Brian Pho, Matt Pittman, Justin Wilson, Jeff Wilganoski
We started in the fall of 1998. There were rooms for rent in Grand Prairie, Texas, so we rehearsed in the cheapest one. Jamie Shipman was playing bass guitar, and we were all restless to create music. Our other bands were broken up or dissolving, so we had ample time to practice.
We played our first show in March of 1999 with Tendril and My Spacecoaster at Zombie's Coffee Shop in Arlington, Texas. We recorded three songs at Deedle's Room Recording and sent cassette tapes to a few labels, including Deep Elm Records. John Szuch, owner and founder of Deep Elm, contacted us and wanted to include one of our songs on the label's Emo Diaries compilations. We agreed, and "Backbreaker" appeared on the fourth installation of this series.
Local shows followed, and in the fall of 1999 we headed back to Deedle's Room to record six songs. We sent the demo to a handful of labels and Aden Holt, owner and founder of One Ton Records, contacted us about featuring two of the tracks on a local music sampler called Buzz-Oven. At the same time, Deep Elm reached us and asked if we could record six more songs for a full-length. We agreed to both offers, and went back to Deedle's Room to create our first album. Darrell LaCour recorded the music with help from us. Brian started playing bass this summer. He recorded bass tracks for the second six songs in one long night. We finished the record and played the first Buzz-Oven showcases. Buzz-Oven has since become a large community event supporting local music.
"Breaking in an Angel" was released in the spring of 2001. We toured the US with local friends [DARYL] to support the record. We were nominated for "Best New Act" in the Dallas Observer 2001 Music Awards. Songs from the record became featured on the Abercrombie & Fitch website, MTV's Road Rules and The Real World.
In the summer of 2001, we traveled to Eudora, Kansas to record music at Red House Studios. Ed Rose recorded and mixed the tracks for a split CDEP with local friends Slowride. It was released in the summer of 2002 on Deep Elm.
Other labels were interested in releasing our music, so we went back to Deedle's Room and recorded two new songs. "Did You See it in the Sky?" appears on a split 7" with Sand Which Is on BIG crunch Records and a compilation by Inverse Records. "The Insanity" appears on two compilations, one by The Clandestine Project and one by the UK label Ignition Records.
In January 2002, we toured the US with Moneybags Gram (Endicott, New York). We spent eight days in March recording our second full-length record at Red House with Ed Rose. We spent the month of April touring seven countries in Europe with Losone (Berlin, Germany). The month of August was dedicated to touring the US with local friends Doosu. "Black Phantom Crusades" was released during this tour on Deep Elm.
In the fall of 2002 we ventured for the fifth time to Deedle's Room to record. We recorded new music for a split 7" with Losone on Mount Mustache Records from Germany. The release date is set for November of 2002.
As for now, we're working on music for a third full-length and getting ready for another tour of the US in December.
Thanks for listening. Fall, 2002
-Justin
