As a lot of you know, I was once the lead vocalist for a local hardcore band named "Suns of Savannah" (my idea).. I was contacted by them directly via email one day, after they had heard about me through a mutual friend. They were in desperate need of someone to fill a slot that had been devoid of anything decent for a while, and were just months away from recording a demo at one of the best studios in the country.
I went up to listen as soon as I could, luckily I had decided about a month prior, that I wanted to be back in a band. So I got to their practice, within 10 minutes I was goofing around on a microphone. I agreed that they needed PLENTY of work, but as did I, so I figured we could grow together.
I passed many, many ideas and critiques along, which ultimately led to their sound becoming completely different, better, and solid. I sold my car to help pay for the trip, we piled into a member's mom's van, and headed out to Michigan.
I skipped the last week and a half of my semester at college to make the trip.. but figured college is for suckers anyway, and music is where my passion has always been.
After a long, grueling drive with only a stop for a few hours of rest along the way, we had arrived at the renowned 37 Studios, ran by Matt Dalton. It was an awesome experience to say the least.. we stayed with another group that was there (who are amazing by the way, check them out here. )and in just a few days cracked out four pretty solid tracks. I was also super stoked on the fact that Craig Owens (Craig Owens, Sound of Animals Fighting, Chiodos) was helping out, as well as Kevin Sharpe (2 grammys!). I was extremely sick in the head and throat from my allergies so I had waited as long as possible to do the vocal tracking but felt about as satisfied as I ever would with it, and we left for our trip home confident of our successes.
We arrive back in town and get together a few more times to practice. We received our tracks back and after a few tweaks were stoked on how it sounded. The young guns (I had a few years on them) were ready to jump onto a path and start doing shows as soon as they physically could.. I didn't think it was a great idea but thought one would be great for them to get experience (since they had never played in front of an audience before).
So we get a show date, I convince a few friends of mine in great local bands to join the show or cancel their previous gig to play with us, and everyone gets super stoked on this going down.
Cut to three days before hand.. and I get a phone call, pathetically attempting to kick me out of the band I was the front man for. I wrote all of the music, I helped write the rest of the parts, I basically tore apart their sound and showed them what to do to perfect their sound, and here I am.. getting A PHONE CALL telling me not to show up to practice, and "can we still be friends?"
The answer of course, was FUCK NO WE CAN'T.
Needless to say, I show up at the show, get shitfaced, and laugh aloud as all of the people at the show including the other bands were booing and chanting my name while they set up.
All and all, it was an awesome experience, I got some sweet tracks, and some solid advice, as well as a few new friends (not anyone in the band).
I just heard their "new" stuff. I couldn't stop gagging while laughing and am frankly surprised I didn't die from drowning myself in vomit.
So just to throw a huge fuck you their way, here are all four tracks I was on, free of charge, and trust me.. you don't want to hear what they sound like now:
The Devil's Footprints:
Devil's Foot Prints
The Night I Turned An Arsonist:
The Night I Turned An Arsonist
We Drown, It's What We Do:
We Drown, It's What We Do
My Dance With The Devil:
My Dance With The Devil