We started in late 2004 as an acoustic side project by Jeremiah and good friend Stephen Massicotte. Before too long, we had a complete line up consisting of Jeremiah on vocals and guitar, Stephen Massicotte on guitar and vocals, Donnie on drums, and Logan on bass. Donnie and Stephen had grown up playing music and going to school with Kenneth, and everyone felt he was the element we were missing. Kenneth joined as the bass player, Logan shifted to guitar, and Jeremiah dropped the guitar and picked the piano (figuratively speaking). We started playing around Jacksonville in early 2005, and built a pretty decent fan base before we could say “Bob’s your uncle”. We recorded our first EP “Embrace the Impact” at Vision Sounds Recording Studio and started branching out to cities around Jacksonville for the next year or so. In early 2006, we recorded another song at Vision Sounds called “Between Empty Spaces” and shot a video for the song with a lovely young lad named Seth Johnson. The video was picked up by the American Eagle clothing line and played throughout the stores nation wide. In the summer of 2006, we won a spot on the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands stage at the Vans Warped Tour, shared the stage with bands like Mayday Parade, Cartel and Family Force 5, and played to a crowd of over 400 hometown fans. Soon after the show at Warped, Stephen decided he wanted to focus on being a praise and worship leader, and left the band while we were working on new material for our next EP. At first we were worried that we wouldn’t be able to find someone who fit in as dynamically as Stephen did, but our doubts were soon silenced by Ian Petersen. Ian had been a fan of the band, and when the opportunity presented itself, he contacted us about auditioning to possibly be the new guitarist. As soon as Donnie and Ian met, they clicked. We’ve always been a band who put our friendships ahead of our music, so finding someone that fit into our circle of friends was something we were really concerned about. Ian definitely did that. Within to first 10 minutes of the audition, we all knew he was the guy. We ran through the songs a few times, talked for a few minutes, and he was in. What was great about Ian was that he brought a level of energy to our live show that none of us knew we were capable of. For the next few months we worked on new music and our live show, and by the summer of 2007, we were headed to record our first “official” release with the almighty James Paul Wisner. In May 2007, we moved from our comfy homes in Jacksonville to a tiny house on wheels called an “RV” in Orlando, Florida. We spent about six weeks working our fingers to the bone, and emerged with “Hallways”. To say we were proud of it would be an understatement. We were like parents with a new born baby. Showing it off to anyone who would pay attention (or atleast pretend to). It was our musical child. It was our pride and joy. We had a CD release show for “Hallways” on July 14th at Murray Hill Theatre in Jacksonville, and sold over 500 copies of the EP that night alone. Fast forward to September 2007. We decided it was time to tour, so we headed out on the road with There for Tomorrow and Versa Emerge. We played up and down the east coast. Rocking and Shocking anyone and anything that got in our way. When that tour came to an end, we cried a little, hugged some, and took some pictures. It was a “be there” kind of moment. We came home, played a ton of Florida dates through the end of the year, and put lights on our Christmas trees. The New Year rolled around, and we were thrown head first into 2008. We started ‘08 off with a bang. A little magazine called Alternative Press sent us an email and informed us that we had been selected by a number of people to be in the February issue as one of top 10 best unsigned bands in the country. Not too shabby! The cover was graced by a beautiful band called Paramore, and we were right in the middle of page 95. There are very few things that “make our day” as a band, and that was one of them. Later that month, we were picked up by Outerloop Management and began booking as many dates out on the road as possible. In April 2008, we headed out on tour with an amazing band called Sent By Ravens, and by the end of the tour we actually convinced them they needed to move to Jacksonville, because we’d miss them too much if they didn’t live near us. They took our advice. Soon after that, we headed out on tour with Mercy Mercedes and Settings and appeared on Fearless Radio in Chicago while on the road. It was during that tour that Ian decided his time in our band had ended, and he made the tough choice to leave so he could focus on college. We were all extremely disappointed to see Ian leave, but we looked forward to seeing what the future held for us. After Ian’s departure, we started auditioning people vigorously and writing music nonstop. We had audition after audition, but no one seemed to fill the void Ian left. For a while, we weren’t sure what our fate was. Should we give up? Should we move on? These questions raced through our minds and conversations. We tried our best to stay optimistic, and thankfully, it paid off. A guy we knew (who looked remarkably like Thor) named Justin Sebastian expressed an interest in playing with us. He came down from his haven in Palm Coast and played with us. The experience was much like the one we had with Ian. We immediately clicked. Within minutes of playing, we knew Justin was exactly what we were looking for. We jammed some more, wrote a little, sang some, then asked him if he would be willing to join. His answer was a swift “Yes”. That brings us to now. That brings us to here. That brings us to what we are. We are a collection of souls trying to do something that has worth; to create something that has meaning. Hopefully, we can accomplish that. -The Sophomore Attempt |
|
 | ||||||||||||||
