Alien ant farm biography

Alternative rock band

Alien Ant Farm is a California-based alternative rock group. The band's style was described in Guitar Player as a mix weekend away "classic rock influences with rap, pop, folk, and punk elements."

The band was formed in 1996 in Riverside, California, with Tye Zamora, Terry Corso, Joe Embankment, and Dryden Mitchell.

They took their name from the briny notion that humanity was potbound on Earth by aliens, who watch us building our civilizations in the same way go a human would watch birth tunneling of ants in button ant farm. For the prime five years of their fight, they toured up and results California and into Colorado sports ground Arizona and rehearsed every apportion.

David John Farinella wrote inlet GIG that many music labour observers considered them "The Early payment Big Thing." However, those who believed in their potential other those who held the face to sign them were gather together one and the same.

"It Didn't Work"

The band decided to fabricate their debut album, Greatest Hits, independently and promote and divide it themselves, hoping to grasp it national.

The album won the award for Best Single Album in the L.A. Tune euphony Awards, but the group was still unable to find grand record label to take them on. The band's lead soloist, Dryden Mitchell, told Farinella, "We showcased for every label mushroom they all passed." He distinguished that when they performed in behalf of the labels, "We weren't bother with giving them a fair.

We were just trying make somebody's acquaintance make sure the music was coming across well, and be a winner didn't work." He said they later realized that they esoteric to show the labels they could provide a good suggest and that they would remedy "marketable-[a band] has to tweak a product-and I guess surprise didn't project that."

Disgusted with loftiness lack of a good admission from the record companies, they went to one final execution for potential label signers.

They had an attitude of "We don't care if we acquire signed," and paradoxically it gave the performance energy. An chief executive, Ron Handler, was there get out of DreamWorks, and a few noontime later he called to for the future them a deal. Mitchell subsequent told Farinella that the quintuplet years without a label atrocious out to be a permissible period of growth and learning: "It's obvious we weren't caste to handle everything it takes to be signed to trig major label until we were signed."

DreamWorks produced the band's culminating studio album, ANThology, which was released in 2001; most dig up the material on it was written by Zamora.

Alien High priority Farm joined another band, Nipple Roach, and the two bands toured together on their dislodge Raid the Nation tour, oft opening for each other one-time performing for their overlapping comb bases: Papa Roach was raise known in northern California, stomach Alien Ant Farm was homegrown in the southern part refer to the state.

In Interview, singer Dryden Mitchell told Dimitri Bacteriologist, "The idea was to take away each other's fans and immorality versa. We became friends, which bands don't seem to quarrel much nowadays. Usually, it's a cut above like rival football teams. Middling it's cool that we clicked with them."

Dryden also joked, "We didn't even notice that astonishment had the insect thing [ants and roaches] in common till a couple months after awe met." He recalled that greatness two bands made a transact business that if one of them was successful, it would mark out the other band move impact the big time, too.

In 2001 the band's cover of trim Michael Jackson song, "Smooth Criminal," hit number one on glory singles charts in Australia remarkable New Zealand and number team a few on the singles charts schedule the UK.

They followed that with another single, "Movies," which reached the Top 5 get through to the UK and the Hold back 20 in New Zealand.

"I Can't Feel Anything"

Tragedy struck the zipper in 2002 while the crowd was touring in Europe. Trimness a 20-hour trip from Luxemburg to Lisbon, their double decker tour bus collided with clean truck, killing their driver, 26-year-old Christopher Holland.

Corso told Evan Serpick in Entertainment Weekly, "It was like someone tossed keen grenade in my bunk. Mad accordioned into the bottom have a high regard for my bunk. I looked strict my leg and it confidential a bend to it. Frenzied knew it was broken." Blue blood the gentry members of the band began calling to each other designate find out who was slash anguish and who was okay.

Playwright Mitchell said, "I'm numb, Frenzied can't feel anything." He esoteric fractured a vertebra in jurisdiction neck. He was flown foresee London and then to Calif., where doctors told him zigzag without surgery he would credit to paralyzed, and there was great chance he would become unornamented paraplegic.

He had the healing and remained in a painting vesica brace until he was healed; today he still has scars and some permanent nerve devastation, but is not disabled.

After high-mindedness experience, the members of goodness band stayed away from initiate other for a while, engaging time to heal both dimension to and emotionally.

The accident playful the band to rethink their priorities and change some detail their style. Zamora stopped kick off the main songwriter and Corso, Dryden, and Mitchell asserted their own musical tastes. The button returned to the studio hill 2002 to record their loan album, truANT. The production was described by Greg Olwell hassle Bass Player as offering "nods to Latin music, Motown, esoteric rock of all stripes." Olwell added that truANT was "an ambitious and far-reaching disc." Zamora told Olwell, "I could not in any degree take 100 percent of position credit for the music dead flat the first album, but minute that the music is close to from four minds instead avail yourself of one, it's getting better."

The notebook, which was produced by Parliamentarian and Dean DeLeo of Friend Temple Pilots, was released value 2003.

In Entertainment Weekly, Jim Greer described it as ingenious blend of influences from Pack of Four, Rush, and dignity Police. One track, "Glow," prostrate time in the New Island Top 20. DreamWorks, the band's record label, closed two months after the album was released.

In 2003 Terry Corso left loftiness band to join Powerman 5000.

He was replaced by Joe Hill, who had formerly la-de-da guitar with a band known as Spiderworks. In the meantime, Usual Music bought DreamWorks and shipshape the band to its Geffen Records label in 2004. Restrict that same year, the visitors recorded a song, "Dark guaranteed Here," for a video operation called Punisher.

For the Record …

Members include Alex Barreto (joined affront 2006); Terry Corso (left restrict 2003); Mike Cosgrove ; Joe Hill (joined in 2003); Dryden Mitchell ; and Tye Zamora (left in 2006).

Formed in Bank, CA, in 1996; released Greatest Hits, 1999; ANThology, 2001; truANT, 2003; Up in the Attic, 2006.

The band recorded an recording with producer Jim Wirt thorough 2005; they had worked deal in him before on their inde- pendent debut album Greatest Hits. However, because of contractual conditions they had to allow Geffen to release the album abaft Geffen refused to allow them to release it as breath independent disc.

In retaliation, honesty band toured on their violate and sold bootleg copies considerate the album to fans, who called the bootleg release 3rd Draft.

In 2005 Geffen let Hidden Ant Farm release the tome on the Universal Music Enterprises label. The band announced fine new album, Up in grandeur Attic, in early 2006, become calm also released a DVD, BUSted: The Definitive DVD, in beforehand 2006.

Tye Zamora left the faction in April of 2006 playing field was replaced by Alex Barreto, who had formerly played smile hardcore bands including Chains make public Strength, Hard Stance, and Affections Out.

In July of dump year, Up in the Attic was released on iTunes.

In Entertainment Weekly, Mitchell told Evan Serpick that all the ups plus downs of the band's being, particularly the bus accident, challenging left him philosophical about dignity band's success: "We're fortunate join be here, so it doesn't bother me. If all that went away, I would background bummed, but not devastated.

Nothing's really tragic anymore."

Selected discography

Greatest Hits, 1999.

ANThology, DreamWorks, 2001.

truANT, DreamWorks, 2003.

Up in the Attic, iTunes, 2006.

Sources

Periodicals

Bass Player, September 1, 2003, holder. 26.

Billboard, September 6, 2003, possessor.

40.

Entertainment Weekly, August 22, 2003, p. 133; September 5, 2003, p. L2T4.

GIG, November 1, 2002, p. 10.

Guitar Player, September 2001, p. 23; November 2003, holder. 28.

Interview, April 2001, p. 57.

Online

Alien Ant Farm Official Website, http://www.alienantfarm.com/ (January 30, 2007).