Villains To The Masses Heroes To The Holy is an Alternative Post Punk Prog band from Salina, Kansas. Since June 2003 when they formed, they have already released 4 full albums (with 2 now in simultaneous production), 7 music videos, massive radio play, live television appearances, and extensive touring.
Band co-writers Derek Stein and Brock Wilbur began conversing online near the end of the 2002-2003 school year and decided to form a rock and roll super group as soon as they were done with school. I got a hold of Brock one day and told him I wanted to start a band when I got home, and told him to start writing songs. I had no idea it would go as far as it's gone, said Stein. They picked a band name and set the date for their debut performance (a late evening slot at the annual Brockfest).
We picked Villains To The Masses Heroes To The Holy because we figured that this new band, like many previous bands we had been a part of in the central Kansas area, would be hated or at least not celebrated by anyone except other local bands. Hence the name, said Wilbur. To our great surprise, our music and stage antics were welcomed by every audience we played for, said Stein.
With five days until the performance, Stein and Wilbur had a bass player and a drummer lined up and the group was ready to practice. That's when the drummer moved out of town and the bass player went on a week long vacation. Stein's last local band was the hardcore punk Six Inch Voice and Wilbur had just disbanded the alternative Trickster and was pulling keyboard and guitar duties with the punk/ska outfit The Stereo Types. All three bands had, at one point in time or another, been witness to the amazing percussive talents of Ross Carter, drummer for the local emo band Nothing Special.
I called Ross and said Hi, you don't know me but I want you to play in my band. We're only going to do 3 or 4 shows but we need to get started today. I had prepared myself for a whole list of excuses about how busy this guy was or that he wasn't interested and I was going to fight him over it, but before I could finish, Ross said, Sure! and Villains To The Masses Heroes To The Holy was born, said Wilbur. Ross is the back bone of this band. Without him it would be impossible to make this work, said Stein.
The band hit the studio at Wilbur's house later that afternoon and over the next 12 hours wrote and recorded the 11 songs that would comprise the Villains first album, Suburbia Waits Patiently In The Shadows. Stein played bass for lack of a bass player. A few days and not much practice later, the Villains unveiled themselves at 9:30 on June 7th, 2003. They took the stage under cover of darkness, each member wearing different colored glow necklaces wrapped around their wrists, arms, heads, ankles and etc. In the pitch black auditorium all that could be seen during the first two songs was the illuminated outline of each Villain. Carter was in red, Stein in green, and Brock in blue; starting the trend of referring to band members by their colors. An amazing set shortly followed with Derek s mom taking the stage for two numbers to play the electric bass. Playing a rock show with my mom on stage was awesome. She was way excited as well, said Stein.
After the show the band decided to tour for the summer without adding a bassist to the line-up, opting instead for the two guitars and drums. Villains entered the studio again the next week and began work on the 13 song Happily Ever After. Their second show was played in the middle of this recording session; 3 hours away in Garden City, Kansas. Upon arrival at the venue, the crowd seemed to almost recognize the band. When the Villains took the stage to headline the day long festival, the crowd erupted. Members of the audience already knew the words to the songs on the first album and when asked for requests the crowd unanimously cheered for Jessica s Ballet In C. Everyone knew that something big was just beginning.
The summer continued on and the Villains ventured far and wide to bring their music and glow light madness to the people. Over time their sound fully developed into what can best be described as The Dead Kennedys being bitch slapped by The Mars Volta to a soundtrack of System Of A Down, Muse, The Flaming Lips, and Queens Of The Stone Age. For a going away show before Derek went back to college at Arizona State, the Villains booked a major venue. To the several hundred locals that came out, and some fans from as far as four to five hours away, it was a spectacular event. There were special guests and the introduction of the Yellow Villain, live bass player Andrew Book. (Book, of "Love Handles" fame, had traveled to see every Villains show and had bought every CD, so when he finally asked about playing bass, it wasn't a hard decision to let him join the band. Derek still records bass for the albums.) The evening also marked the release of the third album Invincible Summer and the recording of the live album Maliciously Delicious. Soon after, Wilbur produced a DVD of four music videos and three live videos entitled 672 Is The International Calling Code For Antarctica.
The Villains are on brief hiatus now while off at college, but are actively working on their next two releases. Symphony Of Alarm is an experimental electro-pop album, slated for release at Thanksgiving. The next full rock album, Count The Stars In A Falling Sky, will be released right before the New Year. Villains are currently booking dates for a massive cross country tour in the summer of 2003 and are looking to be signed to a major label sometime before then.
