The Matches

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The Matches

Background information
Origin Oakland, California, USA
Genre(s) Pop punk
Alternative rock
Art punk
Years active 1997–present (currently on haitus)
Label(s) Epitaph Records
Website Official site
Members
Shawn Harris
Jon Devoto
Matt Whalen
Dylan Rowe
Former members
Justin SanSouci
Matt Esposito

The Matches are a band based in the United States. The band formed in Oakland, California, in 1997, and currently comprises vocalist and rhythm guitarist Shawn Harris, lead guitarist and backup vocalist Jon Devoto, bassist and backup vocalist Dylan Rowe, and drummer Matt Whalen. They have released three studio albums and five singles, and are currently unsigned after fulfilling their contract with Epitaph Records. As of July 9th, 2009, the Matches notified their fans via MySpace and Facebook that they were on a "hiatus", saying, "our time to start new projects has come"[1]. It is unclear whether they will rejoin to play again after select "going away" shows in California.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Beginnings (1997-2002)

Originally known as "The Locals", the band was formed in 1997 by Justin SanSouci, Matt Whalen, Matt Esposito, and Shawn Harris. At the time, all four were in high school at Bishop O'Dowd. Matt Esposito then left the band (sometime between 2000 and 2002) to enroll in the US Naval Academy, and was replaced by Jon Devoto as a guitarist. In those early years, the band played what could be characterized as ska, creating songs like "People on the Block", "Studio 5866", and others. These songs can now be found in The Matches' Song Vault.

Gradually, their style started shifting towards alternative rock. Their influences included fellow East Bay punk/pop-punk bands like Green Day and Rancid, as well as more mainstream bands and musicians like Elvis Costello, David Bowie, The Who and Joe Jackson. The name "The Locals" soon led to copyright infringement complications when Yvonne Doll, the frontwoman for the Chicago indie rock band also called "The Locals", contacted the band and asked that they change their name.

The band gained notoriety for "commo-promo", or commotion promotion, in which they would bring their acoustic guitars and play outside various Bay Area venues as concerts for larger acts were letting out. In conjunction with Oakland's (now defunct) iMusicast venue, the band started producing their own shows called L3 (Live, Loud & Local), which became a launchpad for many other Bay Area bands, as well as attracting such headlining acts as Link 80, Sugarcult, and Zebrahead.

[edit] E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals (2003-2005)

Eventually, under the new name "The Matches", they self-released their debut album, E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals (this was assumed as an effort to publicly resent Yvonne Doll while avoiding libel). Then soon after they landed a record deal on Brett Gurewitz's Epitaph Records, although they had already previously released the album E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals without a recording contract, Epitaph Records re-released it. The version released by Epitaph lacks the song "Superman", but adds the songs "Borderline Creep" and "More Than Local Boys" instead. As well as slight changes to lyrics on "The Jack Slap Cheer", and the last untitled track (often referred to as "Track 11", "Abraham's Song", or "Scratched Out"). "Audio Blood" was featured in the video game Burnout 3: Takedown. The band also worked with rapper MC Lars on the song "Hot Topic is Not Punk Rock".

[edit] Decomposer and A Band in Hope (2006-2008)

The Matches' second album, Decomposer, was released on September 12, 2006. The album features work by nine producers, including Tim Armstrong, Nick Hexum, Mark Hoppus, and John Feldmann, among other punk rock mainstays. The albums also marks a change to more experimental alternative rock sound, as opposed to the pop punk sound of their first album.

The Matches were on the Vans Warped Tour 2007 supporting the new album. The Matches played the entire AP tour 2008 with other bands such as All Time Low, and The Rocket Summer - Live Photos from AP Tour. Also, The Matches were one of the many bands who played on the Soundwave tour in Australia late February and early March 2008.

The group finished their third album titled A Band In Hope and released it on March 18, 2008. This album again featured the collaboration of multiple producers: Nick Hexum, John Feldmann, Tim Armstrong, Miles Hurwitz, Mike Green, John Paulsen, and Paul Ruxton (Paulsen and Ruxton of the San Francisco producer-collective Talking House, to whom the album is dedicated in the CD liner notes).

The album was leaked on February 11, 2008. Harris wrote the following on the band's Blog in response to the leak.

On July 9, the band posted a bulletin on their MySpace saying that bassist Justin SanSouci will be leaving the band. The Matches asked people to send in demo tapes of themselves in order to audition for the recently-opened role of a new bassist.[2]

Matt Esposito and Matt Whalen were taught by Jock Rockenbach.

On August 7, 2008, The Matches announced that Dylan Rowe of Nashville, Tennessee, whom they met 5 years prior, would be their new bassist. He replaced Justin SanSouci at the Oakland Art and Soul Festival on August 30, 2008.

[edit] Side Projects & Next album

The Matches are currently demo-ing new songs for their next album, which is due for release in 2009.[3] Some of The Matches' members started side projects. Jonathan Devoto first performed as a solo artist on May 17, 2009 at Berkeley, CA playing three covers and four originals. Shawn Harris and Jake Grigg from Something with Numbers started writing for Maniac, the duo's side project.[4]

The Matches are officially on hiatus as of July 9, 2009. [5]

[edit] Band members

[edit] Current members

[edit] Former members

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] DVDs

  • Show Must Go Off!, Vol. 14

[edit] Compilation tracks

[edit] Singles

Year Title Chart Positions Album
U.S. Hot 100 U.S. Modern Rock U.S. Mainstream Rock
2006 "Chain Me Free" - - - E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals
2006 "Papercut Skin" - - - Decomposer
2007 "Salty Eyes" - - - Decomposer
2008 "Wake the Sun" - - - A Band in Hope
2008 "Yankee in a Chip Shop" - - - A Band in Hope

[edit] Audio/Video

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=2641990&blogId=499391240
  2. ^ Justin Leaves The Matches - News Article - AbsolutePunk.net
  3. ^ The Matches set to begin demos for New Album
  4. ^ The Matches update - AbsolutePunk.net
  5. ^ [1]

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matches"
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