Everyone wants to know what’s happening to punk rock. It’s not supposed to be popular, right? There aren’t supposed to be chains of mall stores that sell CBGB t-shirts to twelve-year-olds. Punk bands aren’t supposed to wear clothes that fit just right and emit a faint scent of the latest in the line of Armani colognes. Does it make you angry?
Go listen to the Cro-mags, if it’d make you feel better.
Alli With An I doesn’t care about labels like punk rock. Or emo or hardcore. Or prog-metal or nu-metal or fucking old school (although they admittedly love certain bands within each of these). They see underground music as a confluence of people with something to say. A band can say whatever they want! Alli With An I cares more about friendship and fun and music without rules, social or otherwise, because when you start making up rules about what type of music a band should play, or how a band should act, what inevitably follows is insincerity. Alli With An I is a band that doesn’t need some manager to tell them to act nicely to people or to “go bat shit” when they play. They happen to be nice people. They happen to be full of energy. It’s what they know.
Alli With An I is the band from your town that didn’t break up because the singer fucked the guitarist’s girlfriend. They’re the band that won’t break up until there’s no more music to write, no more shows to be played. They’re the band that doesn’t care if they get big or not, but probably will. They’re just four great friends who love to make music, rock out, and meet people from all over.
Alli was formed in 2000 in Raleigh, NC when members of two high school bands from two different cities, Chapel Hill and Goldsboro, found themselves neighbors for the first time. The track records of each of these almost-forgotten high school bands were far from shabby. Together the two bands had played with bands like The Donnas, Tuesday (future Alkaline Trio), The Broadways (future Lawrence Arms), Digger (when they were good), My Pal Trigger, The Groovie Ghoulies starting when they were only fifteen and sixteen years old. These two bands were becoming well known when they all graduated from high school and left their bands to memory. Of course, landing in Raleigh, where one band would soon be made of the previous two, was the best thing that could have possibly happened. They still sell copies of the split seven inch record they cut in 1998. It’s on red vinyl. Pick it up!
About a year after Alli With An I started practicing in a storage space, with shitty equipment and infinitely more focus on the Pabst they were drinking than anything like the “marketability of their sound,” Alli With An I convinced a high school kid with money named Chris Carraway to release their first record, “Long Story Short.” Not really even knowing what they were doing or even wanted to do, the band started receiving surprisingly enthusiastic reviews for the record. Positive reviews were given by magazines such as Ride BMX, Maximum Rock ‘n’ Roll, Shredding Paper, Heartattack, punkbands.com and many international websites.
Alli With An I endured many hardships including the departure of their first bass player, Terry Toner. It seemed like the band would be defunct, but they decided not to lie down. Long time friend, Tom Sowders, happened to move back to North Carolina and enthusiastically joined the band. This added more flexibility, compatibility, and launched the band into a new level of songwriting and performance. Their first van, aptly called “Evil Jen,” broke down on numerous occasions. The engine finally ceased on their tour in December 2001. Determined to finish the tour, the band used it’s AAA privileges and got the van towed to numerous shows, instead of heading back home. No matter what gets in this band’s way, they show no signs of giving up.
The shows Alli With An I went from being obscure to locally known and very well-attended. Alli With An I has played with Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, Between The Buried and Me, Rufio, Grade, Strike Anywhere, Hot Rod Circuit, The Reunion Show, Codeseven, Good Riddance, Ten Foot Pole, Beloved, Glasseater, The Movielife, Stretch Armstrong, The Scaries, and The Flaming Caskets. They have also been a part of all five Friction Fest’s, a North Carolina fest held annually that will soon be drawing national attention considering Hot Water Music, The Lawrence Arms, Darkest Hour, and many up and coming bands have now joined the list of bands playing the fest.
After catching wind of Alli With An I’s growing fan base, Law of Inertia Records decided to make the band a very generous record deal. This time, two and a half years after the release of the “Long Story Short,” Alli With An I was going to have a chance to record with a legendary producer, to make an album that would do Alli With An I and their fans justice.
In June and July of 2003, Alli With An I recorded their most impressive work yet, a soon-to-be released record entitled, “I Learned By Watching You.” This album was recorded and co-produced by Brian Paulson, a name you might know from recording artists Beck, Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, Soul Asylum, Avail, Superchunk, Crooked Fingers, The Replacements, Archers of Loaf, Dinosaur Jr., Squirrel Nut Zippers, or any other of the many great bands and artists that have chosen to work with Paulson. The end result, to say the least, is very impressive.
Now with the second pressing of “Long Story Short” on the verge of being sold out, and the new record “I Learned It By Watching You” now available to the masses, Alli With An I is becoming a well-known band across the country and the world. In-between the release of their two records, the band has toured all over the country, playing at venues like CBGB’s, The Shelter, Cat’s Cradle, Go! Room 4, Maxwell’s, The Back Booth, Tremont Music Hall, and The Velvet Lounge. The Independent Weekly, a newspaper that reflects on the arts and culture of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, NC, voted Alli With An I’s drummer, Michael Sileno The Best Drummer in the Triangle and Best Local Band Name. The infamous BMX clothing company Underground Products sponsored Alli With An I in the hopes that the band would help advertise the company’s clothing on tour. The band has been approached by labels doing compilation cds and donated songs to all of them, including the NE vs. NC compilation, where Alli appears alongside bands like Cursive, Desaparecidos, The Good Life, Beloved, Sorry About Dresden, and The Scaries. Alli With An I did a split recording in Russia with native band Dreams Come True, had songs on several internationally distributed BMX videos, including Props, and attracted the attention of many labels, bands, and people like you. When they come to your town, go see them. But don’t just watch them play. Talk to them. Hang out with them. They want to meet you. You’re really the biggest reason they’re doing what they’re doing, and we don’t want them to stop.
Source: http://www.alliwithani.com/v_2/index.php?id=bio_band
