the highest-charting Christian album on the Billboard 200 since 1997 when LeAnn Rimes took the number one spot with You Light Up My Life. Underoath returned to the studio in 2008 for Lost in the Sound of Separation, an 11-song behemoth of a record that saw the group adopt a darker, more experimental (yet still undeniably heavy) sound. Ryan J. Downey, All Music Guide

TBS <-------- >SOTY

For Taking Back Sunday, the past year has been as non-stop as the music on their latest album, Louder Now. The New York-based melodic hardcore quintet’s album was released on April 25, 2006 and skyrocketed to Number Two on Billboard’s Top 200 chart a week later, scanning more than 157,000 copies. Now gold-certified, Louder Now has led to multiple sold out U.S. headlining arena tours, the headlining slot on the international Taste of Chaos tour in Australia, Japan and Europe, and an MTV Video Music award nomination (the MTV2 Viewer’s Choice award) for the album’s first single, “MakeDamnSure,” which has received more than three million combined plays on AOL, Yahoo!, Fuse, and YouTube. The band did command performances on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Late Night With Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Last Call With Carson Daly, and got to play themselves in an upcoming episode of a favorite show, Degrassi: The Next Generation. Last June, the band scored their third cover of taste-making music monthly Alternative Press, and received effusive reviews from People Magazine and Entertainment Weekly. Indeed Kerrang! crowned Louder Now as the critics pick for “Album Of The Year!”



Taking Back Sunday band finished out 2006 with the December release of Louder Now: Partone — a 90-minute DVD containing up close and personal band stories, behind-the-scenes footage in the studio and on the road, music videos for "MakeDamnSure" and the album’s second single "Liar (It Takes One To Know One)," and no-holds barred clips of the band's performance at the Long Beach Arena. They also celebrated the holiday season’s spirit of giving by creating a card that raised money for various cancer charities. The band ushered in 2007 with a headlining North American tour, including their first extended visit to Canada.

The hubbub surrounding Taking Back Sunday shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s heard Louder Now. The high-octane drumming and blazing syncopated riffs that rain down on its opening track, “What’s It Feel Like to Be a Ghost,” make it clear that these guys meant business when they went into the studio with producer Eric Valentine (Queens Of The Stone Age, Third Eye Blind) to record the follow-up to their 2004 best-selling album Where You Want To Be. Their intention was to bottle the lightning that this powerful band generate whenever they hit the stage.

“We were always told that our live show had more energy than our records,” says guitarist-vocalist Fred Mascherino. “On Louder Now we wanted to capture that energy.” “It’s the record we have always wanted to make,” declares lead singer Adam Lazzara. “It completes the spectrum.” The band members also knew they wanted to grow from the pop-tinged hardcore anthems that filled Where You Want To Be and their 2003 debut Tell All Your Friends. They decided to experiment with new and different sounds, such as on the rollicking “Miami, which, with its tight ’80s drumming and Cure-like guitar tones, is unlike anything the band has recorded to date.

Then there’s “MakeDamnSure,” which is classic Taking Back Sunday, with singer Adam Lazzara’s yowling vocals mixed with Eddie Reyes’ and Mascherino’s slashing guitars. The twin guitar assault and emotional point/counterpoint lyrics are still the lynchpin of their sound. The lyrics illuminate Louder Now’s overall themes of discontent and uncertainty. “A good example is ‘What’s It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?’” says Lazzara. “It touches on feeling like an apparition no matter what it is I try or do or where I find myself at any given moment. Simply being withdrawn to the point where the line between what is and is not real gets blurred. The album is about struggling to figure out where the hell we all fit in,” he adds. “It’s like a pre pre-midlife crisis.”

After releasing Where You Want To Be, the band played around “a bazillion” shows, by Mascherino’s reckoning (“You seriously forget your address and home phone number”), including the 2004 Warped Tour, British rock festivals Reading and Leeds, and a sold-out headlining tour. Things did not let up in 2005 when they did a co-headlining arena tour of North America with Jimmy Eat World and performed two sold-out shows in June at Britain’s Milton Keynes National Bowl with Green Day, each band playing to the biggest audiences of their careers.

Continuously inspired while on the road, Taking Back Sunday wrote and recorded pieces of songs with gear stored on their bus. “It can be damaging to live like this—being away from home,” Mascherino admits. “The space and distance affects us so much it even seeps into the music. I feel like Louder Now is a much darker record than Where You Want to Be, especially on tracks like [second single] “Liar (It Takes One to Know One).” The overall tone, mood, and lyrics give you a deeper feeling.” But Lazzara has come to feel more at home on the road. “It’s when I’m home that I start to feel like a stranger in my own skin,” he says, adding “but it’s worth it. Being able to put out records is a dream come true.”

The relentless touring paid off with sold-out arena tours and delirious fan support. Combined, Louder Now, Tell All Your Friends and Where You Want to Be have scanned more than 2.5 million copies and the latter debuted at Number Three on the Billboard Top 200, selling more than 163,000 copies its first week of release in July 2004. It has sold more than 745,000 copies to date and been effusively praised in Rolling Stone, Spin, and Entertainment Weekly.

The band has remained a staple on both MTV and Fuse; and in 2005, they were tapped to record a theme song for Reed Richards, the lead character in the video game and hit movie Fantastic Four. “Error Operator” appears in the game, on the film’s soundtrack, and in revamped form on Louder Now.



Taking Back Sunday set out to “create something that we considered timeless,” says Mascherino of Louder Now. “We didn’t want something that people would listen to in 10 years and say, ‘That’s from 2006 when all the records sounded like that.’ We wanted people to listen to it in 10 years and say, ‘Hell, yeah, turn that up!’”



Adam Lazzara — vocals

Fred Mascherino — guitar, vocals

Eddie Reyes — guitar

Mark O’Connell — drums

Matt Rubano — bass



Story of the Year took root in the late '90s under a different name, Big Blue Monkey, in St. Louis, MO. At the time of its inception, the band's sound was much heavier (think Deftones), and the lineup that would become Story of the Year was not yet in place. Big Blue Monkey played frequent shows in the St. Louis area, issued several EPs, and endured the lineup fluctuations typical to any struggling combo. Creative and persistent self-promotion caught the ear of producer John Feldmann, who in turn brought Maverick Records into the picture. By 2002, Big Blue Monkey had become Story of the Year, moved to Southern California, and toured with Feldmann and Goldfinger.

The lineup of vocalist Dan Marsala, guitarists Ryan Phillips and Phillip Sneed, bassist Adam Russell, and drummer Joshua Willis entered the studio with Feldmann, emerging in spring 2003 with the full-length album Page Avenue. Story did some Warped Tour dates that summer, and issued the record the following September. By this point the Story sound had morphed completely and comfortably into emo-inflected post-grunge, akin to groups like Thrice or the similarly Feldmann-shepherded Used. The CD/DVD set Live in the Lou/Bassassins followed in spring 2005; it was a precursor to In the Wake of Determination, which appeared in October. Three years later, Story of the Year released their third album, The Black Swan, on Epitaph Records, which they helped promote by extensive Warped Tour dates. Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide


Group Members:
Joshua Willis
Phil Sneed
Adam Russell
Dan Marsala
Ryan Phillips

All time Low- We the kings

Drawing heavy influence from Green Day and blink-182 early on, pop-punk quartet All Time Low formed in the suburbs of Baltimore, MD, in 2003 around singer/guitarist Alex Gaskarth and guitarist Jack Barakat. The two soon added bassist Zack Merrick and drummer Rian Dawson to round out their energetic pop-punk sound and rowdy live show, which often included silly string and beach balls. Honing their skills between homework and other teenage commitments, the guys managed to tour across the East Coast and South during school breaks. They released the four-song EP The Three Words to Remember in Dealing with the End through the local label Emerald Moon in 2004 and followed up with a full-length, The Party Scene, a year later. Touring nationwide that summer, the band found itself on bills with similar-minded acts like Motion City Soundtrack, the Early November, and Plain White T's. Along the way, All Time Low also bumped into fellow pop-punkers Amber Pacific, who brought the young band to the attention of their label, Hopeless Records. The label was immediately impressed, and All Time Low were officially part of the Hopeless family by March 2006, just a few months before they graduated from high school. Finally done with schoolwork to concentrate full-time on music, the group issued Put Up or Shut Up -- a seven-song EP that mostly featured new recordings of older material -- that July. Now able to tour freely, the band supported the release on a handful of summer Warped Tour dates before subsequently hitting the road nationwide with Amber Pacific.



We the Kings are an unapologetically commercial emo-pop band from Bradenton, FL, a small town that also doubles as the home base for Tropicana orange juice. Friends since childhood (the band's name refers to the name of their junior-high mascot), the foursome -- singer and guitarist Travis Clark, guitarist Hunter Thomsen, his bassist brother Drew Thomsen, and drummer Danny Duncan -- formed the band while still attending high school. In 2007, under the guidance of manager Bret Disend, the still teenaged quartet placed a number of tracks on the social networking site Purevolume to build online buzz; meanwhile, the band also pursued a deal with EMI's revived faux-indie imprint S-Curve Records (home to Joss Stone, Fountains of Wayne, and the Baha Men). Their self-titled debut album was produced by Sam Hollander and mixed by Lou Giordano, both of whom had done work with some of emo-pop's most marketable acts, and released in October 2007

Linkin Park

Although rooted in alternative metal, Linkin Park became one of the most successful acts of the early 2000s by welcoming elements of hip-hop, modern rock, and atmospheric electronica into their music. The band's rise was indebted to the aggressive rap-rock movement made popular by the likes of Korn and Limp Bizkit, a movement that paired grunge's alienation with a bold, buzzing soundtrack. Linkin Park added a unique spin to that formula, however, focusing as much on the vocal interplay between singer Chester Bennington and rapper Mike Shinoda as the band's muscled instrumentation, which layered DJ effects atop heavy, processed guitars. While the group's sales never eclipsed those of its tremendously successful debut, Hybrid Theory, few alt-metal bands rivaled Linkin Park during the band's heyday.

Drummer Rob Bourdon, guitarist Brad Delson, and MC/vocalist Mike Shinoda attended high school in Southern California, where they formed the rap-rock band Xero in 1996. Bassist Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, singer Mark Wakefield, and DJ/art student Joseph Hahn joined soon after, and the band courted various labels while playing hometown shows in Los Angeles. Few companies expressed interest in Xero's self-titled demo tape, however, prompting Wakefield to leave the lineup (he would later resurface as the manager for Taproot). Hybrid Theory became the band's temporary moniker in 1998 as replacement singer Chester Bennington climbed aboard, and the revised band soon settled on a final name: Linkin Park, a misspelled reference to Lincoln Park in Santa Monica. With Bennington and Shinoda sharing vocal duties, the musicians now wielded enough power to distinguish themselves from the wave of nu-metal outfits that had appeared during the decade's latter half. Warner Bros. vice president Jeff Blue took note and signed Linkin Park in 1999, sending the band into the studio with Don Gilmore shortly thereafter.

Linkin Park titled their debut album Hybrid Theory, a tribute to the band's past, and released the record during the fall of 2000. "Crawling" and "In the End" were massive radio hits; the latter song even topped the U.S. Modern Rock chart while peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, an example of the band's crossover appeal. Linkin Park joined the Family Values Tour and also played shows with Cypress Hill, leading the group to log over 320 shows in 2001 alone. Come January 2002, Hybrid Theory had received three Grammy nominations and sold over seven million copies. (Sales later topped ten million, earning the album "diamond status" and making Hybrid Theory one of the most successful debuts ever.) Despite their meteoric rise, however, Linkin Park spent the remainder of the year holed up in the recording studio, again working with producer Don Gilmore on a follow-up album. Meanwhile, the timely summer release of Reanimation helped appease the band's eager audience, offering remixed versions of Hybrid Theory's tracks.

A proper sophomore effort, Meteora, arrived in March 2003, featuring a heavier sound and stronger elements of rap-rock. Although the record spawned several modern rock hits, songs such as "Numb," "Somewhere I Belong," and "Breaking the Habit" furthered the band's crossover appeal by simultaneously charting on the Hot 100. Linkin Park once again supported the album with ample touring, including performances with the second annual Projekt Revolution Tour (the band's own traveling festival, which originally launched in 2002) and additional shows with the likes of Metallica and Limp Bizkit. Live in Texas was released to document the band's strength as a touring act, and the bandmates tackled various personal projects before beginning work on a second remix project.

Released in 2004, Collision Course found the band collaborating with king-of-the-mountain rapper Jay-Z, resulting in a number of mashups that sampled from both artists' catalogs. Collision Course topped the charts upon its release, the first EP to do so since Alice in Chains' Jar of Flies, and Jay-Z furthered his association with the band by asking co-founder Mike Shinoda to explore the possibility of a solo hip-hop project. He did, dubbing the project Fort Minor and releasing The Rising Tied in 2005 with Jay-Z as executive producer. Linkin Park then reconvened in 2006 to begin work on a third studio album, which saw Shinoda sharing production credits with Rick Rubin. The resulting Minutes to Midnight arrived in 2007, debuting at number one in several countries and spawning the Top Ten single "What I've Done." Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide

Group Members: Dave "Phoenix" Farrell Joseph Hahn Chester Bennington Rob Bourdon Mike Shinoda More >> Similar Artists: Incubus (hed) pe Alien Ant Farm Zebrahead Deftones More >>

Influenced By: Rage Against the Machine Nine Inch Nails More >> Followers: Emery Evanescence The Prom Kings More >>

Scary kids scaring kids

Taking their name from a Cap'n Jazz song, Phoenix sextet Scary Kids Scaring Kids began spewing impassioned post-hardcore that could be both shriekingly spastic and soothingly melodic in the early 2000s. Known for a reckless, incendiary live show, the band originally comprised Tyson Stevens (vocals/bass), DJ Wilson (guitar), Peter Costa (drums), and Chad Crawford (guitar). Wilson later picked up the bass following the addition of guitarist Steve Kirby and keyboardist Pouyan Afkary to the band's ranks. While still seniors in high school, the guys recorded their debut EP, After Dark, with Bob Hoag (Recover, the Format), independently releasing it that June before putting the band on the back burner. As members locally enrolled in college for the fall of 2003 -- and Costa returned to his first dream of working to be a concert pianist -- an escalating buzz around the band really began to take off, especially after the popular website absolutepunk.net posted their EP online. Next thing bandmembers knew, Scary Kids was back as their first priority with a new deal on Immortal Records. The label reissued After Dark in 2004. Recorded in five weeks under the production skills of Brian McTernan (Snapcase, Thrice), The City Sleeps in Flames appeared in June 2005. In spring 2006, Justin Salter officially took over drumming duties, replacing Costa in the band. Summer was spent on both the Warped Tour and separate dates with Haste the Day. Corey Apar, All Music Guide


Group Members:
Chad Crawford
Steve Kirby
Tyson Stevens
Peter Costa
Pouyan Afkary
More >>

Similar Artists:
From First To Last
Recover
Saosin
Yesterdays Rising
The Bled
More >>

Papa Roach

In the small Northern California town of Vacaville, four high school friends, Jacoby Shaddix, Jerry Horton, Dave Buckner, and Will James, decided to start a band. In 1993, they became Papa Roach, a band whose influences included prominent Bay Area acts such as Faith No More and Primus. Papa Roach quickly rose to the top of the Vacaville music scene with their blending of hip-hop, groove-funk, and hardcore.

After a couple of years of playing coffeehouses, pizza joints, and keg-parties, they were headlining such places as the Cactus Club in San Jose, the Cattle Club in Sacramento, and the Berkeley Square in Berkeley. Due to the antics of unpredictable Shaddix, and the raw power supplied by the band in live performances, Papa Roach captured the attention of younger audiences. In turn, kids showed their appreciation for the band by faithfully attending all the band's shows. In these early years, Papa Roach was able to support the Deftones on two shows, and have bands such as Incubus, Snot, Far, Human Waste Project, Downset and Fu Manchu open for them.

In the summer of 1996, while realizing athat they had something special, Papa Roach decided to make changes necessary to reach the next level. First, the band replaced bass player Will James because his commitment to church summer camp that would have prevented the band from practicing and playing any shows over the summer. Papa Roach did not have to go far to find their new bass player. Tobin Esperance, who was only 16 years old and who had been a roadie for Papa Roach since age 13, readily became the new bass player. Second, the band hired a manager, Bret Bair, to help them with bookings, promotions, and merchandising. With a new bass player and management in place, Papa Roach decided to enter the studio to record a full-length CD.

"Old Friends From Young Years" was recorded for $700 at E.S.P. Studios in Pittsburg, California, and was subsequently released in February of 1997. The CD contains 13 tracks, including the songs "Orange Drive Palms", and "Liquid Diet". Without any push from the band or management, many smaller independent and college radio stations in Chico, Davis, San Jose, Sacramento, and the Bay Area added Papa Roach to their playlists. To the bands' surprise, Papa Roach charted number one as Cal-State Sacramento's most requested band for five consecutive weeks. Papa Roach celebrated the release of their first album with several CD release shows. The Vacaville CD release show was attended by 700 kids, while CD release shows in Berkeley and Sacramento were attended by 400 and 300 kids, respectively.

Papa Roach's emerging popularity did not escape the eyes and ears of promoters, who started booking the band as a support act on many larger national shows. In March of 1997, Papa Roach played main support to Suicidal Tendencies in front of 1,000 people in Sacramento. They also either headlined or supported many of today's up and coming acts in the aggressive rock genre, including Incubus, Snot, Far, Human Waste Project, (hed) p.e., Sevendust, WIll Haven and Powerman 5000. Papa Roach has also played Southern California on a frequent basis, and is now becoming a regular at such reknowned clubs as the Troubador in Hollywood, and Soma in San Diego.

In April 1998, Papa Roach released "5 Tracks Deep", and E.P. containing five songs which sold 1,000 copies within the first month after its release. This CD exemplifies the natural growth in musicianship and song-writing ability within band since "Old Friends From Young Years" was recorded 18 months earlier. The songs "Revenge in Japanese" is a perfect example of the Papa Roach trademark sound where hip-hop verses lead to a catchy radio-friendly chorus. This results in a song with both energy and emotion that will attract diverse crowds of people.

BMTH - BFMV

Bring Me the Horizon (or BMTH as often referred to) is a deathcore band from Sheffield, Yorkshire. The band formed in the year 2004 from members of other bands within their local area.[1] They have incorporated elements of death metal and metalcore in their music, resulting in their genre best being described as deathcore into their sound on their debut album "Count Your Blessings" which was released October 30th 2006.

They are currently signed to the label Visible Noise Records, but were originally signed to the record label Thirty Days of Night Records. They were also the first band to be signed to that label. They have toured in the past with bands such as Lostprophets (headline), The Blackout; Killswitch Engage (headline) and The Haunted. They did a headlining tour of the UK during March and April with the now defunct metalcore band I Killed The Prom Queen.

They are also confirmed to be playing Download Festival 2007 in June also with Iron Maiden, Slayer and others.

Oli Sykes and Matt Nicholls are vegetarians and make this well known. They joined in a PETA campaign against KFC.

In a drunken state Oli Sykes once told a Kerrang journalist that "we [Bring Me the Horizon] are over-rated, our EP was shit, and kids only like us because of my [Oli's] hair"



Since their inception in 2003, the Welsh quartet Bullet for My Valentine have been taking cues from '80s metal bands and the punk-infused metal of the new millennium to make melodic, dark rock with, well, metal tendencies. Coming from Bridgend, South Wales -- breeding ground for the likeminded Funeral for a Friend and LostProphets -- the group consists of childhood friends Matthew Tuck (vocals/guitar), Michael Padget (guitar/vocals), Jason James (bass/vocals), and Michael Thomas (drums). Everyone in the group, except James, had been performing together for a few years in Jeff Killed John, when the day before entering the recording studio, their bassist abruptly walked out.

Regrouping under the new name Bullet for My Valentine with James on board, the guys reworked their sound and were signed at their second gig by London's Visible Noise. They released a self-titled EP in the U.K. in November 2004, and their debut full-length, The Poison, appeared that next fall. May 2005 saw the band sign to the U.S.-based Trustkill, re-releasing their EP, titled Hand of Blood, in August. That same year they won Kerrang!'s Best British Newcomer Award and headlined the magazine's XXV tour. With February 2006 came the U.S. release of The Poison, followed by a nationwide tour in support of Rob Zombie before Bullet for My Valentine headed back to the U.K. in June for their third stint at the Download Festival. The band released its second album, Scream Aim Fire, in 2008.

Escape The Fate

Succes By ronnie radke, Ex lead singer og now (not so good) Band since Craig from BlessTheFall took over. Whoes fault? Max's!...News from Las Vegas about ronnie radke's tragedy :(

For all that’s been said and written about former Escape the Fate lead singer Ronnie Radke, the 24-year-old has a certain zeal in his voice. “It feels good to have someone to vent to,” he says with a laugh from his 12-by-14-foot cell in High Desert State Prison, about 25 miles north of Las Vegas. Since he and his former band broke out of the city’s music scene in 2006, Radke has been called a lot of things—rock star, junkie, killer and, most recently, fugitive. That one came after he bailed out on his probation and the suspended 18- to 48-month prison sentence stemming from the now-infamous May 2006 fight that left 18-year-old Michael Cook dead and co-combatant Michael Colquitt injured. Radke was convicted of battery with substantial bodily harm.

But no one has really wanted to hear his side of the story, Radke says, and in his first exclusive interview since his January sentencing and subsequent imprisonment, Radke speaks out about the fight, his capture, his battle with drugs, the fans and his ultimate search for redemption.

Take me through June 15, the day you were taken into custody.

[The Nevada Parole and Probation Department] put me on the news for a probation violation, but they said it was a parole violation, but it wasn’t. I mean, it got all fucked up; they said that I had been involved in murder, and they brought Michael Cook’s family on TV … and for the media and the public to see that, it was devastating. So I got picked up right after Father’s Day. The police … tapped my phone, and they tricked me into going out for something, and they had all these undercover cars and a helicopter in the air, and that’s how they got me.

Audio Clip

Jailhouse interview with Ronnie Radke (Listener discretion advised)

You were sentenced to probation for the fight. Why did you abscond?

The courts gave me a recipe for disaster. They said I’d have to pay $93,000 in restitution, $30 a month to the probation officers, $30 a month to a drug counselor, $30 a month for impulse-control, and I’m not allowed to tour with my band, and I’d have to get a real job. So I said, “Fuck you.” I mean, what else was I supposed to do? I even tried to get a job as a bartender, but I have a felony, so they didn’t give me my sheriff’s card. So I tried, but with the drugs piling onto me and with the depression getting so much worse, there’s only so much a person can take.

The homicide report claims you were in total anguish over the fight and the killing of Cook. With that said, why do you think you were the only one left holding the bag, charged and ultimately convicted for the fight that got Cook killed?

Because of my fame. I mean, my friend [Chase Rader, who fired his gun at Cook] saved my life, dude, and I don’t think he deserves any jail time, either. Yeah, of course we [Radke and Chase and Joe Rader] went there to fight, but … they started it … and if it wasn’t for [Radke’s longtime friend] Maxwell Greene, that fight would never have happened. I mean, I always stick up for Max, he’s a smaller guy, and I’d always be his bigger brother, you know, people would have to come through me first to get to him. But [brothers Michael and Marcel Colquitt, who had been threatening to beat up Greene until Radke intervened] started calling me and harassing me, saying they were going to come to my house and murder me. Then they started calling me “pussy” and this and that if I don’t show up to fight them. So I go there … and they had about 12 people with them, and we had four people. They ran up, pulled a gun out, fired it, my friend Joe Rader grabbed the gun, [Chase’s] gun went off three more times, and Chase gets self-defense, and that’s how I get stuck with the bag. [Editor’s note: Police reports differ slightly on the specifics of this incident.]

Ronnie Radke with Escape the Fate in better days.

Does it kind of piss you off that Chase wasn’t brought up on any charges?

I’m just glad he didn’t get murdered, because you can only imagine how much worse it could have been.

You and new ETF singer Craig Mabbitt were once friends. How upset were you about the band’s decision to hire him after firing you?

Mabbitt was burrowing himself within the band … while trying to avoid me. And he’s not better than me. I’d fucking tear him up, and I’d tear him up onstage. I mean, look at him now versus before [when he was in Arizona hardcore band blessthefall]. He looks exactly like I did; he even wears his little flavor-saver moustache like me. I mean, come on. He went from little emo kid to hair-metal boy or whatever you’d call it.

With the band moving on, you’re writing music in prison, right?

Oh my God, man, there’s a storm coming. Here’s was what was supposed to go on. On July 19, I was supposed to fly to Virginia to record an album with ex-member Omar Espinosa. I was supposed to join a band with Espinosa, and the producer is pissed because he paid for the tickets, and then I end up on the news. [When I get out] I already have a band name, and I already have a band. I mean, I was supposed to record the album, and it sucks. I mean, that’s what hurts the most … But as soon as I get out, and the label Epitaph said if I stay off of drugs, they’ll drop the album for me. Everyone thinks that because I was kicked out of the band that I’m off the label automatically. I signed a fucking contract, and they tell me that since I signed a contract, no matter what I do, they own it.

What is your average daily routine in jail?

Well, I make three shanks a day [laughs]. I’m just kidding. No, no, it’s not as crazy as you’d think. I mean, my cellmate, Lucky, well, he has life, and he’s maybe the most insightful person I’ve met, and I’ve learned more in here than I ever have before. I mean, it’s not like what you see on TV and shit. I mean, sure, there are dark places you go, but those are for the idiots and the people who have no common sense. My routine is basically, I wake up, they pop the door, go to breakfast at 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning, come back, go back to my cell, wait about an hour, come back out, then there’s tier time, where you’re inside hanging out, and yard time, where you go out, hang out, play some basketball, do some push-ups, smoke some cigarettes and play handball, which is a really fun game, go back to your cell, go to dinner, get your mail, and that’s your normal day.

How many letters a week would you say you get from fans?

Probably 100 to 120.

Have you run into any fans in prison?

You know, the first day I’m in here, I’m nervous, and I get approached by this guy Shannon in the yard, and he asks if my name is Ronnie. And I’m like yeah, and he said his daughter wrote him to ask if he was in prison with me. Then I had a couple of other people who I had to sign their kids’ pictures and write a couple of other people letters, so I would say I got kind of a status in here, and a lot of people in here got my back, and I don’t have to really watch over my back every second.

What about the drugs?

I was approved for a drug rehabilitation program here in prison because I straight up said, “I have a drug problem, and if you just put me in the open, with the drug, I don’t want to fuck up.” So they’ll be sending me to this drug program, and I’ll only have six months left.

Are you afraid of being hurt or killed in prison?

You can smell death when you walk onto the yard. There are guys watching you with shotguns, and if you even pick a rock off of the ground, they’ll shoot you. Right when you get to the yard, it’s automatically crack, break or man up. You either have a mental breakdown or you be a man.

Do you feel that by going to jail you will have atoned for your sins?

You know, that’s my karma, man. I don’t deserve to be in here for the crime that was charged to me. I deserve to be in here for the things I’ve done to other people. Saying that, it makes me feel good.