Stretch Arm Strong

Stretch Arm Strong is a hardcore punk band from South Carolina, and the flagship band for We Put Out Records. They have been active since 1992. Several of the band members are outspoken Christians, but they prefer not to be classified as a Christian band in some cases. They do prefer to be known as Christian with influences, but not as a band that "preaches".^{[citation needed]}

After their freshman release on Uprising Records, Compassion Fills the Void, they released three albums for Solid State Records in 1999, 2001, and 2003 respectively. In addition, they have done several U.S. tours and several European tours.

Stretch Arm Strong have recently signed to We Put Out Records, a label on East West (a branch of the Warner Music Group), having fulfilled their deal with Solid State. Their most recent LP, Free At Last, was recorded in April and May 2005 with James Paul Wisner (producer of albums by Further Seems Forever and Underoath) and released in fall of the same year.

Social issues and activism

Stretch Arm Strong has actively addressed several pressing social concerns, such as the following:

• Their first album for Solid State, Rituals of Life, was dedicated to a friend of the band, Matthew Leveton, who was injured in a car accident and left quadriplegic. The band has since done several benefit shows for raising money for Leveton's recovery.
• On their album A Revolution Transmission, they had a song called "Take Back. Control" which provided a candid, but clean, discussion of sexual violence. The song was intended for rape victims in particular, and they included a telephone number for a rape hotline in the liner notes for the CD.
• Band members Chris McLane and David Sease are longtime vegetarians, have shown support for PETA, and the band went on a "Hardcore Against Fur" tour starting in December 2004 with H2O and With Honor.

Throughout their career, Stretch Arm Strong has made their music -- and themselves -- as youth-friendly as possible. Most of their lyrics have been much more positively oriented than the typical hardcore band's lyrics. In their song "For the Record" on A Revolution Transmission, they tell their story of how they grew up in the early South Carolina hardcore scene and went to all-ages shows; they have also refused to play shows at venues (or even in cities) which would not allow anyone under 18 to attend their concerts. In addition, some of the band members served as schoolteachers when not playing with the band.

Members

• Chris McLane - vocals
• David Sease - guitar/vocals (original member)
• John Barry - drums (original member)
• Glen Calder - guitar
• Chris Andrews - bass

Former members

• Matt McCarty - bass/vocals - (founder/original member)
• Donnie Raines - bass
• Shawn Williams - bass
• Scott Dempsey - guitar (original member)
• Jeremy Jeffers - bass/guitar
• Sean McGuckin - bass
• JC Lopez - guitar (previously of Glasseater)

Discography

• Not Without Resistance EP (1995)
• It Burns Clean EP (1998)
• Compassion Fills The Void (1998, Uprising Records)
• Rituals Of Life (1999, Solid State Records)
• A Revolution Transmission (2001, Solid State Records)
• Engage (2003, Solid State Records)
• Free At Last (2005, We Put Out Records)

Trivia

• Stretch Arm Strong records a cover song with nearly every album recording. These have included "Express Yourself" (NWA), "Angels of the Silences" (Counting Crows), "I Melt with You" (Modern English), "Disengage" (Youth Of Today) and "Get the Party Started" (Pink).

• Dempsey, McLane and McCarty were all members of Columbia, SC punk band "Strait Up" prior to the incarnation of Stretch Arm Strong.

External links

• Official myspace
• Allmusic entry