TRANSPLANTS ***

Transplants are an American punk rock/rap rock supergroup. They formed in 1999 when Tim Armstrong (of the bands Rancid and Operation Ivy) played his friend and roadie Rob Aston some beats he had made using Pro Tools and asked Rob if he would consider contributing lyrics. Initially, Tim played all the instruments himself but as the project grew, he invited musician friends such as Matt Freeman (Rancid), Lars Frederiksen (Rancid), and Vic Ruggiero (The Slackers) to add to the sound. Before long, Tim and Rob decided to officially form a band, but to make things complete, they wanted a drummer, so Travis Barker from Blink-182 was asked to join in 2002. Tim first became inspired to work with loops and samples after being introduced to London's speed/garage scene by Kerrang! magazine writer Mörat in the mid-90s.

The group's music is a combination of hip hop, reggae, drum n bass, dub, and punk. Although many musical genres are used sparingly throughout the album, punk and rap remain as the most prominent styles. Lyrically, Rob Aston describes their songs as ranging from topics such as murder ("Quick Death") to the passing of a loved one ("Sad But True") to failed friendships ("We Trusted You").

After the release of their first album, The Transplants briefly disbanded in 2003, due to all members being involved in their own projects, including Rancid and Blink-182. Then in 2004, they reunited to record their second album (Haunted Cities) before going on hiatus again until 2010 when the band has started to record new material.

History

Transplants and first hiatus (2002–2003)

After two years of recording, Transplants released their debut album Transplants on Hellcat Records in October 2002. In the end, the album was recorded and mixed entirely in Tim's basement. Special guest vocalists included Eric Ozenne (The Nerve Agents), Davey Havok (AFI), Son Doobie (Funk Doobiest), Danny Diablo (Crown of Thornz, AKA Lord Ezec), Lars Frederiksen (Rancid) and Brody Dalle (The Distillers, ex-wife of Tim). Brody sings on the track "Weigh On My Mind", which Tim, at the time, described as "their song."

The singles "Diamonds and Guns" and "D.J. D.J." quickly became MTV favorites and earned the band critical and commercial success. "Diamonds and Guns" and its unmistakable piano hook played by co-producer Dave Carlock was featured in TV commercials for Garnier Fructis shampoo and Neutrogena and the song "Tall Cans In The Air" was featured on the soundtrack for the movie Bulletproof Monk (2003). The band followed up the record's success by touring with the Foo Fighters.

By 2003, the band had temporarily disbanded, while Travis worked on then-upcoming Blink-182 album, and Tim worked on Rancid's Indestructible.

Haunted Cities (2004–2005)

In 2004, during an extensive Rancid hiatus, Armstrong decided to bring the Transplants back together. The band's second album, titled Haunted Cities, was released in June 2005, just four months after Barker's former band Blink-182 announced their hiatus.

The album's first single, "Gangsters and Thugs" was a hit and the band began touring on the 2005 Warped Tour. After the Warped Tour, Transplants started to plan a large North American tour with Pennywise and wanted to release a second single. The band shot and released another video for the single "What I Can't Describe." However, Break-up rumors began to swirl.

Amidst all the turmoil, the band released the Chopped and screwed version of Haunted Cities on November 1, 2005.

Soon after the cancellation of the tour, two band members announced several more side projects that they would be embarking on during the Transplants break. Travis revealed that he would be starting a tour with DJ AM and also a new band with Rob and DJ Paul Wall which would become Expensive Taste. Rob Aston revealed that he was working on a solo album.

Second hiatus (2006–2010)

In an interview with Rob Aston and Paul Wall on January 16, 2006 about their project, Expensive Taste, Rob stated "The Warped Tour had just ended and Transplants had just broken up". This led to some confusion over whether the band had officially broken up, or not. Despite the statement made by Aston about how the band had "broken up", frontman Tim Armstrong contradicted this statement on a recent MySpace bulletin. He stated: "In the upcoming years, I hope to make another Transplants album. I love recording with those guys".

From to 2006 to 2009, the Transplants had been "on hold", as all the members had continued working on their own projects. Armstrong was busy touring with Rancid promoting their new album, Let the Dominoes Fall. He also released his solo album, A Poet's Life, in 2007. Travis Barker is currently working on an album with a recently reformed Blink-182, who toured during the summer of 2009, and also recently formed a new band called Expensive Taste, along with Aston.

Second reunion (2010–present)

In January 2010, Barker announced on his twitter account that the Transplants were reunited and are in fact recording new material in 2010. The band announced that their new website will be posted in February 2011. It was also announced that the 3rd album will be released on the bands original home at Hellcat Records.

Tim Armstrong and Skinhead Rob appeared as guests on Travis Barker's first solo album Give the Drummer Some along with ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash on a latin rock influenced song called "Saturday Night". The band performed the song live on Conan March 7, 2011, with Mix Master Mike on turntables, Elvis Cortez on guitar and Kevin Bivona on bass. Slash did not take part in the performance.

In an interview with 29-95 in April 2011, Barker has revealed that material for the Transplants album has been written since August 2010, and that 16 songs were already written by Armstrong, Aston and him for the album. He has also said that he expects around 30 songs to be written, with the best 12 to 15 making the cut.

SUGAR RAY ****

Sugar Ray is a pop rock band from Orange County, California. The band gained fame in the late 1990s with such hits as "Someday," "Every Morning," "Fly," and "When It's Over."

 

 

History

Formation and Lemonade and Brownies (1990-1996)

Prior to Sugar Ray, in the late 1980s, Rodney Sheppard and Stan Frazier had been together in a band under the name The Tories. Later additions Murphy Karges and Mark McGrath changed the band's name to "Shrinky Dinx". After signing with Atlantic Records, the name was changed to Sugar Ray upon threat of lawsuit from the Milton Bradley Company, maker of the Shrinky Dinks toy.

The band's debut album, Lemonade and Brownies, was released in 1995 and though it failed to produce a major hit single it did earn them recognition in alternative circles. Their early work was strongly influenced by funk metal, hip-hop, punk, and alternative rock. This first album leaned on experimenting with those many influences, combining genres.

After they gained fame with the 1997 album Floored in 1998, the single "Mean Machine" off Lemonade and Brownies was featured in the PlayStation game Road Rash 3D, and it's Nintendo 64 counterpart Road Rash 64.

Floored (1997-1998)

Sugar Ray's first mainstream hit came in the summer of 1997 with their song "Fly," which was released on the album Floored and featured reggae artist Super Cat. "Fly" was notable for not sounding anything at all like the rest of the tracks on the album and received frequent radio play, resulting in a number one rank on the Billboard's Hot 100 List. As a result of the success of "Fly," Floored sold well and was certified double platinum. However, by the end of 1997, critics were skeptical that Sugar Ray could put out another successful song and labeled them a one-hit wonder. The same year, Sugar Ray was featured in the movie Father's Day, starring Billy Crystal and Robin Williams. Floored featured a strong nu metal influence and was the band's last "heavy" album before they moved into a more adult contemporary direction.

14:59 (1999-2000)

Their 1999 album 14:59 was the reply to these accusations, with the title implying that their 15 minutes of fame were not quite up — their "fame clock" reading 14:59. "Every Morning," which received widespread comparisons to "Fly," rose to similar success during the spring of 1999, reaching No. 3 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their follow-up single "Someday" received extensive airplay later that year as well and reached No. 7 in the U.S. 14:59 outsold its predecessor and was certified triple platinum. Another Billboard hit, "Falls Apart," gained popularity as well.

 

Sugar Ray (2001-2002)

In 2000, Sugar Ray did a cover version of John Cale and Brian Eno's "Spinning Away" for the soundtrack to "The Beach." Their 2001 self-titled album Sugar Ray produced another hit with "When It's Over," which failed to reach the same level as their previous singles.

In the Pursuit of Leisure (2003-2005)

Sugar Ray's 2003 effort In the Pursuit of Leisure, and the first single from that album, "Mr. Bartender (It's So Easy)," received a lukewarm reception. The album also contained the band's cover of Joe Jackson's famous "Is She Really Going Out With Him?". In 2005, Sugar Ray released a greatest hits album, with three new songs, "Shot of Laughter," "Time After Time," and "Psychedelic Bee".

 

Music for Cougars (2006 - present)

After releasing their Greatest Hits album, in 2005, the band went into a period of relative inactivity for a number of years, with Mark McGrath starting a new job as an anchor on the television show Extra. In January 2006, Sugar Ray was released from their recording contract with Atlantic Records. An exception to this was during mid 2007, with their inclusion of the previously unreleased song "Into Yesterday" on the Surf's Up movie soundtrack, and a brief tour in Asia in August 2007 where they headlined SingFest, the nation's first international music festival.

Sugar Ray appeared on the May 18, 2008, on the season 3 finale of American Dad, titled "Spring Break-Up," as themselves, playing "Fly" at a Spring Break party. They also starred in the first live-action Scooby-Doo movie as themselves performing the song "Words to Me."

An announcement came the next day, on May 19, 2008, that the band would be entering the studio to record their first album of new material since 2003. It was also announced that the band signed a new record deal with Pulse Recordings and that the new album should be released in the summer of 2009.

On March 6, 2009, Mark McGrath posted an update on Facebook announcing that a new album, titled Music for Cougars, was on the way. It was released on July 21, 2009. The first single was "Boardwalk."

On August 22, 2010, Sugar Ray's Twitter page announced that Craig 'DJ Homicide' Bullock has left the band.

Sugar Ray released on their blog a song called "Down With Whatever" that was previously unreleased. Also on their blog, they make mention of new music before planning another tour.

RX BANDITS ***

Rx Bandits is a four-piece band based in Seal Beach, California. The band formed in 1995 in Orange County, California. They have appeared on the Vans Warped Tour, at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and at The Bamboozle.

 

History

Early years (1995-1999)

Originally known as The Pharmaceutical Bandits, the band began their career by participating in the third wave ska revival of the 1990s. In 1997, they released Those Damn Bandits, which featured guest appearances by Jimmy the Robot of the Aquabats and Chris Colonnier of Jeffries Fan Club and The Forces of Evil. Noting the Bandits' potential, a Los Angeles Times review of the album said "Now comes a young, talented ska band, the Pharmaceutical Bandits. It would be OK with me if the Grinch spared them but swiped their ska records and left a shelf of Who, Clash, Bob Marley, Elvis Costello and Neil Young." Matt Embree attended Los Alamitos High School, which was an incubator for other third wave ska bands such as Reel Big Fish, Save Ferris, and The Scholars.

Drive-Thru years (1999-2006)

In 1998, the band released Halfway Between Here and There. On this album, the band began to branch out beyond the third wave ska sound.

The album's success allowed them to tour with well-known acts such as The Bloodhound Gang, Goldfinger, and Reel Big Fish, and later to headline shows with up-and-comers such as New Found Glory and Freakdaddy frequently opening for them.

In 1999, the album was re-released with a new track list, 2 remastered songs, and new artwork. The '99 release was released under the bands new name - Rx Bandits.

In the time between Halfway Between Here and There and their next release, Progress, bassist Franz Worth and saxophonist Noah Gaffney left the band. Worth was replaced by James Salomone, formerly of My Superhero. Gaffney's position was left open.

With 2001's Progress, the band continued to expand their sound. The album contained the song "Analog Boy," which was made into one of their three music videos. The band at this point consisted of Embree, Tsagakis, Balling, and Salomone. The album included a number of guest performers, including former member Noah Gaffney.

Shortly after the release of the album, Chris Sheets joined the band on trombone as well as Steve Choi on guitar and keyboards. Choi had played keyboards on the demos for Progress, but when it came time to record, they decided instead to have Rich Zahniser of The Hippos, who was touring with the band, play on the album. Chris Colonnier also played with the band at times, filling the same role as Zahniser. Soon after they gained the new members, James Salomone and Rich Balling left the band. They had many temporary replacements for Salomone, most notably Johnny Tsagakis, Chris' younger brother, but eventually Joe Troy, a longtime friend of Embree, who helped to write the song "What If?" on Halfway Between Here and There, joined the band as their bass player. Balling was replaced by saxophonist Steve Borth, who had played formerly in the popular East Bay ska-punk band Link 80. Their line-up of Embree, Tsagakis, Sheets, Choi, Troy and Borth would go on to create the next two albums, The Resignation and ...And the Battle Begun.

2003 saw the release of The Resignation, a CD/DVD combination. Guitars, bass, drums, and some keyboards were all recorded live in studio, and vocals, horns, percussion and additional keyboard parts were then overdubbed. The band allowed themselves a limited number of takes for each part, and once a take was recorded it was left as it was - no punch-ins were allowed. Embree shared songwriting duties with Steve Choi, whereas Embree had previously been responsible for all of the band's material.

Musically, the album continued to branch out beyond Progress into new musical territory, including experimentation with unconventional time signatures. The Resignation featured overtly political lyrics as the band evolved even further from their ska-punk days as the Pharmaceutical Bandits, a subject that drummer Chris Tsagakis commented on in an interview conducted by former member Rich Balling for Skratch Magazine:

“

A closed-minded person will definitely see a band with horns and think ska or ska-punk. I don't really stress on it, because I know what we are doing transcends genres. We make music, and we are a band that has horns. I would never classify this band under any label. We make music, and we have horns and keys and everything else.

”

The album cover of The Resignation is an original composition called "Predictable" by Aaron Nagel, a Bay Area artist and member of both Link 80 and DESA.

In 2004, the band released a DVD of live performances that were filmed during their many live shows. It was one of the first released on Embree's Mash Down Babylon Record label (aka MDB Records). It contains two Easter Eggs: a performance of the song "Up to No Good," the only song recorded during the sessions for The Resignation that was not included on the album as well as studio footage of the band working on the album. During the DVD's slide show, the background music is performed by Apotheke, a side project run by several members of the band.

MDB /Sargent House

...And the Battle Begun was initially released online on June 24, 2006 and was made available for purchase during the band's 2006 US Tour. The album's title refers to the poetry of Lord Byron, in which the phrase appears repeatedly.

The album was originally slated to be released in 2005 through Drive-Thru Records (with one album left on their contract), but for unspecified reasons, the band and label chose to part ways, causing lengthy delays in the release date. Finally free of any legal setbacks, the CD was made available via online order from MDB Records and on specified tour dates. Officially it debuted in retail stores in October 2006, after which the band performed a Northeastern CD release tour to promote the album.

On June 28, 2006, the band announced via their MySpace page that saxophone player and backup vocalist Steve Borth had left the Rx Bandits to pursue his own band, Satori. This announcement came in the midst of their 2006 US Summer Tour to the surprise of many fans. Borth played his final show with the Rx Bandits on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City.

In conjunction with Refused TV, the Bandits recorded a music video for the title track off ...And the Battle Begun. It is only their second music video since the making of a video for "Analog Boy" in 2001, and their first independently produced video for the song "I Will Live" on the Those Damn Bandits album. The "I Will Live" video was never officially released, although some bootleg copies still exist.

They released their live set from the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival 2007 exclusively on the iTunes Store. Live from Bonnaroo 2007 is currently only available for download from the U.S. iTunes Store.

During the summer of 2008 the band did a headlining tour with support from Portugal. The Man, Maps & Atlases, Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground and Facing New York.

Cathy Pellow of Sargent House announced via the Rx Bandits fan site plans for a live DVD featuring their live performance at the Glasshouse in Pomona, CA on August 22, 2008 as well as interviews and footage from the writing and recording for the next album. That writing and rehearsing process saw the departure of Chris Sheets, leaving the band a four-piece and without horns for the first time in its history.

Mandala (2009-present)

Their latest album, Mandala was released as a digital download on July 14, 2009 and the CD was released on July 21, 2009 on Sargent House. They then headed out on a co-headlining tour with Dredg with revolving support from Good Old War, Zechs Marquise and As Tall As Lions.

On January 4, 2010 the band announced some U.S. tour dates starting in March with support from Zechs Marquise and The Builders And The Butchers. This tour featured a 3-night stand at The Gramercy Theatre in New York City, where they performed (in their entirety) The Resignation, ...And The Battle Begun, and Mandala on each respective night (an album per show). They recruited some close friends to play horns for these shows. In September 2010, they had a similar run of shows at The Troubador in Los Angeles.

Side projects

Over the years, several members found time for side projects.

Embree and Chris Tsagakis can also be found in The Sound of Animals Fighting as “Walrus” and “Lynx,” respectively. Former trombonist for Rx Bandits, Rich Balling, is known as the vocalist, The Nightingale in The Sound of Animals Fighting. Joe Troy, Chris Sheets, and Steve Choi have performed live with the band, which also includes Anthony Green (ex-Saosin, known more recently as vocalist for Circa Survive), Craig Owens (ex-Chiodos vocalist). Rx Bandits also collaborated with members of Finch and Days Away in The Sound Of Animals Fighting recordings.

Steve Borth played with the Northern California skacore band, Link 80, signed to Asian Man Records. He later started the reggae/rocksteady band Satori which has also featured Embree on bass, members of The Exit, and Chris Murray.

Steve Choi collaborated with Asian Man Records founder Mike Park in both The Chinkees and The Bruce Lee Band. The Rx Bandits were featured as Park's Bruce Lee Band during the recording of the Beautiful World EP. Choi is also a member of the band Machines, in which he plays the drums.

September 9, 2008 saw the release of Matt Embree's acoustic sideproject, entitled Love You Moon. The album consists solely of Matt on the acoustic guitar with the exception of 3 tracks where Chris Tsakagis assists on drums. This album was presold at the Rx Bandit's concurrent tour.

Embree and Tsagakis have also played guitar and drums, respectively, with Lauren Coleman in her project, Pebaluna. The three met when she was recording in the Elizabethan in late 2005.

Matt Embree can also be heard on other projects such as those of the hip-hop group Seekret Socyetee, 2 Drunk'n Poets, and V.I.T.A.L. Emcee's solo album, "The Secret of the Invisible Man," all of which have been released on Embree's MDB Records.