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Intensity. Integrity. Independence. These three words encapsulate the style and stance of Crossfade--one of the mostpowerful and inventive new hard rock bands to emerge thus far in the new century.Intensity defines the driving, bottom-heavy sound and stirring melodies of this Columbia, South Carolina, four-piece. On thegroup's debut album, Crossfade originals like "Starless," "Cold," and "So Far Away" combine indelible melodic hooks with therelentless power of the band's live sound; their carefully crafted arrangements lend depth and variety to such standouttracks as the confessional ballad "D ...read more
Intensity. Integrity. Independence. These three words encapsulate the style and stance of Crossfade--one of the mostpowerful and inventive new hard rock bands to emerge thus far in the new century.Intensity defines the driving, bottom-heavy sound and stirring melodies of this Columbia, South Carolina, four-piece. On thegroup's debut album, Crossfade originals like "Starless," "Cold," and "So Far Away" combine indelible melodic hooks with therelentless power of the band's live sound; their carefully crafted arrangements lend depth and variety to such standouttracks as the confessional ballad "Dead Skin."Integrity has guided Crossfade's progress at every step of the way. To follow their dreams, the musicians turned their backson the cover-band syndrome, on parental expectations, and on the chance for well-paying careers outside music.Independence is the spirit that led Crossfade to build and equip their own studio; to manage themselves for a time; and toproduce and record their debut album themselves, with post-production by engineer/mixer Randy Staub. (His credits includesessions with Metallica, P.O.D., Nickelback and 3 Doors Down among others.)Crossfade began with nothing--literally. In the late Nineties, Ed Sloan (lead vocals, guitar), Mitch James (bass, vocals) andBrian Geiger (drums) formed a band called The Nothing--a kind of "heavy-metal Wrathchild America and Metallica takeoff," inGeiger's words. The Nothing worked hard to create original material and a sound of their own; at one point, the grouprelocated to Atlanta, Georgia before returning to their Columbia, South Carolina, home turf. Ed began constructing a homestudio, while Brian took on management duties.The addition of Tony Byroads, a vocalist and DJ who had moved to Columbia after graduating high school in Buffalo, New Yorkhelped to expand the sound of the band. "Tony was a veteran of the club circuit who could sing any style," says MitchJames. "As a writer, he shared our drive to create songs that were catchy, energetic, and still musical enough to keep fromboring us!"With Tony on board and in recognition of their evolving style, The Nothing changed the group's name to SugardaddySuperstar and set to work on new music in the Sugarstar Studio, which Ed Sloan describes as "a brick garage at my housethat was made into livable space with some added soundproofing and basic gear."Without any formal training in engineering, "we found ourselves experimenting with a lot of different techniques--not reallyknowing what was right or wrong but just going for the best sound we could get. It took about nine or ten months tocomplete the recording of the album. The ability to record at home and on our own time was a great asset. It gave uscomplete control over our environment and allowed us to experiment in ways that, in a normal studio, would not have beenpossible due to budget and time constraints."Local radio stations began airing some of these self-produced tracks, and Sugardaddy Superstar signed up with Taxi, the LA-based independent A&R company. The group also came to the attention of Chris "Hot Rod" Long, an experienced Los Angelespromoter who had worked with acts like Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against the Machine, and Kyuss--now known as Queens ofthe Stone Age. Chris flew east to catch the band's live show; two weeks later, he signed on as their manager.In November 2001, Sugardaddy Superstar was one of only three (out of 8,000 member groups and artists) to perform atTaxi's "Road Rally." The buzz continued to build when the group played a March 2002 showcase in Los Angeles. The bandreturned to the studio to re-engineer and remix an album they originally called Cold. This self-released set, issued regionally inSeptember 2002, contained eight of the ten songs that now comprise Crossfade, the group's major label debut.Earshot Records A&R man Doug Ford had been following the band's progress for the previous year. "As soon as Doug heardthe album," Ed Sloan recalls, "we were flown to New York to showcase. We played four songs for the Columbia brass andwere signed within days. They liked our own recordings enough to release them with only a little touching-up from[engineer/mixer] Randy Staub.""The story of Crossfade is still unfolding," says Mitch James. "But since some defining moment in our lives, we've all knownthat this is what we were destined to do."The Musicians of CrossfadeEd Sloan (lead vocals, guitar) grew up in Columbia, South Carolina and remembers his mother "always playing piano andsinging hymns throughout my childhood." He began piano lessons at age eight and within a few years was learning songs fromthe radio and from records. He joined his first band, Darkchilde, in the eighth grade. "Soundgarden, Faith No More, Alice inChains, and the earlier Metallica were my main influences during and after high school," he says. "The Deftones, (hed) pe, andStaind are some others who really hit home for me now." After several years of growing local notoriety, Ed left Darkchilde insearch of older, more experienced musicians. He found bassist Mitch James and drummer Brian Geiger--they played the localcircuit as The Nothing while Ed studied for his BS degree in computer science at the University of South Carolina.Brian Geiger (drums), another Columbia native, grew up "dancing to country, soul, and rock and roll in the living room everynight with my mother and sister. I always wanted to play drums: My stepfather played in an 'oldies' cover band, and I'd go topractices to learn from his drummer." Brian's drumming influences include Tommy Lee, Dave Grohl, Tommy Aldridge, and localhero/mentor Darren Butler; Deftones and Sarah McLaughlin are among his favorite recording artists. Brian left Celestian Slant,Brian's first semi-pro band, to explore new avenues for himself." When Geiger joined Ed Sloan and Mitch James in The Nothing,he became the band's manager--using business experience he'd acquired while running his own car detailing shop. WithGeiger's own studio at home for recording drums and writing songs, Brian continuously refines his musical edge.Mitch James (bass and backing vocals) had an epiphany at a David Lee Roth concert when he was in his early teens: "BillySheehan ripped into his four-stringed instrument and made it grind, whine, and sputter like a Harley--after that, I was foreversold on the bass guitar." In his first band, Mitch learned "every Metallica and Megadeth song ever written" before hooking upwith Ed Sloan to form the songwriting core of The Nothing and later Crossfade. "It took a long time for us to realize thatwriting hit songs could fulfill our creative destiny as well as make us all happy. That journey has made us into more completeplayers and songwriters."Tony Byroads (vocals, turntables, sampler) grew up in Buffalo, NY where "music was a part of my life from a very young age.I had a great love for lyrics and could remember the words to songs very easily." Tony's influences are almost equally dividedbetween rock (Elvis Presley, Robert Plant, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy) and hip-hop (Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Eminem). His high school band, Final Wave, played in Buffalo area clubs and at school functionsuntil he relocated to Columbia, South Carolina, after graduation. "I met some guys in a band called The Nothing who were inthe process of changing their sound. It was perfect for me: I'd been doing DJ stuff for a while--like turntable scratching andsampling--but not in a band context. These guys allowed me to bring those elements into the sound that became Crossfade." « hide |
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