Project 86 is an American rock band from Orange County, California consisting of Andrew Schwab (vocals), Randy Torres (guitar), Steven Dail (bass).
History
Project 86 / Drawing Black Lines
In 1998, Project 86 released its self-titled debut on BEC Recordings, a sublabel of Tooth & Nail Records. 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, Sevendust, Finger Eleven, etc.
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 made Project's next musical foray a priority, entitled Truthless Heroes (2002), which, though proving to be the band's most popular outing yet, was released amidst some turmoil.
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.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. "Hollow Again" peaked at #35 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts in 2003.[3]
Songs to Burn Your Bridges By
Project 86's fourth album, Songs to Burn Your Bridges By, was released independently on October 30, 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 on June 1, 2004. It includes the hit single and video Spy Hunter.
...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. The album was released on September 27, 2005, and sold 8,000 copies in its first week, more than any other Project 86 album before it.
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 Aaron Gillespie 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.
Rival Factions
The band's sixth full-length album, Rival Factions, was released on June 19, 2007 through Tooth & Nail Records. Jason Gerken (Shiner, Open Hand) played drums on the album. The album was released in stores with artwork (by Don Clark) that varied when viewed through different colored jewel cases, and on iTunes with a bonus song not available on the standard release.
The Kane Mutiny EP / This Time of Year EP
Project 86 released a digital EP, titled The Kane Mutiny EP, on November 27, 2007 via iTunes. The EP contained 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.
The EP's five tracks would be included the single "This Time of Year", which had previously been released for the Christmas season of 2007.[citation needed] Unlike The Kane Mutiny EP of 2007, This Time of Year was made available in both digital and physical formats. The EP was released on November 25.
Current Events / Picket Fence Cartel
On April 24, 2009, Project 86 announced that their 7th studio album will be titled "Picket Fence Cartel" and is set to be released on July 14, 2009. [4] On May 20, 2009, they uploaded two songs from Picket Fence Cartel, "Destroyer" and "Dark Angel Dragnet" to their MySpace page, for streaming play. They also added the song from 'Picket Fence Cartel' called A John Hancock with the safety off on June 4, 2009.[5] On June 26, 2009, Project 86 will kickoff the "Scream the Prayer" tour with Haste the Day, The Chariot and more.[6]
Christianity
Before their breakout album Drawing Black Lines was released, vocalist Andrew Schwab stated in an interview with HM Magazine:
We ARE a Christian band, but not a typical Christian band. We're totally committed to the ministry. And we're never going to stop saying that. And we'll never make the excuse... The emphasis is that we want to be something fresh. We want to be to the secular market; a band that when you get to know the band better you can see a little bit more than in other secular bands. ."[7]
Members
- Andrew Schwab (1996-present) – vocals
- Randy Torres (1996-present) – guitar, piano, background vocals
- Steven Dail (1998-present) – bass, background vocals
Past members
Discography
Studio Albums
EPs
Music videos
References
External links
