The Beginning
AllRise began is 1996, when brothers Adam (bassist/lyricist) and David (guitarist) Iscove teamed up with classmate Jeff "Murph" Murphy (percussionist/drummer) at Tufts University, near Boston, Massachusetts. Brought up on the vibrant "death-metal" scene of the San Fernando Valley in the late 80's - early 90's, it was under the guidance of master musicians from such countries as Ghana, Turkey, and India that the trio was taught that music was not just entertainment, but rather could be used for communication, religion, recorded history, and social change.
AllRise used this knowledge to their advantage, quickly becoming a favorite at Tuft's, with every show packed to the maximum with fervent fans. The guys recall one show when an eager fan jumped on stage between songs, grabbed the microphone, and proclaimed to the audience, "THIS IS THE MUSIC OF THE FUTURE!", which the crowd responded to with screams of affirmation. The guys decided that it was time to go out west and try to spread the message of AllRise.
West and Back Again
In 1997, AllRise traveled to San Francisco and with music inspired by such diverse artists as the Police, U2, Peter Gabriel, Seal, the Deftones and Rage Against the Machine, they quickly became a local favorite throughout the Bay Area. Crowds from U.C. Berkeley, the Oakland hip-hop, and traditional punk and hardcore scenes, all responded with rabid enthusiasm to the music and message of AllRise. Once the momentum in the west was begun, AllRise returned east in 1998 and hit the Boston scene while David attended the Berklee College of Music. The response from students and fans from colleges and clubs all over the city was overwhelming, and on the weekends, the band traveled around the Northeastern corridor, playing in New York, Montreal, and other cities. It was then that AllRise was awarded a grant from Tufts University for the filming of an original music video, prompting the band's return to Adam and David's hometown of Los Angeles in late 1998, where they decided to film their video.
Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, the guys connected with Adam and David's Godbrother Robin Thicke, who had established himself among the top of a new crop of songwriter/producers. Robin's company, RBI Records was growing quickly and AllRise decided to begin recording there. One of their first demos, "Up To Us", which appeared in the Miramax film "She's All That", quickly started an exciting buzz around Hollywood, and word of mouth about the band's intense live performances caught the industry's ear, even though the band hadn't even recorded their first album yet. When the band decided they had the right material to begin recording an album, they decided to do it independently with Robin producing.
During this time, Adam decided that in order for him to concentrate fully on his vocal performance, he needed to stop playing the bass. Luckily for the band, Robin had a young engineer working in his studio named Mike Sherman, who just happened to play bass and picked up where Adam left off, infusing his energy and style into the band. With the upcoming release of the band's first album, Access, a song featured on the soundtrack of the Mirimax film "Boys and Girls", and a video in post-production, AllRise is poised and ready for mainstream adulation. The stage is set for AllRise to explode onto the scene with a new sound for a new millenium. It has only just begun...
