After several years of musical collaboration dating back to high school, Chris Fogal formed The Gamits with some friends in 1995. Taking influence from the Beatles and the Beach Boys and adding their own style of speedy tempos and catchy melodies, The Gamits focused primarily on writing power pop songs that relayed their steadily evolving sound.
The Gamits have since released three full length albums and three EP's in the States and abroad, with another full-length to be released in June of 2004. Their first two U.S. releases; “This is my Boomstick,” and “Come Get Some” were both met with moderate success, but it was the most recent two releases; "Endorsed by You" and "A Small Price to Pay," both on Suburban Home Records, in which The Gamits clearly showcased their music style and talent and further sharpened their distinct sound.
Surprisingly, the Gamits most popular and successful albums thus far have been those released overseas in Italy and Japan. Their Italian release, "Rose Harbor Anthems," and their Japanese release, "Leaps and Bounds" have garnered them much celebrity - in fact their October 2002 tour and album release was covered in every major Japanese music magazine including "Doll" and "Eat." This visibility motivated crowds of thousands to attend The Gamits Japanese shows, helping to sell over 15,000 copies of "Leaps and Bounds." Being embraced so thoroughly by their fans across both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, The Gamits returned to Japan for another extremely lucrative tour in the fall of 2003 and plan to do so again in the summer of 2004 to promote their new release “Antidote”. Here in the United States, they also had a great amount of success as the supporting act on the spring 2003 Lagwagon and Bigwig tours.
Though the year 2003 brought the most success for The Gamits, it also brought about many changes. Having long since lost all founding members except the lead singer & guitarist Chris, this year brought the band its final and most outstanding line-up - featuring Scott Swarers on bass and Jason Walker on drums. This new line-up has evolved and matured the band’s sound and their contagiously familiar style is ever so noticeably changing. Focusing more on lyrics, arrangement, and, in each song, various harmonies to supplement the always-catchy melody.
In the years since their initial development, The Gamits have faced many challenges including multiple lineup changes and obstacles in trying to distinguish themselves from other bands in an already saturated music industry. These hurdles have only helped them to cultivate a more developed and mature approach to their punk influenced style of contagious power pop.
“Antidote” is an epic ride through difficult and amazing experiences as told by primary songwriter, Christopher Fogal. In a perfect world, the Gamits would play to sold out clubs all over the world and Chris would be recognized as one of the best songwriters of hit time. But in our world, the Gamits will continue to struggle for recognition. You won’t see them wearing white belts, scarves, or eyeliner, but if you can see past that, “Antidote” will become your favorite record of 2004.
Source: http://www.thegamits.com/
