SAVES THE DAY **

Saves the Day is an American rock band from Princeton, New Jersey, formed in 1994. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Chris Conley, guitarist Arun Bali, bassist Rodrigo Palma, and drummer Claudio Rivera.

After forming under the name Sefler in 1994, Saves the Day released their debut studio album, Can't Slow Down, in 1998. It was followed by Through Being Cool (1999), which featured their first single, "Shoulder to the Wheel". Stay What You Are was released in 2001, peaking at number 100 on the Billboard 200. It spawned two successful music videos on MTV2, for the singles "At Your Funeral" and "Freakish", and has since sold 300,000 copies. After the success of Stay What You Are, Saves the Day signed to Dreamworks Records, who co-released their next studio album, In Reverie, with Vagrant Records. The band stated that the label had "completely abandoned it three days after it was released", with the album peaking at number 27 on the Billboard 200 and number 4 on the Independent Albums chart.

History

Formation and first releases

Saves the Day originally performed in the New Jersey area under the name Sefler as a four-piece band. The band changed their name in late 1997. Of the original lineup, only Chris Conley remains today. The band has gone through numerous lineup changes over the years and has only recorded two consecutive albums (Through Being Cool and Stay What You Are) with the same lineup, with Conley as the only permanent fixture.

The band's first proper release, Can't Slow Down, was recorded and released through Equal Vision Records in 1998 while the members were still in high school.

Using the band's own resources, they released a 5-song acoustic EP, I'm Sorry I'm Leaving EP in early 1999. Later that year, they released their second full-length with Equal Vision, Through Being Cool, which saw the band further refining their melodic sound. The band began drawing attention from some of the larger independent labels, eventually signing with Vagrant Records.

Stay What You Are and commercial exposure

In 2001, the band began moving away from their roots with the release of Stay What You Are. The album had a poppier feel with more intricate guitar work and arrangements rather than the previous power chord-based sound. The band gained some exposure with a video for the song "At Your Funeral," and made appearances on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, and The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. The band also released a video for "Freakish", featuring Muppet-esque puppets, in April 2002. Shortly after the album's release, guitarist Ted Alexander left the band and Conley took over guitar duties. The album was original drummer Bryan Newman's last recording with the band, who also left shortly after the album's release.

Major label signing for In Reverie

With the success of Stay What You Are, the band signed with major label Dreamworks Records, who would co-release their next album with Vagrant, who still had the band under contract. The 2003 release of In Reverie saw the band further experimented with their sound and feature less macabre lyrics than their past albums. The drastic change in sound was divisive among fans, and the album received little support from Dreamworks. The song "Anywhere with You" was released as a single, but went largely unnoticed. Conley later said the following about the album's release in an interview with Skratch Magazine:

"Dreamworks Records completely abandoned it three days after it was released, saying that we made the wrong record. Then they were sold a month later. They were worthless."

Shortly after the album's release, Dreamworks was absorbed by Interscope Records, who would eventually drop the band from its roster.

Ups and Downs: Early Recordings and B-Sides

The band fulfilled their contractual obligations with Vagrant with the 2004 release of Ups and Downs: Early Recordings and B-Sides, which was a collection of b-sides and also included the I'm Sorry I'm Leaving EP. It also featured a song from the band's early days under the name Sefler. Conley said in an AP Podcast interview that the wrong Sefler song had been put on the CD. He had asked for a different one but when he got the final version he saw it was wrong. The album was dedicated to former bassist Sean McGrath, who died in 2004 at age 28 after a two-year battle with intestinal cancer. McGrath recorded with the band on Can't Slow Down and left during the writing of Through Being Cool. The band was relatively inactive in 2004, during which time they set up their own studio, the Electric Ladybug, located in Durham, California.

Three-part concept: Sound the Alarm, Under the Boards and Daybreak

In early 2005, the band began writing their follow-up to In Reverie without a label. During the writing process, longtime bassist Eben D'amico left the band. He was replaced by Glassjaw bassist Manuel Carrero.

The band announced in January 2006 that they had re-signed with Vagrant, who would release Sound the Alarm in April. The album marked a return to the band's darker lyrics and drew more from their influences than In Reverie had. During the Sound the Alarm recording sessions, the band also recorded an EP of acoustic versions of several songs from past albums, which was sold on tour throughout 2006 as Bug Sessions Volume One. The band toured extensively throughout 2006 and early 2007 in support of the album.

The band recorded their fifth studio album, Sound the Alarm, in 2005, without a label. They eventually re-signed with Vagrant and released the album in 2006.It was announced that Sound the Alarm was part one of a three part concept. The next album in the trilogy was released in 2007, titled Under the Boards. The final album in the series is planned to be released in 2011, titled Daybreak.

In February 2007, they announced that 13 demos had already been recorded for a new album, which would be titled Under the Boards. It was also revealed that this would be the second of a three-part concept involving ''Sound the Alarm, Under the Boardsand the yet to be released Daybreak. Lead singer, Chris Conley said that "Sound the Alarm is an expression of discontent. Under the Boards is reflection and remorse. Daybreak is acceptance." More from Conley on the three album concept: "The whole trilogy was just a bit of a therapeutic experiment. I felt like all twisted up and broken inside and just angry and confused and depressed and sad and I couldn’t really deal with the world or myself. So I was just like this has got to end, I have to at least try and get a grip on the world and on myself. So I dove into the depths of my mind and brought out what I was finding, so the first album was filled with all the anger, the surface pain, and all the paranoid delusional thoughts that were there. The second album Under The Boards dealt with how all of that was making my life unbearable, and I realized I had to change so that album was the transitional part, starting to transition out of that dark place, because you realize how it's affecting your life. So Daybreak is coming to terms with everything and trying to understand why I actually got that way and learning to accept it by exploring what it is and why it was there and simultaneously trying to grow through it and be a better person, not purely full of anger."

In March 2007, after more than four years with the band, drummer Pete Parada left Saves the Day to join The Offspring. Carrero's Glassjaw bandmate Durijah Lang took over drum duties, and recorded on Under the Boards. Under the Boards was released on October 30, 2007, through Vagrant Records.

Chris Conley said in an interview that the next Bug Sessions would be a collection of live songs recorded on their 30-date acoustic tour. Volumes 2 and 3 of the once-tour-exclusive EPs were originally only sold on tour, but are now on the iTunes Music Store. After a string of shows on the east coast in late October 2008, Saves the Day planned to enter the studio to begin work on their next studio album, Daybreak. Daybreak is set to be released sometime in 2011, and will be the first time Saves the Day will release a record with not a single band member besides Chris having played on an earlier record.

It was announced in March 2009 that longstanding member David Soloway, would no longer be playing with Saves the Day. He will continue to play bass for his side project, Two Tongues, along with Chris Conley.

David Soloway's replacement was announced in April 2009 as Arun Bali.

On December 21, 2009, it was announced that Mannuel Carrero and Durijah Lang would be leaving to focus on Glassjaw. They were replaced by Rodrigo Palma and Spencer Peterson (Ex-Hidden In Plain View).

In September 2010, Spencer Peterson's personal website read that he had left Saves the Day and joined Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz' new electropop group Black Cards. About 2 weeks later, drummer Claudio Rivera's personal website read that he had joined Saves the Day.

In October 2010, the band announced that they would be selling dropcards to access a digital only EP, called 1984, while on tour with Say Anything and Motion City Soundtrack. The EP contains the track "1984" from their upcoming album Daybreak.

On March 7, 2011, it was anounced on absolutepunk.net that Saves the Day had signed to Razor & Tie Records, and Daybreak will be released in late spring.

Side projects

Chris Conley and former Saves the Day guitarist David Soloway, got together with Max Bemis and Coby Linder (of Say Anything) in 2009 to form super group Two Tongues. The group features Bemis and Conley sharing lead vocals and guitar duties with Soloway on bass guitar and Linder on drums. Thirteen songs were recorded in Electric Ladybug Studio, Conley's home studio in Chico, California. Bemis, Conley, and Linder previously collaborated on a cover song of Bob Dylan's "The Man In Me" for the compilation album Paupers, Peasants, Princes & Kings: The Songs of Bob Dylan released by Doghouse Records in 2006. The group's self-titled debut was released on February 3, 2009.

In fall of 2010, Two Tongues made their first performance as a surprise in the middle of Say Anything's set each night of the Motion City Soundtrack, Say Anything, and Saves the Day tour. They performed the song "Crawl". Arun Bali (current guitarist of Saves the Day) played guitar, Kenny Vasoli (of The Starting Line, and Person L) played bass, Jake Turner (of Say Anything) played guitar as well, Coby Linder played drums, while Chris Conley, and Max Bemis sang.