Project 86
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| Project 86 | |
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 Andrew Schwab of Project 86 during a performance at Cornerstone Festival 2007
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Orange County, California, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Post-hardcore Hard rock Christian hardcore Nu Metal[1](Early) |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Label(s) | Tooth & Nail Records Atlantic Records BEC Recordings Team Black |
| Associated acts | Crash Rickshaw |
| Website | www.project86.com |
| Members | |
| Andrew Schwab Randy Torres Steven Dail |
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| Former members | |
| Alex Albert Ethan Luck Cory Edelman |
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Project 86 is a Christian Post-Hardcore band from Orange County, California consisting of Andrew Schwab (vocals), Randy Torres (guitar), and Steven Dail (bass).
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years
In 1998, Project 86 released its self-titled debut on BEC Recordings, a sublabel of Tooth & Nail Records. Immediately the band was labeled "rapcore". Though some of Schwab's vocals could be called rapping, the band objected to this label, stating that
"There is a little bit of rapping in the music, but it's not a hip-hop influence. Like, you wouldn't call Beck a rapper, even though he raps. You take some heavy music with groove, melody, some rap, screaming, and weird stuff, and mix it all together, and that's Project 86."[2]
After releasing their second album, Drawing Black Lines (2000), the band was taken on by Atlantic Records. However, the promised re-release of Drawing Black Lines went from being a full-fledged reissue with new artwork and three new songs to nothing more than a bare bones repackaging of the exact same album.
At the outset of its career, Project 86 shared the stage with P.O.D. and Blindside on the Warriors Tour. Project, as the band is often referred to by its fans, has played mainstage at both Christian and secular festivals, and has shared the stage with other well known bands such as Queensrÿche, Linkin Park, Dead Poetic, and Stavesacre.
The next two years saw Project 86's addition of a second guitarist (Cory Edelman, formerly of No Innocent Victim) and his subsequent departure just a few months later. Also, influential rocker Marilyn Manson took interest in the band and had the song "P.S.", originally released on Drawing Black Lines, added to the Blair Witch 2 soundtrack. Probably due to this interest, Project 86 became a higher priority for Atlantic. Atlantic poured over half a million into Project's next musical foray, entitled Truthless Heroes (2002), which, though proving to be the band's most popular outing yet, was released amidst some turmoil.
[edit] Truthless Heroes
Over the course of recording Truthless Heroes (which took around a year to complete) Project 86 had increasing difficulty with its management, as well as both record labels (Tooth & Nail still had rights to release their music to the Christian market). There was also a controversy on whether or not Project 86 was a Christian band, due to a page on their website.[3] This wore the band down immensely, but by the time the album was finished, the difficulty seemed to have worked out in Project's favor - Atlantic bought all of Tooth & Nail's remaining rights to the band and released "Hollow Again", the first single from the album, on mainstream radio. Word came out that the band would be shooting a video for the song shortly[citation needed], but it never materialized as Atlantic ran into troubles of its own and liquidated some of its assets - including Project 86. In 2003, finding themselves cut loose by both label and management, Project started its own independent label.
[edit] Songs to Burn Your Bridges By
Project 86's fourth album, Songs to Burn Your Bridges By, was released independently in the fall of 2003 and went on to sell relatively well despite being sold only at shows and online. In 2004, they re-signed to Tooth & Nail and Songs to Burn Your Bridges By was reissued with three new songs and completely new artwork. It included the single Spy Hunter, which is Project 86's most well known song.
[edit] ...And the Rest Will Follow
In February 2005, Project 86 announced that they were working on a new album. The title was later announced as ...And The Rest Will Follow. The band spent several weeks in the studio with Garth Richardson over the summer recording the material, and then began releasing a new song every Monday on their purevolume site. The album was released on September 27, 2005, and sold 8,000 copies in its first week, more than any other Project 86 album. A release tour began September 23, with Spoken, Number One Gun, Mourning September, and The Fold.
On December 17, 2006, The band released remixes of "Something We Can't Be" and "From December" on their MySpace page. "From December" features Joseph Milligan from Anberlin on guitar and Timothy McTague from UnderOath on drums. "Something We Can't Be" was remixed by The Echoing Green. Both tracks were rereleased on The Kane Mutiny EP on November 27, 2007.
[edit] Rival Factions
On March 28, 2007, Project 86 announced in a MySpace blog that Alex Albert had stepped down from the band. He parted on friendly terms to pursue other interests. Since then, the band has stated in several interviews that they are not searching for a full-time replacement drummer. Instead, they will continue as a three-member band with various drummers filling in at different times.
The band's sixth full-length album, Rival Factions, was released on June 19th, 2007 through Tooth & Nail Records. Jason Gerken (Shiner, Open Hand) played drums on the album. The album was released in stores with artwork that varied when viewed through different colored jewel cases, and on iTunes with a bonus song not available on the standard release.
[edit] The Kane Mutiny
On October 2007, in a Project 86 MySpace blog by Andrew Schwab, he stated that the EP is named The Kane Mutiny EP and launched on November 27, 2007. The EP has two new tracks (one is "The Kane Mutiny," which was the bonus track for their previous release on iTunes), one cover ("Lucretia, My Reflection" by The Sisters of Mercy), and two remixes. This iTunes exclusive was released at 8:15 pm on release day due to an iTunes issue.
[edit] Current Events
In a recent blog, the band announced that they had recently begun writing material for a new album. In the blog, they also requested lots of fan feedback on their overall sound as they approach the writing process of a new album.[4] Many fans praised the band's use of synthesizers in songs like "Normandy" and "Illuminate" while also requesting a return to the band's heavier roots from songs like "Stein's Theme," "The Spy Hunter," and "My Will Be A Dead Man." Some fans also rejoiced in the band's cover song suggesting that the band do other cover songs. A tentative release date has not yet been released, but it can be assumed that when the album is completed it will be released through the band's current record label Tooth & Nail Records.
[edit] Members
- Andrew Schwab – vocals
- Randy Torres – guitar, piano, background vocals (Crash Rickshaw)
- Steven Dail – bass, background vocals (Crash Rickshaw)
[edit] Past Members
- Alex Albert – drums (Crash Rickshaw)
- Cory Edelman – guitar (No Innocent Victim)
- Ethan Luck – bass (Demon Hunter)
[edit] Discography
- Project 86 (June 16, 1998)
- Drawing Black Lines (March 21, 2000)
- Truthless Heroes (September 24, 2002)
- Songs to Burn Your Bridges By (June 1, 2004)
- ...And the Rest Will Follow (September 27, 2005)
- Rival Factions (June 19, 2007)
- The Kane Mutiny EP (November 27, 2007)
[edit] Music videos
- Run (from their self-titled debut)
- Pipedream (from their self-titled debut)
- One Armed Man(Play On) (from Drawing Black Lines)
- Spy Hunter (from Songs to Burn Your Bridges By)
- My Will Be a Dead Man (from ...And the Rest Will Follow)
- Evil (A Chorus of Resistance) (from Rival Factions)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Project 86 official website
- Project 86 official MySpace page
- Project 86 official PureVolume page
- Lead singer Andrew Schwab's website
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