In early 1998 five friends started a band called Death By Stereo. Ian Fowles, Efrem Schulz, Jarrod Alexander, Paul and Jim Miner started out practicing in Jarrods garage. After only a few months of practice they then decided to make a demo. They recorded a five-song demo at For The Record Studios, where Paul worked. Four of the songs later went on to be included on their album “If Looks Could Kill, I’d Watch You Die”. After they released the demo, they played their first show on March 5th, 1998 and continued to play shows in Southern California. The guys then released a two-song 7” called “Fooled By Your Smile”. Soon after the 7” was released Ian decided to leave the band and Keith Barney took Ian’s place.
The next step for the guys was to try and get a record label to put out a record for them. Indecision agreed to put an album for them, so the guys went back to For The Record to lay down tracks for their album. “If Looks Could Kill, I’d Watch You Die” was released on May 15th, 1999. The band then began to tour the U.S. in the summer of 1999. In the fall of ’99, Keith left Death By Stereo to pursue his other bands and Jarrod also decided to leave the band so he could attend school. The band then asked Tim Bender and Dan Palmer to join the band. While the guys were on their winter tour, Brett from Epitaph saw a Death By Stereo show and decided to sign the band. While the guys did a couple of short tours, they began writing songs for their new album. In May of 2000 they returned to the studio to start recording. When the guys finished recording they began their 2000 summer tour. When the tour ended the guys realized that they needed to remix the record, which seriously delayed the release of the record. The album was finally released in January of 2001 and the guys then embarked on a two and a half month tour around the U.S. and Canada. However, having been on tour for so long Tim decided to part ways with the band. Death By Stereo then asked their good friend Todd Henning to join the group. This pop punk band is definitely a band you don’t want to miss!
