Abandon All Ships

Abandon All Ships
Members Martin Broda, Angelo Aita and Daniel Ciccotelli at the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards.
Background information
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Post-hardcore, metalcore, trance, electropop
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Universal Music Canada, Underground Operations, Rise, Velocity
Associated acts	Woe, Is Me
Website	www.abandonallships.com
Members
Martin Broda Angelo Aita Sebastian Cassisi-Nunez Daniel Ciccotelli Chris Taylor
Past members
David Stephens Francesco Pallotta Kyler Browne Andrew Paiano Daniel Paiano

Abandon All Ships is a Canadian rock band from Toronto, Ontario. Formed in 2006, the group is currently signed domestically to Universal Music Canada via Underground Operations, along with an American deal to Rise Records and its imprint Velocity Records. The band has since released a self-titled EP independently in 2009 and one full-length studio album, Geeving in 2010 through Universal and Rise.

History

Formation and Disband (television show) (2006–2009)

Abandon All Ships was founded in 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, originally playing covers of Norma Jean songs. Most of the band members attended Dante Alighieri Catholic Secondary, including lead vocalist Angelo Aita, keyboardist Sebastian Cassisi-Nunez, and original guitarist David Stephens. The three just started the band to play gigs and their career escalated from there. By 2008, the band released four demo songs online, which were "Megawacko", "When Dreams Become Nightmares", "Brendon's Song" and "Pedestrians Is Another Word for Speedbump". These demos featured a heavy mathcore influence (especially "When Dreams Become Nightmares"), which differs highly from the band's current post-hardcore style. After rising in the Toronto scene, the group eventually toured and opened for many larger bands in their same genre or home country such as Silverstein.

Abandon All Ships widely were thought to be a Christian band, but this is controversial due to the band's regular use of profanity and suggestive lyrics in their songs and eventually settled the debate that while a majority of the members are Christians, the band is not a Christian band. Abandon All Ships quickly became popular on the Internet through Myspace, and were noticed even more after their appearance on the MuchMusic's television program Disband early-on in their career.^[1]

Geeving (2009–2010)

In early 2010, the group was signed to Underground Operations, Rise Records, and Velocity Records. They released their first single, "Take One Last Breath" formerly "Pedestrians Is Another Word for Speedbumps" on June 29, 2010; the music video premiered online the same day.^[2] They played at the 2010 Bluesfest in Ottawa, Ontario. At the festival they played some new songs, including "Geeving", "Guardian Angel" which features Lena Katina from the Russian band t.A.T.u.. "Maria (I Like It Loud)", and their first single "Take One Last Breath" all were to be featured on the then-upcoming album, Geeving.

The single "Megawacko 2.0" was released on iTunes on August 24, 2010, along with the music video premiering on MuchMusic that same day. By September of that year, "Bro My God" also premiered with online streaming. Abandon All Ships with their increasing popularity were then included on the Monument tour from October 29, 2010 to December 5, 2010 with Miss May I, Sleeping with Sirens, The Crimson Armada, and Bury Tomorrow.^[3]

Departure of the Paiano brothers and Infamous (2011–present)

On January 24, 2011, lead guitarist, Kyler Browne left the band. Browne left a note on his Facebook profile stating: "I have left AAS due to my own personal reason's having nothing to do with anyone in the band personally. The guys are all brother's to me however my heart was not in it anymore. I thank you all for all the love and support and I wish you all the best."^[4] Taking Kyler's place is lead guitarist Daniel Ciccotelli. Abandon All Ships will be participating in the 2011 Vans Warped Tour for selected dates on the east leg.^[5]

On July 14, 2011 the Paiano brothers, Andrew (rhythm guitar) and Daniel (drums), parted ways with the band.^[6] At first, it was unclear exactly what led to the departure of these members, but it was later revealed that they were kicked-out as opposed to it being their choice as not continuing as a part of the group.^[7] The remaining members explained "Well if you haven't already heard the news, Andrew and Dan Paiano will not be continuing in Abandon All Ships due to personal reasons I would not like to touch upon at this point and time. We wish them the best of luck with whatever they do in the future. As for Abandon All Ships, we will without a doubt be continuing the band." Shortly after the incident, Andrew was invited to join Velocity Records labelmates Woe, Is Me as lead guitarist, an invitation which he accepted.^[6]

On January 18, 2012, the band announced that they are in the process of recording their second studio album. The title was announced as Infamous, and it is currently scheduled for a late-spring or early-summer release in 2012.^[8] The album is due for a July 3rd release date. The video for its title track was released on the first of May with its environment and direction being described as "very Toronto".^[9]

Christianity label

Although having Christian themes in the band's music as a regular feature, Abandon All Ships is not a Christian band. Also notably is that despite including these Christian themes in their music, the band's lyrics also frequently feature profanity. In addition, the name of their album, "geeving", is taken from the Urban Dictionary definition of the word,^[10] which directly reads "Couldn't care less. Don't give a shit. Leave me alone. Fuck off. Happy Thanks Geeving."^[11] Furthermore, vocalist Angelo Aita has commented that the title track to Geeving is "about not giving a fuck."^{[citation needed]}

Band members

Current members

• Angelo Aita – unclean vocals (since 2006)
• Martin Broda – clean vocals (since 2006), bass guitar (since 2009), drums (2006–2009)
• Sebastian Cassisi-Nunez – synthesizers, keyboards (since 2006)
• Daniel Ciccotelli – lead guitar (since 2011)
• Chris Taylor - drums (since 2011)

Former members

• Kyler Stephen Browne – lead guitar, backing vocals (2009–2011)
• Nick Fiorini - bass guitar (2009)
• Francesco Pallotta - bass guitar (2006–2009)
• David Stephens - lead guitar, backing vocals (2006–2009)
• Andrew Paiano – rhythm guitar (2008–2011) (now lead guitarist for Woe, Is Me)
• Daniel Paiano – drums (2009–2011) (drum tech for Woe, Is Me)

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

References

External links

• Official website
• Abandon All Ships on Facebook