Staind began it's amazing rage in New England, In the year of 1993. Aaron Lewis (singer), and his friend Mike Mushok (guitarist) met eachother during a Christmas party. Mike told Aaron that Aaron should be the lead singer of a band. Aaron suggested that since mike played guitar, they could form a band. Mike immediately brought in drummer Jon Wysocki, and Aaron brought in a bassist for the group, and they completed the original line-up. The band didn't take long to think up a great name, Aaron and Mike both came up with the same name at almost the same time. From then on the group was officially referred to as, Staind. Shortly later, the bassist for Staind left them, because he didn't feel comfortable working with Aaron's friend Mike. So the band was left searching the world for a bassist. By November 24h, 1995, the group found themselves a great bassist that went by the name Johnny April.
Staind had to have a lot of patience, to get their success. They always made up songs and waited for record deals to come at them, but they soon realized they had a long way to go. They were later reccommended by a record label, to make a self-release debut. Staind did so, and they packed up thousands of copies, because they were also invited to go touring with bands like Limp Bizkit, and Korn. The time came soon for them to start selling their live albums, and performing on October 23, 1997. Staind opened up for Limp Bizkit with their song Mudshovel. Fred Durst, lead singer of Limp Bizkit, was very interested in the band, and he raised a large matt onto the wall behind staind, that had the cover art of staind's self-released debut. After the show, Staind sold 2000 copies of their self-released debut. Fred Durst approached Aaron Lewis and bought their self-released debut. He then had a small arguement with them about their religion. Fred kept believing that Staind were anti-christians, and Aaron kept telling him that they were not, and Fred had kept making accusations to them about things they did that made them seem like anti-christians. Aaron said "We aren't F*ckin anti-christians! God damn it, Fred if you can't f*ckin believe us then forget about us, just f*ckin leave us alone!", Fred handed Aaron the self-released debut and walked away. He came back in a few minutes and said "you're right, i'm sorry, but ya know, i can't resist letting you guys find a record deal without help, tell ya what, you guys drop by one of our concerts in boston with a demo, and I'll check it out and see if I can get you a deal with Interscope records". Fred and Aaron exchanged phone numbers. Staind immediately went to their hometown and began working on an 8-song demo. They finished about 2 days before Limp Bizkit's show in Boston, which gave them plenty of time to get there. They made it to Boston right before the concert started. They got in a rental car, and drove right to the concert. After the third song Limp Bizkit played at their concert, Fred saw Aaron and the rest of the band at the back of the arena. Fred announced "alright everybody I gotta go to the bathroom, i'll be right back, in the mean time, dj lethal will keep ya busy with a little remix he wrote for counterfeit". Fred got off stage and walked to the back of the arena and talked to Staind. They gave him the demo and he walked back to the stage. After the concert. Staind waited outside the arena for Fred. Fred walked out to greet them and he told them that he loved their demo soooo much, and he got them a deal with Flip/interscope records. Staind went back home and began recording their first major label debut, in mid-1998.
Staind finished recording their album at the beginning of 1999, and they handed it to Flip/interscope records. The album was released in June 1999, entitled "Dysfunction". The album sold over 600 copies on the first day because people remembered Staind's self-released debut. The first single from the album "just go", made the album sell ove 100,000 copies. The next single "MudShovel", is what made the album sellout. The music video dominated Mtv, as a Buzzworthy music video. The album ended up selling over 500,000 copies by the end of 1999.
Staind got another record deal and started working on their second album. Their second album had more to do with Aaron Lewis' family issues, and some extreme drug problems he had a few years ago. They completed the album, and released it in 2001, and called it "Break the Cycle". Most fans found the album to be quite soft, and Sophomore. But the first single "it's Been Awhile" made the album sell more than 300,000 copies by the end of the week. At the end of the next week, the album achieved a platinum award, and the video for It's Been Awhile achieved Buzzworthy on Mtv. The second single "Outside" was practically owning the radio, the song is still overplayed even today! Most fans of Staind really enjoyed the acoustic version of Outside, featuring Fred Durst. The last single for Break the Cycle was called "Epiphany", which is such a rememorable single, it is so unforgettable, and has so much effort from Staind.
Staind started to work on a 3rd album which they immediately decided, that they would name "14 Shades of Grey". The album was released on May 20, 2003. The first single "Price to Play", did not exactly cause a number of sellouts for Staind. They Immediately brought out the next single "So Far Away", which is probably Staind's softest, but most popular single. It caused the album to cause a huge number of Sellouts, and Staind recieved another Platinum award.
As we speak right now, Staind is working on a fourth album! This next album will be the best of them all, guaranteed! Staind is probably one of the most unique, unusual, and successful alternative metal bands in the world. They did have a rough start, but now they're on the road to the kingdom of Rock!!!
Bio written by: Bgrotha |
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