Anberlin
Anberlin before an autograph session in Phoenix, AZ.
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Background information | |
Origin | Winter Haven, Florida, United States |
Genre(s) | Alternative Rock Christian Rock (see below) |
Years active | 2002—present |
Label(s) | Universal Republic Tooth & Nail Records |
Associated acts |
Anchor & Braille |
Website | www.anberlin.com www.anberlincities.com www.myspace.com/anberlin |
Members | |
Stephen Christian Deon Rexroat Joseph Milligan Christian McAlhaney Nathan Young |
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Former members | |
Nathan Strayer Joey Bruce Jimmy Aceino |
Anberlin is an alternative rock band hailing from central Florida that was formed in 2002. The band has released three full-length albums and an EP in their six-year run and have sold over 350,000 albums [1].
Contents |
History
SaGoh 24/7 (1998-2002)
The inception of Anberlin started as a Christian punk band called SaGoh 24/7. All the band members, except for the original drummer, Sean Huston, all would later play in Anberlin: Stephen Christian, Deon Rexroat, Joseph Milligan, and Nathan Young. The band released two albums, Servants After God's Own Heart (1999), and Then I Corrupt Youth (2001), both under .[2] As the group began to slowly deteriorate, Christian and Milligan began working on an acoustic side project, which transmutated into Anberlin after Milligan suggested pursuing more of a rock sound.[2] A few of the SaGoh 24/7 songs would later become Anberlin songs, with others reworked to fit the band's new alternative rock sound.
Formation and Blueprints For the Black Market (2002)
The bandmates officially created Anberlin 2002, after SaGoh 24/7 was abandoned. Barely a year after their formation, their first album as a new band was released under Tooth and Nail Records, entitled Blueprints for the Black Market (2003), and was produced by Aaron Sprinkle. It failed to chart, but spurred on by the single "Readyfuels", the album proved to be sufficiently successful, selling over 60,000 units. [citation needed] Through steady touring with other bands in their label and heavy internet promotion, Anberlin was amassing a dedicated fan base early on.
Rhythm guitarist Joey Bruce eventually was ejected from the band, as he was, according to Christian, "all about sex and drugs and wanted fame". [citation needed] He was replaced by Jimmy Aceino (He left the band after one year and Nathan Strayer took his duties.) Bruce is now the singer/guitarist for the band .
Never Take Friendship Personal (2005)
Anberlin released their follow up to Blueprints, Never Take Friendship Personal, in early 2005, again produced by Aaron Sprinkle. Charting at the #144 position on the Billboard 200, the album brought the band a step closer into the mainstream. NTFP was generally more well received by critics than Blueprints, and garnered favorable reviews. Prior to its release, the band promoted the album by releasing a track per week on their Purevolume and Myspace website accounts, as well as on their own website. Two singles were released from the album: "A Day Late" and "Paperthin Hymn". Both were reasonably successful on alternative rock radio, with the latter peaking at the #38 position on the Modern Rock chart.
Anberlin participated in a number of compilations during this time, and recorded covers of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence," and the popular Christmas song "Baby Please Come Home."
Cities (2007)
Anberlin's third album produced by Aaron Sprinkle was released in early 2007 under the title Cities. It sold 34,000 copies in its first week of release, debuted at #19 on the Billboard 200 chart, and, like their previous album, received fairly positive reviews from critics. In an interview about the album, Christian commented that the lyrics throughout the band's discography are progressively becoming more mature. "The first CD [Blueprints for the Black Market] was childish in the manner that it was Man vs. World in the lyrics. The second [Never Take Friendship Personal] was Man Vs. Man. Cities is more adult in the manner that it's Man vs. Self." [citation needed] Prior to the release of Cities, the band released Godspeed EP exclusively on iTunes in late 2006 to give a preview to the new album. In support of the album, Anberlin led their first headlining tour.
One day before the release of Cities, it was announced that guitarist Nathan Strayer amicably left the band and that Christian McAlhaney, formerly of Acceptance, would take over as the new guitarist.[3]
The band signed to Universal Republic Records on August 16th, 2007 and are planning on releasing a new album in mid-2008.[4] In the meantime, a compilation album of unreleased material, called Lost Songs, is to be released November 20, 2007.
Singer Stephen Christian is also working on some solo music under the name of Anchor & Braille with Aaron Marsh of Copeland, which is expected to take the form of a full length album in 2008. [citation needed]
Source of name
Various interviews credit vocalist Stephen Christian with providing conflicting origins of the band's name:
- Christian had long planned to name his first daughter Anberlin. Struggling to find a name for the band, Stephen suggested it. "We were all sitting around trying to come up with a name. None of us were married or had kids, but one day I was going to name my daughter Anberlin, so I figured we could name the band that until we thought of something better. So we chose Anberlin and no one has thought of anything better."[5] He no longer plans to use Anberlin to name his first daughter, however: "If I ever have a daughter and name her Anberlin, she'll think she was named after the band instead of the other way around."[6]
- Christian stated in another interview that the band's name was created when he was thinking about cities in Europe he wanted to visit. In his mind he listed "London, Paris, Rome, and Berlin." Stephen thought that "And Berlin" would be a cool name for a band and so when the band was looking for a name Stephen suggested "And Berlin," which was then modified to "Anberlin."[7]
- Christian stated in yet another interview when asked about the origin of the band's name: "There are several stories that have circulated on the internet, but the actual story is when I was in college my favorite band was Radiohead; on one of their songs off the record Kid A there is a background noise on the song 'Everything In its Right Place' (about 2 minutes 31 seconds into the song). While Thom is singing try to say I always thought the background noise sounded like Anberlin, I always thought that Anberlin would have been a great band name and well ... it was/is."[8]
Anberlin and Christian music
Over the years, many fans and members of the media have considered Anberlin to be a Christian band. However, Stephen Christian denies these claims, stating in an interview, "I think we're categorized like that a lot because we're on Tooth & Nail Records, which, years ago, was known as a Christian label and never lost that reputation. I don't care who listens to our records. If it helps people in whatever circumstances they're in, that's amazing, but I definitely don't classify us as a Christian band."[5] Elsewhere, Christian has remarked, "[My faith] affects every single aspect of my life, but I'm not a preacher, I'm an entertainer."[9]
Despite these statements, multiple sources list the band as Christian rock, and the lyrics to several songs contain overt religious references. Furthermore, their songs have been included on Christian Rock compilation CDs[10] and DVDs.[11]
Stephen Christian said in an interview with Lightforce radio how the band tries to "step out of the bubble" and referred to themselves as being part of Christian music. He went on to talk in detail about what Christians should be doing in their lives, about loving and embracing others as Jesus would as well as showing God's grace to others. He also mentioned how the band Fall Out Boy said in an interview that they had not really heard about Jesus until they toured with Anberlin.[12]
Members
Current members
- Stephen Christian - lead vocals (2002-present)
- Deon Rexroat - bass (2002-present)
- Joseph Milligan - lead guitar, backing vocals (2002- present)
- Christian McAlhaney (formerly of Acceptance) - guitar, backing vocals (2007-present)
- Nathan Young - drums (2002-present)
Crew
- Sangsouvanh "Ping" Khounvichit - guitar tech/stage manager (2006-present)
- Nick "Spanky" Froelich - drums tech (2006-present)
- Brent "Mimzy" Cayson - merch (2006-present)
- Seth "Tour Ranger" - tour manager (2002-present)
- Trevor - FOH/sound engineer (2007-present)
Former Members
- Nathan Strayer - guitar (2004-2007) (Now playing with )
- Jimmy Aceino - guitar (2003-2004)
- Joey Bruce - guitar (2002-2003) (Now playing with Mouse Fire)
Discography
Albums/EPs
Release Date | Album/EP | US Billboard Peak | Status |
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May 6, 2003 | Blueprints for the Black Market | ||
February 1, 2005 | Never Take Friendship Personal | #144 | |
December 26, 2006 | Godspeed EP | ||
February 20, 2007 | Cities | #19 | 100,000+ copies sold[13] |
November 20, 2007 | Lost Songs | ||
Mid-2008 | TBA |
The band also released a DVD video which goes behinds the scenes in the making of Cities. It is included in the special edition Cities album.
Singles
Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | Video Link | ||
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US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | ||||
2003 | "Readyfuels" | Blueprints for the Black Market | watch | |||
2005 | "A Day Late" | Never Take Friendship Personal | watch | |||
2006 | "Paperthin Hymn" | #38 | Never Take Friendship Personal | watch | ||
2007 | "Godspeed" | Cities | watch | |||
2007 | "The Unwinding Cable Car"[14] | Cities |
Unreleased songs
There are several Anberlin songs recorded during album sessions that were not used on the finished products. Some of these have been released through other channels, such as "Downtown Song" from the Never Take Friendship Personal sessions which was released in 2005 on a Tooth and Nail compilation. Others have featured on preliminary track listings or been mentioned by the band, but have never been released or otherwise leaked. In addition to these there are also several songs recorded by SaGoh 24/7, which have been distributed on the Internet incorrectly as Anberlin songs.
Here is a list of some of the as-of-now-unreleased songs. Some may appear on the compilation album Lost Songs
- "Downtown Song" (also known as "The Downtown Song", "Just Another Downtown Song" or "Another Downtown Song"): Given a limited release on a "downloadcard" available only at the 2005 Warped Tour, as well as the sampler Tooth and Nail vs. Solid State. This song appeared on all of the early track listings for Never Take Friendship Personal, but was cut at the last minute.
- "Everywhere and In Between:" One of the most popular unreleased Anberlin songs. This was recorded as a demo before Blueprints For The Black Market, along with early versions of album tracks "Readyfuels," "Foreign Language," and "Autobahn" (then titled "Driving"). It is notably softer and more poppy than most Anberlin songs. There was some speculation that this song could have been re-recorded for the third album, but these rumors proved to be untrue. Although the demo version was never officially released, it has leaked to the internet and is well known in the Anberlin fan community.
- "New Fast Automatic:" Like "Downtown Song," this track appeared on every early running order for Never Take Friendship Personal but did not make the final cut.
- "Calm Culture Massacre:" Little is known about this song, which was talked about during the Never Take Friendship Personal sessions. It reportedly sounded the most like a SaGoh 24/7 song that Anberlin had ever done, which is most likely why it was shelved.
- "Autobahn (Acoustic):" Released exclusively in 2005 on mp3.com
- "The Lesser Thans:" Played by this name in concert and was the early name for "Hello Alone," which was released on Cities.
References
- ^ Yahoo! Finance
- ^ a b Perez, Omar. Change the World. Orlando Weekly, July 24, 2003. Accessed July 19, 2007.
- ^ Kohli, Rohan. Anberlin Parts Ways With Guitarist. AbsolutePunk.net (February 19, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ Universal Republic Signs Florida Indie Rock Band Anberlin. Universal Republic Press Release (2007-08-15). Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
- ^ a b Bryson, Scott. Anberlin Aren't Christian Rock, But It's OK If You Call Them That. Chart (July 12, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ Stavrinos, Nicole. Music: Anberlin. NOISE (October 11, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ Interview With Anberlin. Europunk.net (June 3, 2003). Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ Anberlin interview at BeatTheScene.com
- ^ ThisWeek -- Florida-based band Anberlin to play The Basement May 1
- ^ MusicMoz -- X 2003- Experience The Alternative
- ^ Amazon -- X 2007
- ^ The Joy FM Radio Interview
- ^ Yahoo! Finance
- ^ Anberlin Community - Topic: UK!. Anberlin.com (2007-09-08). Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
External links
- Anberlin.com
- Cities album site
- Anberlin on PureVolume
- Anberlin on MySpace
- Anberlin on Buzznet
- Anberlin on YouTube
- Anchor & Braille (Stephen Christian's side-project)
- Stephen Christian's personal weblog
- AnberlinFans.com - Interactive fansite
- Anberlin videos
Anberlin |
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Stephen Christian | Deon Rexroat | Joseph Milligan | Nathan Young | Christian McAlhaney |
Nathan Strayer | Joey Bruce | Jimmy Aceino |
Discography |
Albums: Blueprints for the Black Market | Never Take Friendship Personal | Cities | Lost Songs |
Extended Plays: Godspeed EP |
Singles: Readyfuels | A Day Late | Paperthin Hymn | Godspeed | The Unwinding Cable Car |
Related Articles |
Anchor & Braille | Tooth and Nail Records | The Universal Motown/Universal Republic Group |
Official Website |