THURSDAY **

Thursday is an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Formed in 1997, the group has released six full-length albums, their most recent being No Devolución, which was released in April 2011 on Epitaph Records. Every year, Thursday holds a performance on or within days of New Year's Eve, as a tradition for local New Jersey fans.

History

Formation and Waiting

Thursday was formed in 1997 by vocalist Geoff Rickly, guitarist Tom Keeley, guitarist Bill Henderson, bassist Tim Payne, and drummer Tucker Rule. The band began playing basement shows in New Brunswick and surrounding New Jersey and New York areas. They played their first official show on December 31, 1998 in Rickly's basement alongside Midtown, Saves the Day and Poison the Well.

They recorded demos to hand out at shows, and in the summer of 1999, teamed up with MP3.com for their first official release, the 1999 Summer Tour EP, which featured demos of songs that would soon be found on their debut album, Waiting. The album was released on December 6, 1999 on northern New Jersey-based Eyeball Records without any singles or support from television or radio.

Full Collapse

Hesitant to join a larger label, but with full support from Eyeball Records, Thursday signed to Chicago-based label Victory Records and released Full Collapse on April 10, 2001, without much radio or television support, but in a way that the band had not originally intended. Victory Records originally wanted to remove the lyrics from the packaging against the band's wishes in order to cut costs, but the released LP has all lyrics and minimal artwork, a rare thing for the band.

Thursday toured in support of the album, including a tour with Saves the Day that caught the attention of Victory Records. Victory Records filmed a music video for "Understanding in a Car Crash" consisting of live footage of the band and marketed the song as the band's first single, without the band's authorization. The video for this song received heavy airplay on both MTV2 and Muchmusic. The song gained the band a large underground following. A second single, "Cross Out the Eyes", would follow, but it received much less attention.

Thursday was routinely upset at Victory Records over the use of the band's image and promotion, including the label's attempts to distribute Thursday-themed whoopie cushions. The band's newfound popularity and disgust with the label led to internal problems that bred the Five Stories Falling EP, a release the band used to fulfill contractual obligations with Victory Records. At live shows, the band routinely told fans not to purchase the EP, but instead to download "Jet Black New Year", the one new song found on the EP amidst live performances of four Full Collapse songs and the first song created since Full Collapse, a time during which the band almost broke up. "Jet Black New Year", the only studio track on Five Stories Falling, showed a darker side of the band that was only hinted at on Full Collapse.

War All the Time

Having parted ways with Victory Records and joining Island Records, Thursday issued their major label debut, the critically acclaimed War All the Time on September 16, 2003. The entire writing and recording process took only six months; the band has claimed they almost forced themselves into a contained sound on the album. The album's title, coupled with it being released approximately two years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, led many critics to believe it was a political album; however, Rickly has denied this on many accounts, instead claiming that he is speaking about love being a war. War All the Time features Andrew Everding on keyboards, though he would not become an official member of the band until December 26, 2003, when he was officially welcomed into the band at the band's Christmas holiday shows held at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey.

War All the Time spawned two singles, "Signals Over the Air" and "War All the Time", though the latter received considerably less attention due to MTV banning the video for controversial material involving a fake news feed that appeared to be real and teenagers being weapon targets.

Thursday toured extensively to support War All the Time through many dates with acts such as AFI, Thrice, and Coheed and Cambria. On these tours, Thursday performed many in-store acoustic sessions at various Tower Records stores and other record stores. The band also recorded a live acoustic session for Y100 Sonic Sessions, a radio program on the now defunct Philadelphia-based radio station, Y100. The live acoustic version of single "Signals Over the Air" was used on Y100 Sonic Sessions Volume 8.

Following War All the Time, the band released two EPs. The first was Live from the SoHo & Santa Monica Stores Split EP and sold exclusively on iTunes; the second was a promotion found in Revolver, called Live in Detroit EP.

The band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2004. The band cited label pressure, extensive touring, and health problems as the sources of their newly discovered fatigue. However, Thursday returned once again for a charitable cause to save New York City's CBGB, on August 25, 2005. This performance was streamed live through the CBGB's website.

A City by the Light Divided 

In fall 2005, five Thursday demo songs were stolen from My American Heart's tour manager's iPod. Rickly had recently collaborated with My American Heart for the track "We Are the Fabrication". The band issued a statement on their official website stating that they were disappointed the unfinished products leaked, but that they were glad that people take that much interest in their music. The band confirmed the title of one demo, "At This Velocity" and promised it would make their upcoming album. Three other songs ("The Other Side of the Crash/Over and Out (Of Control)", "Telegraph Avenue Kiss", and "Autumn Leaves Revisited") would also make the album. The remaining demo would later become the song "Last Call" on their fifth studio album, Common Existence.

Thursday originally toyed with the idea of a double album to follow up War All the Time, but scrapped that idea, reporting on their website that not even The Beatles could properly fill two discs with enough worthy material.

Dave Fridmann-produced A City by the Light Divided, Thursday's first full-length album not produced by Sal Villanueva. The title is influenced by a poem from Octavio Paz – Rickly combined two lines from one of his poems ("Sunstone") to create the title. The album was officially previewed on the band's MySpace on April 18, 2006, and officially released May 2 on Island Records in America and Hassle Records in the UK.

A City by the Light Divided was generally received well by critics, and spawned two singles, "Counting 5-4-3-2-1" and "At This Velocity", though the latter received considerably less attention.

Kill the House Lights

The band parted ways with Island Records in early 2007. A private show they performed on May 3, 2007 in New York City allowed long-time friend "The Rev" to propose to his fiancee on stage. Thursday also held a performance on May 5 at The Bamboozle under the fake name "Bearfort". They cancelled all tour plans until their fall tour with Circle Takes the Square and Portugal. The Man in support of Kill the House Lights, a DVD/CD retrospective released by their former label Victory Records. At their 2007 New Year's Eve show at the Starland Ballroom, the band announced that they will be writing and recording new material in 2008.

Split album with Envy

Thursday announced on April 2, 2008 via a MySpace bulletin and their official website a new split album with Japanese post-hardcore band, Envy.

“	We've decided to convert rumor into fact and lay it all out for all you good peoples. New Jersey's Thursday and Old Tokyo's Envy will come together to release a split LP+CD this fall, released by Temporary Residence Ltd. It will be a limited edition LP+CD set; there will be no separated CD or LP versions. Both formats will come in one package, and both will contain the same music. This means it may not be available in Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Circuit City, or most 'record' stores in the mall. But it will certainly be available at your local independently owned record store, while supplies last. We're not yet sure how limited it will be; maybe 10,000, maybe a billion (probably closer to the former, as we really don't have space for a billion LPs). In addition, there will be a deluxe, hand-printed edition that will be sold exclusively through our webstore. These will be screenprinted by hand, and will be limited colored vinyl editions. There is no specific release date set yet, but look for this around Sep/Oct.	”
—Thursday.net, "SPLIT WITH ENVY". 2008-04-02. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080423080940/http://thursday.net/thursday/news.asp?xid=3771&id=1437782. Retrieved 2008-06-10.

The band debuted a song from the album live in Poughkeepsie on April 24, 2008.

The album was released on Temporary Residence Limited on November 4.

Common Existence

The band announced on September 30, 2008 that they'd signed with Epitaph Records. Regarding their new label, the band said the following: "It's a great feeling to have a label encourage you to be more socially conscious and politically active." 

Thursday finished recording and mixing their full-length album entitled Common ExistenceEpitaph Records. In a March 2009 interview, Rickly explained the album's title refers to humanity's shared experience, and that many of the songs were influenced by the words of his favorite poets and authors. which was released on February 17, 2009 under

“

Almost every song on the record is connected to a different writer. The first song, "Resuscitation of a Dead Man" is influenced by Denis Johnson's Resuscitation of a Hanged Man. Another song is based on a book [Martin Amis'] Time's Arrow. The whole record also has a lot of themes from Roberto Bolano, a poet who wrote The Savage Detectives and a few other things. The song "Circuits of Fever" is very influenced by [writer] David Foster Wallace.

”

Cormac McCarthy has also influenced Rickly.

Thursday headlined the 2009 Taste of Chaos Tour with support from Bring Me the Horizon, Four Year Strong, Pierce The Veil, Cancer Bats and a local act. Thursday was not well received on this tour due to the majority of the audience members showing up at tour dates for Bring Me the Horizon. Tom Keeley approximated about 90% of the audience would leave before their set, and described the tour as an "awful experience."

No Devolución

Thursday entered the studio to record No Devolución in July 2010. Their second release for Epitaph Records was recorded at Tarbox Road Studios in Fredonia, New York with Dave Fridmann, who previously produced A City by the Light Divided and Common Existence with the group. Vocalist Geoff Rickly commented on the style of the new album, stating, "In style, this record feels like a radical departure from our earlier records but in substance it feels like a return. The songs are more vulnerable than they've been in a long time. [...] It's very atmospheric and mood oriented so far." Geoff Rickly has stated that the primary lyrical theme is devotion. No Devolución was released on April 12, 2011. Thursday debuted "Turnpike Divides" at their annual holiday show on December 30, 2010 at the Starland Ballroom.

Genre and musical style

Thursday has been credited as one of the bands most responsible for the mainstream of emo and post-hardcore alongside bands such as Sunny Day Real Estate, which has been stated to be one of the main influences for Thursday's sound. The band is also credited for helping to popularize screamo in the early 2000s.

THE USED **

The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah. The band was founded in 2001 and signed to Reprise Records the same year. They rose to fame in June 2002 after releasing their self-titled debut album. They followed up with their second album, In Love and Death, in September 2004 and their third album, Lies for the Liars, in May 2007. An EP, Shallow Believer, was released in February 2008 that featured most of the band's B-sides to date. They spent the entire year of 2008 working on their fourth studio album, which was released on August 31, 2009, called Artwork. The band has achieved both Gold and Platinum statuses in more than six countries worldwide and has sold over 3 million records worldwide.

History

Formation and Demos from the Basement (2001)

The Used continued to write songs together and recorded a demo album in drummer Branden Steineckert's bedroom titled Demos from the Basement. Steineckert sent their songs to producer John Feldmann from the skagroup, Goldfinger. After he heard the song "A Box Full of Sharp Objects", he gained an interest into having the band signed to a label. Feldmann flew the band to Los Angeles taking them out of their home state for the first time in their lives and played the songs for various record executives to try to get them signed, however, the first few weren't interested and it left John discouraged. Eventually, many copies of the demo were received by many record label representatives who found an interest into signing them. With many labels at The Used's choice, they decided to sign to Reprise Records in late 2001.The Used was founded in January 2001 with the recruitment of members that were a part of several other bands throughout the 1990s. Founding members Branden Steineckert,Quinn Allman and Jeph Howard engaged into the plan of starting the band and had music already prepared, but did not have lyrics and required a vocalist. Auditions for singers were held at Jeph Howard's residence. Upon observations, the band was not satisfied with any of the results that the vocalists displayed and described the auditions as "terrible". Although, when Allman confronted Bert McCracken, he asked if he was interested in joining the band. Upon McCracken's meeting of the other band members, he was impressed with the material they created. After being given music that the band had written, McCracken wrote the lyrics to what would become "Maybe Memories" and returned the next day to record a demo version of the song. McCracken was then officially confirmed as being the band's vocalist. Throughout all of this, the band members suffered from poverty, homelessness, and substance abuse. They even panhandled for change in order to buy food to stay alive. The members decided on their band name as being "Used" when their friends claimed they felt "used" when contact was lost between them and band members due to them becoming more involved in the band.

Self-titled album and Maybe Memories (2002-2003)

In 2002, it was discovered that a Boston band had already trademarked the name "Used," so they decided to add "The" to their name, thus deciding "The Used". Their self-titled debut album was released on June 25, 2002, and was produced by John Feldmann. The album received mixed reviews and featured four singles: "A Box Full of Sharp Objects", "The Taste of Ink", "Buried Myself Alive", and "Blue and Yellow", with the latter three entering the charts. The album has been certified gold.The Used would go on to play Warped Tour, Ozzfest, and Projekt Revolution, as well as Box Car Racer's first and only tour. During these tours, they had a 5th member, a touring guitarist by the name of Greg Bester. He was forced to return to his home country when he couldn't get a working Visa. The band received much recognition when Bert McCracken dated Kelly Osbourne. These events brought the band much fanfare and popularity. In July 2003, The Used released a compilation CD/DVD combo package titled Maybe Memories. The CD features live, rare, previously unreleased tracks, and demo material while the DVD features the history of the band, member bios, and part of a live concert. Upon its high sales, Maybe Memories has been certified platinum.

In Love and Death (2004-2005)

Lies for the Liars (2006-2007)

In 2004, lead vocalist Bert McCracken's ex-girlfriend, who was pregnant with his child, died of a drug overdose.Their second studio album was thus named In Love and Death, released as a reference to the tragedy McCracken dealt with during the recording. The song "Hard to Say" was a reference to McCracken's ex-girlfriend; although the song was written years earlier, its dedication was only then declared. In Love and Death received generally favorable reviews and spawned three singles: "Take It Away", "All That I've Got" (which earned them their first MuchMusic Video Award nomination), and "I Caught Fire", before being re-released in 2005. "Under Pressure" (a Queen and David Bowie cover song performed with My Chemical Romance) was featured as a bonus track on the re-release. The album has been certified gold. After finishing up an international tour for the album, The Used took about 8 months off before starting to work on their next album.

Artwork (2008-2009) 

On September 12, 2006, The Used announced and confirmed that Branden was no longer a member of the band. They said they felt they needed to move forward without him, and that there was a personality conflict between Branden and another band member; however, they did say that they love Branden and wish him the best in whatever he does in the future. In late 2006, it was announced drummer Dan Whitesides of New Transit Direction would replace Steineckert. 

Branden has since joined Rancid to replace former drummer Brett Reed. On February 6, 2007, The Used released a live double-album, Berth, which includes a DVD that features the entire concert of their performance at the Taste of Chaos 2005 tour in Vancouver and a disc that features it on audio. The DVD also includes a biography of the band and four music videos. The biography depicts the band in the position of where they were after the release of Maybe Memories and what lead them into creating In Love and Death. The sellings of Berth lead it to be certified as gold. The Used spent most of the early part of 2007 on the Taste of Chaos tour, before their third album, Lies for the Liars was released May 22, 2007. They headlined the Give It a Name festival and in June, The Used played the MuchMusic Video Awards for the first time ever, and also received their second nomination for Best International Group Video, for "The Bird and the Worm". 

The Used were scheduled to play Warped Tour in June and July, in support of their album, but were forced to cancel due to McCracken's required surgery, of which required the removal of a node from his vocal cords. After McCracken recovered, the band played the Reading and Leeds festivals in August, and went on to tour the United States in September. Lies for the Liars charted in the top 5 in more than seven countries, and there were 4 singles released: "The Bird and the Worm", "Liar Liar (Burn in Hell)", "Pretty Handsome Awkward", and "Paralyzed". Although Dan Whitesides was chosen as the new drummer, Dean Butterworth of Good Charlotte recorded drums for the album. With a six-month recording process, it was the longest session The Used had ever done for an album. Lies for the Liars generally received mixed reviews. Originally, Lies for the Liars was expected to be a double-album 19 songs were recorded, but this plan was canceled after they decided to save the songs for a future release. Before the release of Lies for the Liars, The Used had planned on releasing an EP of the album's B-sides. On February 19, 2008 the EP was released, titled Shallow Believer; it was only released on digital music stores and it has charted #14 on iTunes' Top 100 albums.

They embarked on tour in support of "Artwork" in late 2009 with The Almost and Drive A, and on another supporting tour in early 2010 with Atreyu and Drive A.The Used worked on their fourth studio album throughout all of 2008. They took several breaks while working on the album to be the headlining band on the inaugural "Get a Life Tour" and to play shows Jakarta,Indonesia; Seoul, South Korea; and the 'Spare the Air Festival' in California. The album was produced by Panic at the Disco's producer Matt Squire, making this their first studio album not produced by John Feldmann. 

They decided to go with a different producer because they want the album to be different from everything else that they've done in the past. It is also the first studio album by The Used to feature Dan Whitesides as the drummer since he joined the band in 2006. In Alternative Press, McCracken stated "In the past, we've always kind of brought pop sensibility into heavy rock, but this is going to be all that much more tantalizing and brutal. Our songs are 10 times messier and noisier than they've ever been.", it also revealed information about the concept of the album: "This record is about coming to grips with how much you really hate yourself and knowing you can never hate yourself to the full extent, so you're free to hate yourself as much as you want to". McCracken went on to say "we [had not] been this excited about an album since our self titled back in 2002." 

The album was named "Artwork" and was released along with a DVD for the pre-order and first run of the album in stores. after. The cover of "Burning down the House" by the Talking Heads was released on the Warner Bros. cover compilation album Covered, A Revolution in Sound, and will also be featured on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – The Album. 

They played at the Bamboozle Festival (New Jersey) May 2009. The single "Blood on My Hands" was released on iTunes June 31, and was accessible to be streamed for one day only on the band's website. On July 21, the pre-order was available. Artwork became available world wide on August 31, 2009. The band played a major US tour in October and November 2009, and is now engaged in an arena tour supporting Three Days Grace in Canada. The band premiered the music video for the song "Empty with You" on December 9, 2009 via TwitVid.

On March 2, 2010, The Used released 2 EPs exclusive to iTunes.

On March 11, 2010, The Used announced that they are heading out on a US tour along with Chiodos and New Medicine. This tour begins on April 13.

Fifth studio album (2010-present)

On April 29, 2010, The Used stated on their website that they intend on releasing their fifth studio album before the end of the year. Regarding their canceled inclusions in Europe, Russia and the UK due to parting ways with their management team, The Used announced:

"We will reschedule these shows as soon as possible. In the meantime, we have begun writing and recording for our upcoming album. We look forward to returning with a new album and tour dates soon."

However, since this blog post was released, apparent conflicts with their management and record label have meant that the new album is now likely to be released in Summer/Autumn 2011.

Drummer Dan Whitesides revealed that the band had parted ways with Reprise Records (joking about "firing" them) and were currently searching for another record label; though he claims also to look into possibility of remaining unsigned for their upcoming fifth album. He also announced that The Used are now under new management (referring to them as 'Keith and John').

Following tweets and the SmartPunk interview, the 4-member band is understood to have started recording tracks for their currently un-named album at John Feldman's (producer of the first three albums) residence.

Musical style

The Used's music has been classified under many sub-genres of rock. Their musical style has been labeled as emo, screamo, post-hardcore, alternative rock, pop-punk, punk rock and even as hard rock, heavy metal, alternative metal and metalcore. On their official pages their musical style has been described as alternative rock, punk, rock, post-hardcore, "gross pop", "light jazz" and funk rock.

Gross pop

Gross pop is musical genre what The Used hoped to make with Artwork. In Alternative Press magazine, McCracken described the new genre as: "In the past, we've always kind of brought pop sensibility into heavy rock, but this is going to be all that much more tantalizing and brutal. Our songs are 10 times messier and noisier than they've ever been. Quinn Allman has said about "Gross pop" as: "It's gonna be pretty raw. I think a lot of the stuff is very much more poetic and lyrical, and the sound is more retro and raw with less production".

Controversies

Emo and screamo

Even thought their musical style has been classified as under many sub-genres of rock, their musical style has been mostly labeled as emo or screamo. Frontman Bert McCracken has denied the band being as "emo" or "screamo", he also described "screamo" as being a "very silly word". Jeph Howard has also said in a interview that the band is not "emo" or "screamo" and he claimed the band never was a "emo" or "screamo" band, just a rock band. McCracken has also made claims that [The Used] "No longer wanted to be a part of the scene that was eating them alive – screamo" along with other bands such as Glassjaw, Poison the Well, Finch, Thrice and Thursday.

Feud with My Chemical Romance

The Used and My Chemical Romance were friends with each other. They both recored a song together called "Under Pressure" for tsunami relief, cover from Queen featuring David Bowie, and they have been performed that song together. Bert McCracken appeared in My Chemical Romance's album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge at track "You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison" as additional vocals. In 2005, McCracken has stated that he and Gerard Way doesn't speak anymore and it has nothing to do with their success, but the rest of the band members are still friends with My Chemical Romance.In 2007, when The Used released a single called Pretty Handsome Awkward, there has been rumours that the song is about Gerard Way, but McCracken has stated that is not true and he also said "I Couldn't give less of a shit about MCR". There has been some rumours that The Used wrote songs about Gerard Way. Rumoured tracks are "The Bird and the Worm", "Hospital", "Slit Your Own Throat" and "The Best of Me", but they haven't answered about the tracks and it's not known that are they about Gerard Way.

RIVAL SCHOOLS ***

Rival Schools are a post-hardcore band from New York, featuring Walter Schreifels on vocals and guitar; Ian Love on guitar; Cache Tolman on bass guitar; and Sam Siegler on drums.

Formed by Schreifels, frontman of the influential group Quicksand, Rival Schools were a hardcore 'supergroup' - its members being alumni of such '80s and '90s hardcore bands as Gorilla Biscuits (Schreifels), CIV (Siegler), Youth of Today (Schreifels and Siegler) and Iceburn (Tolman).

The band's name (and that of their first LP) comes from the Capcom fighting game, Rival Schools: United By Fate. In their short history, the band toured both the United Kingdom, supporting A, and the United States.

In 2008, the band reformed to play some live shows, including Soundwave in Australia, Rock Am Ring in Germany, Hove Festival in Norway, a headline tour and Download Festival in the United Kingdom.

On November 16th, 2010 the band released the deluxe single for Shot After Shot on iTunes from the forthcoming record Pedals to be released in March 2011.

History

Formation and United by Fate (1999-2002)

Rival School's first release was based around the concept of a series of EPs where multiple groups would come together to form a single band. For this, they teamed up with former Far leadman, Jonah Matranga. The lone result of this experiment was titled Rival Schools United by Onelinedrawing, released on 24 July 2001 by Schreifels' Some Records.

Their full-length album, United by Fate, was produced by the Grammy-nominated Luke Ebbin and released on 28 August 2001. Due to obligations from Schreifels' time with Quicksand, the album was released by Island Records. Two songs from the album saw release as singles: "Used for Glue" closely followed the album's release, with "Good Things" coming later. Both songs enjoyed heavy rotation on MTV in the US and UK.

Rumored second album and dissolution (2003-2007)

The band went down when member Ian Love left the band in 2002. In between touring with the band, he'd formed Cardia and eventually left to focus on them. Regardless, a second album was expected for Spring/Summer 2003, but never surfaced commercially (the master tapes, comprising 11 songs, were later leaked onto the Internet). The rest of the band parted ways in September 2003: Schreifels went on to form Walking Concert; Love recorded a self-titled solo album in 2006, released on Limekiln Records; Tolman went on play with Institute; and Siegler joined Nightmare of You and briefly provided percussion for Limp Bizkit.

Despite the band's dissolution, rumours persisted that a new Rival Schools album would be released. This album would presumably be the never-released second LP, however other suggestions have been of an album of B-sides and unreleased songs or of an album of new material, performed by a reformed Rival Schools. Schreifels himself mentioned the likelihood of a new album, with it being mooted for late 2006, although it is yet to surface. The "unreleased 2nd album" has been widely available for some time on the file-sharing network Soulseek, and is composed of a collection of B-sides and unreleased material.

Reunion (2008-present)

On April 9, 2008 the German Rock am Ring & Rock im Park rock music festivals announced that Rival Schools would perform at the festival on June 8, 2008. The band also played the second stage of the Download Festival in Donington Park, UK on the same day Kiss headlined. The band advertised a 5 date UK tour in Kerrang! Magazine (7 May 2008), and set up an official Myspace page, on which Schreifels revealed the band were writing new material. New songs aired at the UK dates have included 'Big Waves', 'Paranoid Detective', 'On the Frey' and 'Sophia Lauren'. Rival Schools is scheduled to play at the Fun Fun Fun Festival in Austin, TX in November, and then at the Soundwave festival in February, 2009. On January 24, 2009 the band announced on their MySpace that they were entering the studio to start recording their as yet untitled new album. In August 2009, they played the UK Reading & Leeds festivals on the 'Lock Up' stage alongside Mad Caddies, The Bronx and Rise Against. Rival Schools also supported The Offspring at their UK shows.

On February 10, 2010 they confirmed that their new album Pedals (album) would be out in summer of 2010. The album was pushed back until March 8, 2011.

On November 16th, 2010 the band released the deluxe single for Shot After Shot on iTunes from the then forthcoming record Pedals (album)

On March 8, 2011 Pedals (album) was finally released.

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND **

Funeral for a Friend are a Welsh rock band, from Bridgend. Formed 2001, they have released four studio albums, five EPs, fifteen singles, one DVD, and one compilation album.

History

Formation and EPs (2001-2003)

When Michael Davies, one of January Thirst's original vocalists, quit in December 2001, Matthew Evans (vocals) and Johnny Phillips (drums) invited Matt Davies (later Davies-Kreye) to try out for the vacated singer position. Soon afterward the band reformed as Funeral for a Friend, named after a song by Planes Mistaken for Stars.

During the start of the New Year they parted ways with second guitarist Kerry Roberts (Kris Coombs-Roberts's brother) and found a suitable replacement in Darran Smith (ex-Tripcage). The band recorded four tracks at Mighty Atom Studios for a proposed self financed EP with another Welsh band From This Moment On. Upon hearing the tracks, Mighty Atom Records approached the band and offered a two album deal, resulting in their debut EP, Between Order and Model (2002). Before the EP's release, Andi Morris (bass) quit, with Phillips and Evans also leaving. The band then recruited Gareth Davies (later Ellis-Davies) on bass and Ryan Richards on drums. Matt Davies became the band's only primary vocalist, with Gareth Davies performing backing melodies and Richards taking over Evans' screaming role.

In 2003, Funeral for a Friend recorded their second EP, Four Ways to Scream Your Name, produced and mixed by Colin Richardson.

In mid-2003, the band secured their first Kerrang! award, winning the award for "Best UK Newcomer", beating The Darkness, who won in all other nominated categories. Funeral for a Friend's win was largely attributed to their fervent fan base, as the awards winner was decided by public vote online at the official Kerrang! Web site.

In August 2003, Funeral for a Friend opened the Concrete Jungle stage at the Reading and Leeds Festivals.

Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation (2003-2005)

On 20 October 2003, after recording for the duration of the summer, Funeral for a Friend's full-length debut album was released. Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation, produced and mixed by Colin Richardson, was released to critical acclaim in the UK. The album did not see a concurrent release in the US (eventually released there on 13 July 2004); instead, a seven-track "mini-album", entitled Seven Ways to Scream Your Name, was released, and featured songs from the band's Between Order & Model and Four Ways to Scream Your Name EPs.

Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation saw three top-twenty singles including "Juneau" (#19), "She Drove Me to Daytime Television" (#20) and "Escape Artists Never Die" (#19).

Funeral for a Friend toured feverishly to promote Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation, including a series of European dates in which they opened for their idols, Iron Maiden. This was met with a mixed reception, as their style and fan base bore little resemblance to the heavy metal background of Iron Maiden. In 2004, the band headlined the second stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals.

Hours (2005-2006)

On 14 June 2005, the band released their second album Hours through Atlantic Records. The album was produced by Terry Date and was recorded in two Seattle, Washington studios owned by the grunge band Pearl Jam. The album featured unusual methods of recording, for example Matt Davies' vocals were recorded whilst in a moving car and on a crowded Seattle street, for the song "Drive".

In August of the same year, the band won a Kerrang! Award for "Best British Band".

Funeral for a Friend performed several low-profile shows in Wales, including Bangor University and Bridgend Recreation Centre, prior to the release of Hours. This contrasted against their subsequent shows, which included playing alongside bands such as Atreyu, Saosin, Hawthorne Heights and Thrice on the 2005 Vans Warped Tour. The band also performed on the main stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals, having to leave the Warped Tour early to do so. The band also played on the main stage of the Taste of Chaos tour in the US in 2006, alongside bands such as Story of the Year, Deftones and Thrice.

Funeral For a Friend closed the promotional jaunt for Hours in the Summer of 2006, with a series of UK shows rescheduled from February. Most of the original dates had been canceled because Matt Davies had suffered from a bout of laryngitis. Several other shows were scheduled in the UK to complement these rescheduled dates, and the tour culminated in a slot below headliners Guns N' Roses at the Download Festival at Donington Racetrack.

The rest of 2006 was spent writing and recording the band's third album, Tales Don't Tell Themselves released in May 2007.

Tales Don't Tell Themselves (2007)

Funeral for a Friend mentioned the writing of this album during their UK shows in summer 2006 and they started writing and recording at the end of the tour. Tales Don't Tell Themselves was released on 14 May 2007 in the UK, having been leaked to the internet on 10 May 2007. The band released video diary updates of the recording on their MySpace page.

On 19 March 2007, Into Oblivion (Reunion), the first single from the album, premiered on the Zane Lowe Show on Radio One. It was given a 7 May physical release, and the video can be seen and the song heard on their MySpace. It reached number 39 in its first week of release on downloads and reached number 16 in the Official UK chart on 13 May 2007.

A selection of intimate shows to promote the album were played on 12, 13 and 14 April 2007 in intimate coastal venues in the south of England. Only 200 tickets were available for each show and these had to be applied for via an e-mail sent to members of the FFAF mailing list. Names were then picked out of a hat and the selected people were offered the opportunity to buy a pair of tickets to the gig, exclusive t-shirts were given to anyone paying using paypal mobile.

On 8 May 2007 the band released Tales Don't Tell Themselves in its entirety for fans to preview via their MySpace page. This album is the first on which Matt plays guitar.

On 10 May 2007 the band played another intimate gig for Kerrang! 105.2 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall Bar, in which they played "Walk Away" for the very first time. This is one of the tracks which Matt plays guitar on live, alongside "Raise The Sail" and "The Sweetest Wave", which were debuted on the full tour in May 2007.

The album was their highest charting yet, reaching Number 3 in the UK Album Charts though to date it is also their lowest selling album.

On 16 July 2007 Walk Away, was released as the second single from Tales Don't Tell Themselves and reached number 40 in the UK singles charts.

It was announced in a newsletters that "The Great Wide Open" would be the next single and would be released as an EP. The EP, The Great Wide Open was released on 15 October 2007 through Atlantic Records, negating the release of the single itself.

Memory and Humanity (2008-2009)

On 26 January 2008, drummer Ryan Richards made an announcement on the band's forum, stating that FFAF were to spend the first few months of the year recording, with a view of releasing a four or five track EP in March or April 2008. After writing more material than originally planned, the band decided to scrap plans for the EP and released a full-length album instead. Ryan also announced that the new album would contain screaming vocals, riffs and would be closer to Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation than any of their other albums, although would still be significantly different and more technical, citing that they want to move forward, and never back to any old style.

On 11 May 2008, it was announced via a MySpace bulletin that the band would be shooting a video for the first single from the album, "Waterfront Dance Club", on 17 May. "Waterfront Dance Club" was played exclusively for the first time on Radio 1's Rock Show on 2 June 2008, where it was also announced that the single would be released as a double A-side with the track "Beneath the Burning Tree". Both singles were also released as a limited edition 7" on the same date.

The album's title was confirmed as Memory and Humanity by Rock Sound magazine on 30 June 2008, and that its release would take place in October 2008.

On 2 July 2008, the band announced the UK tour of Memory and Humanity, commencing 14 October 2008.

9 August 2008 saw the debut of the video for the single "Kicking and Screaming" on MySpace. Later that month on the 27th, it was announced that the band had licensed their new record to Victory Records for the U.S. and Canadian releases. The album was released via the label on October 28, 2008. It was also released via Roadrunner Records in the rest of the world, apart from the UK, where it was released through the band's own label, Join Us. The release was followed by a tour in Britain, Ireland and northern Europe, supported by Canadian metalcore act Cancer Bats.

On 4 September 2008, it was announced via a MySpace blog post that Gareth Davies had left the band, to be replaced by Gavin Burrough (Hondo Maclean, Ghostlines, The Future). "As some of you may know, Gareth has been living in America for the past couple of years, and recently got married. Ultimately, the strain of travelling between continents has taken its toll and Gareth made the decision that it would be in the best interests of himself, his family and Funeral to leave the band. We totally respect and understand his choice, wish him all the best in his future and we thank him for being part of our lives for the past 6 years." The first interview to surface with Burrough in the band appeared on the Rocklouder webzine in the week of the Memory and Humanity release.

In the 24 January 2009 issue of Kerrang! magazine, it was stated that the band were currently filming the video for the third single off the album, Rules and Games. The single was released on 23 March 2009. They will also be going on tour with We Are the Ocean supporting to coincide with its release.

Your History Is Mine (2009)

On 24 June 2009 it was revealed in Kerrang! magazine that the band were to release a greatest hits album, entitled Your History Is Mine: 2002-2009, on 28 September 2009. The compilation is to also contain four brand new tracks, which will be the first new material released by the band since the arrival of Burrough.

On 21 July 2009, Funeral For A Friend debuted one of the four new songs from the greatest hits album titled Your History Is Mine: 2002-2009. The song was called "Wrench" and premiered on Radio One's Rock Show with Dan Carter. Zane Lowe credited them as "one of the best British bands for the last decade" upon the release of Your History Is Mine.

The Young and Defenceless and Welcome Home Armageddon (2009-present)

On 17 November 2009, Funeral for a Friend noted on Twitter that they had begun work on a new album.

On 23 April 2010, Funeral for a Friend announced on Facebook that guitarist Darran Smith would be leaving the band, but not before playing his final shows. He wrote a farewell message on the band's website.

On 26 April 2010, Funeral for a Friend wrote on their forum about their lineup change, paying homage to the departure of their friend Darran Smith, but also announcing the new member. Gavin Burrough changed instrument from bass to guitar, taking over Darran's place as guitarist, and the new bassist of Funeral for a Friend will be Richard Boucher (Hondo Maclean, Hurricane-Joe, Ghostlines). The band noted: "He's SO good on bass that we let someone with blonde hair join our band. That ought to be an indication of how great he is." The band stated that they are excited for the new material being made and can't wait to show the fans what the have: "The creative well, is well and truly overflowing. Exciting times. Stay tuned, and be ready."

On 3 May 2010 the band announced that they will be releasing a special new EP to fans who "pledged" through website pledgemusic.com, the "pledge" options include the EP, a signed EP and even an acoustic performance by the band at a fan's residence. On 1 July 2010 the band revealed that the EP will titled The Young and Defenceless and also revealed the cover art. It was also announced via Kerrang! that the newly recorded EP would be released on 1 September 2010; however, in actuality, the downloadable version was released on 6 September 2010 with the physical copies being planned on being released sometime in the third week of October. On the 9th of November, Funeral For a Friend released a music video for the track Serpents in Solitude.

Towards the end of October 2010 they finished a session of recording for a new album for which a name and date were yet to be announced. On the 2nd of November, they played two new songs, confirmed to be on this album (which was announced as due for release in March 2011), called "Man Alive" and "Front Row Seats to the End of the World". Another song title was confirmed as "Spinning Over the Island".

During a performance in December, Davies stated that the album will be titled Welcome Home Armageddon. On the 10th of January 2011, the band released the official video for the album's leading single "Front Row Seats to the End of the World." On the 17th of January, they released the album's artwork and track list On the 24th of January, it was announced that the album was to be released by Good Fight Music, a move that would reconnect the band with the original label team that released Seven Ways to Scream Your Name and Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation. On February 9th, the band release the video for their newest single,"Sixteen."

Musical style and influence

Funeral for a Friend have been described to play within the genres of post-hardcore, screamo, and emo. They have mentioned Deftones, Iron Maiden and The Get Up Kids as their primary influences.