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Fenix TX

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Fenix TX
File:Fenix TX Promo.jpg
(L-R) A. Lewis, C. Lewis, Salazar, DeLaPaz
Background information
OriginHouston, Texas, USA
Years active1995–2002, 2005–present
MembersWilliam Salazar
Chris Lewis
Adam Lewis
Damon DeLaPaz

Fenix*TX is an American four-piece pop punk band. The band originally formed as Riverfenix in 1995 in Houston, Texas. They released an EP, G.B.O.H., and an album, Riverfenix, on independent record labels, before having to change their name due to a cease and desist order from the estate of actor River Phoenix. Following the change of name, they signed with major label MCA Records in 1999. On MCA, they released two further albums, 1999's Fenix*TX and 2001's Lechuza, which collectively sold over 600,000 units, prior to breaking up in 2002 over creative differences.[1]

After the split, bassist Adam Lewis and drummer Damon DeLaPaz devoted themselves to their now defunct side project Sing the Body Electric, while vocalist/guitarist Will Salazar and guitarist Chris Lewis formed the band Denver Harbor.

In September 2005, Fenix*TX announced their reunion. They released a live album, Purple Reign in Blood, and supported it with tours across the United States, Japan and Europe.

History

Early years

The band that would ultimately become Fenix*TX was initiated in late 1995 in Houston, Texas under the name Riverfenix by guitarists Will Salazar and Damon DeLaPaz, along with a singer named Carl. However, said singer did not stay with the band for all too long after they recruited bassist Adam Lewis and drummer Donnie Reyes, so that Salazar had to take over vocal duties. With this solidified line-up, the four piece took the Texan pop punk scene by assault, playing concerts every week alongside renowned bands such as 30footfall, Good Riddance and Goldfinger in local clubs like Fitzgerald's (whose head of security earned an homage in the Riverfenix song "Skinhead Jessie"). In 1996, the band released their debut EP G.B.O.H. under the Houston-based record label Fuzzgun Records, followed by the Mullets Across America Tour with Home Grown, Cousin Oliver and The Hippos, while simultaneously mailing out demos to other labels. Mojo Records was the only one showing slight interest in signing the band, however, they never got that far due to the band taking too long to make a decision, in hopes of attracting other labels' attention. Two Mojo interns though, siblings Richard and Stefanie Reines, were on the brink of starting their own label, Drive-Thru Records, and wanted to sign Riverfenix as their first band.[2]

Riverfenix/Fenix*TX

File:Fenix TX 1999.jpg
Fenix*TX's original line-up: Donnie Reyes, Adam Lewis, Will Salazar, Damon DeLaPaz

In December 1997, Drive-Thru released Riverfenix's thirteen-track full-length debut Riverfenix, produced by Jim Barnes. Within the following year, the album managed to sell out its first three print runs of 5,000 copies each, which was quite an achievement for an independent record label that operated out of the owners' garage. The CD's playful lyrics and catchy melodies caught the ear of blink-182's Mark Hoppus, whose sister was at that time dating Riverfenix's DeLaPaz. Hoppus offered the band an opening slot on an upcoming blink-182 tour, and became their manager. However, unable to continue managing Riverfenix with the arising buzz around his band and their 1999 album Enema of the State, Hoppus passed on managing duties to blink-182 manager Rick DeVoe. Yet, Hoppus' effort in promoting Riverfenix was overheard by blink-182's record label MCA, who showed major interest in signing the band.[3]

Two obstacles, however, separated Riverfenix from MCA: The band was still under contract with Drive-Thru Records, who were not willing to let them off the hook that easy, and the estate of late actor River Phoenix filed a cease and desist order against the band to refrain from further usage of the name Riverfenix. While Drive-Thru Records and MCA settled for a distribution agreement, the band discarded the "River" from their name and appended Texas' postal abbreviation, hence Riverfenix became Fenix*TX. With a new record deal under the belt, it was all systems go for Fenix*TX, who re-recorded the majority of their 1997 eponymous album for their MCA debut Fenix*TX, which was released on July 13 1999. The album debuted at #115 on the Billboard 200 and reached #3 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers.[4] Its hit single "All My Fault" received heavy radio and TV airplay, triggered through the song's integration in the TV movie Jailbait (2000), which even featured a cameo appearance by Fenix*TX. The music video, in return, starred Alycia Purrott from the cast of Jailbait, as well as blink-182's Hoppus.

Lechuza and breakup

File:Fenix TX 2001.jpg
Fenix*TX's line-up for Lechuza: James Love, Damon DeLaPaz, Adam Lewis, Will Salazar

Following the success of their MCA debut, Fenix*TX went on numerous tours, including the Warped Tour and both national and international tours with label mates New Found Glory. However, in late 2000, drummer Reyes left the band to pursue other interests. The band decided to put guitarist DeLaPaz behind the drum kit and began looking for a new guitarist, as they found those to be "a dime a dozen".[5] In March 2001, James Love was announced as the band's new member. Simultaneously, the band revealed the name of their follow-up record, Lechuza. The album title stems from the myth of a witch/owl hybrid called Lechuza, that dwells on the United States-Mexico border and utters whistling sounds. According to the myth, the creature would kill whoever dared returning the whistle.

Lechuza was released on May 22 2001 and debuted on #87 of the Billboard 200, with its single "Threesome" reaching #66 on the UK Singles Chart.[6] The album featured a total of eleven songs, all of which were more raucous and energetic than those on the band's previous efforts, with occasional escapes into heavy metal-esque guitar distortion paired with screamo-typical vocal patterns. Reason for the change of style was Lewis' and DeLaPaz's constant feeling of unhappiness with the band's songs, as revealed by Salazar in an interview in late 2002: "[...] for Lechuza the guys were looking for a different direction so they wrote some songs that were way different, like Something Bad's Gonna Happen and Pasture of Muppets, just so that they could have some songs that they could, in their words, actually have fun playing onstage." One of these songs, "Beating a Dead Horse", explicitly addresses the problems that had arisen within the band.[7]

Eventually, the continuously growing rift between Salazar and the other two founding members caused Love to leave Fenix*TX shortly after the release of the album. Dennis Hill of the Southern Californian pop punk band Lefty temporarily filled his place, while a permanent replacement was found in Pivit's Chris Lewis (unrelated to bassist Adam Lewis), during a tour with P.O.D. in October 2001. However, he never legally became a member of the band, which allowed DeLaPaz and Adam Lewis to overrule Salazar in the decision to break up the band, in the middle of the writing process for what would have become Fenix*TX's third album. On September 19 2002, the disbandment of Fenix*TX was officially announced, despite Salazar's wish to keep the band alive.

Denver Harbor and Sing the Body Electric

Further information: Denver Harbor
File:Sing The Body Electric Promo.jpg
Sing the Body Electric

After calling it quits in September 2002, the members of Fenix*TX split to form two separate bands: Salazar and Chris Lewis started the post-grunge band Denver Harbor, along with F.O.N. members Aaron Rubin and Ilan Rubin. DeLaPaz and Adam Lewis brought on board singer Anthony Scalamere, bassist Jason Torbert and ex-Fenix*TX guitarist James Love (who was replaced by guitarist/keyboardist Tony Montemarano in February 2004) for their experimental/hardcore side-project Big Black Boat, which soon changed its name to ChChCh HaHaHa and officially became Sing the Body Electric on February 15 2004.

Upon forming, there was an immediate unprovoked rivalry between the two offspring bands' fanbases, mostly taking place on the bands' internet forums, where Denver Harbor fans would utter their despise for Sing the Body Electric, and vice versa. While threads containing said comments were soon locked by the moderators, the competitiveness was undeniably present, with fans keeping score of which band was the first to record a demo, the first to release a CD, the first to get signed, etc. Denver Harbor came in first most of the times, as they released their debut EP Extended Play on December 16 2003 and signed with Universal Records in May 2004. Sing the Body Electric, on the other hand, recorded their eponymous six song EP Sing the Body Electric, which was released by Restart Records on August 10 2004, shortly before Denver Harbor's second effort, the full-length album Scenic, issued on October 12 2004.

Sing the Body Electric never received major recognition, possibly due to the fact that, unlike Denver Harbor, their musical style was way different from that of Fenix*TX, and tended more towards progressive rock and hardcore punk. Hardcore-typical behavior was also reflected by singer Scalamere, who was known for his extreme views on contemporary music and his bragging about beating up a person for wearing a Dashboard Confessional T-shirt.[8] On May 26 2005, after months of absence from the stage and deadlock on Sing the Body Electric's website, Scalamere proclaimed the breakup of the band on their message board by posting a profanity-plastered rant about how none of the band members is reachable, ending with the words "sing the body is dead". In response to this, Adam Lewis wrote "Well if Sing The Body Electric is dead, YOU KILLED IT!"[9]

Reunion

On August 14 2004, Fenix*TX played two reunion shows with their last active line-up (consisting of Salazar, Chris Lewis, Adam Lewis and DeLaPaz) at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California, which were filmed by Drive-Thru Records and supposed to be released on DVD, along with a CD of previously unreleased material by the band. Due to reasons unknown, neither the DVD nor the CD have been released as of February 2006. However, the band reunited again exactly one year later to record a live album at The Clubhouse in Tempe, Arizona, which was released under the title Purple Reign in Blood - Live on November 8 2005.

To coincide with the new release, Fenix*TX announced two farewell tours — the Before the Blackout, After the Breakup Tour in the United States, and the Drive-Thru Invasion Tour 2006 in Japan — running from October 7 2005 until January 15 2006. Salazar's and Chris Lewis' other band Denver Harbor was supporting on the U.S. tour, which meant that both had to perform two sets every night. This, and repeating logistics problems, led to many dates being cancelled on the day they were scheduled. Halfway through the tour, DeLaPaz was asked to leave, so Ilan Rubin from Denver Harbor replaced him for the remainder of the tour.[10]

In February 2006, the band played another three shows with No Use for a Name, before heading out on a two-week tour with Unwritten Law in the beginning of March. A European tour supported by Crash Romeo — including Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, England and Scotland — is scheduled to take place in May.

Musical style and critical reception

Template:Sample box start variation 2 Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end During the first years of their career, Fenix*TX had to struggle hard with their reputation as being a blink-182 rip-off. The Daily Athenaeum went as far as calling their 1999 album Fenix*TX "a very good blink-182 album".[11] However, other than the shared musical genre, the two bands have little in common. Due to Fenix*TX's dual guitar employment, they are able to create a more complex guitar accompaniment. Also, at a time where blink-182 relied heavily on their rudimentary single guitar/bass/drums arrangements, Fenix*TX made an effort to integrate other instuments, such as the trombone and the trumpet, as well as rather unconventional vocal techniques. Thereby, they scratched on the surfaces of other musical genres such as ska punk and even hip hop, as heard in the songs "Skinhead Jessie" and "Apple Pie Cowboy Toothpaste", which includes a rap originally appearing in the 1984 comedy film Revenge of the Nerds, and was slightly altered by the band in an effort to give it an — albeit negligible — original touch. Yet, the typical Fenix*TX song features an energentic — yet pop-friendly — distortion guitar-driven sound, paired with melodic vocal patterns and a lyrical mix of political, personal, and occasionally comical topics, as heard in the songs "Minimum Wage", "Ben", and "Rooster Song", respectively.

For Fenix*TX's second recording effort, the quartet took the initiative to try and distinguish themselves from its peers. The resulting album, 2001's Lechuza, was basically split into two parts, with half of the songs written by the band's previous primary songwriter Salazar and the other half written by Lewis and DeLaPaz, which introduced a slight shift in style to their music. Though a tad edgier than before, Salazar's songs were largely in the vein of Fenix*TX's previous material, featuring at times comical ("Phoebe Cates"), romantic ("A Song for Everyone") and generally positive themes ("Abba Zabba"), combined with the band's traditional sound. Lewis' and DeLaPaz' songs, on the other hand, were musically far more metal and hardcore-influenced and commonly featured gang vocals and more aggressive lyrics. While songs such as "Something Bad Is Gonna Happen" stand out with a very crisp lead guitar sound and a high-pitched guitar solo by James Love, "Beating a Dead Horse" (the only Fenix*TX song primarily sung by Adam Lewis) contains screamed vocals and an overall hardcore feel.

Hence, Lechuza was not as well received by both fans and critcs as Fenix*TX. Especially the band's "feeble attempt at making a hardcore song (ahem... a song called 'Beating a Dead Horse')"[12] triggered a great ammount of criticism. However, not only the album, also the band's live performance was largely discredited for their increasing tendencies towards becoming an alternative metal band, rather than staying a pop punk band. Yet, the loyalty of most fans outweighed their disappointment over the album, though a third full-length effort by Fenix*TX would have most likely continued in an even harder direction, as the members' post-breakup projects show, which featured songs that were originally written for the follow-up to Lechuza.[13]

Members

Former members

  • James Love – guitar (2001)
  • Donnie Reyes – drums (1995–2000)

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

  • "All My Fault" (2000)
  • "Threesome" (2002)

Non-album tracks

References

  1. ^ "Fenix TX Reunite to Record Live Album/US and World Tour in the Works". Retrieved March 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "HotStar Fenix TX". Pollstar. Retrieved February 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Fenix TX's 7 Deadly Sins". Punk Updates. Retrieved February 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Fenix TX: Artist Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved February 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "FENIX TX - 9 Questions With Adam". PopPunk.com. Retrieved February 17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Chart Log UK". The Zobbel Website. Retrieved March 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Will Salazar (ex-FenixTX) Interview". RockingTheScene.com. Retrieved February 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Anthony Scalamere. "YOU WANT A NEW FUCKING POST". Sing the Body Electric Forum. Retrieved February 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Anthony Scalamere. "i guess this is it". Sing the Body Electric Forum. Retrieved February 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Fenix TX - Interview with Will". DecoyMusic.com. Retrieved February 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "First Listening". The Daily Athenaeum Interactive. Retrieved March 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Fenix TX - Lechuza review". Last Life Media. Retrieved March 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "R-JENERATION: Relient K concert moves both fans and lead singer". reviewjournal.com. Retrieved March 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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