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| July 2002: St. Louis-bred fivesome Story Of The Year (then known as Big Blue Monkey) hits the stage at the Phoenix, Arizona stop of the Vans Warped Tour in the Peoria Sports Complex. But, there’s no real stage — rather, the group is crammed onto a rickety platform that’s re |
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 | Page AvenueNot Rated
Released: 2003 |
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Click on one of the albums below for more info.
| | Page AvenueNot Rated
Released: 2003 |
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July 2002: St. Louis-bred fivesome Story Of The Year (then known as Big Blue Monkey) hits the stage at the Phoenix, Arizona stop of the Vans Warped Tour in the Peoria Sports Complex. But, there’s no real stage — rather, the group is crammed onto a rickety platform that’s relegated to a remote corner of the venue. Although temperatures are well north of 103 degrees and the assembled audience is largely unfamiliar with the band, Story Of The Year doesn’t just play the songs on the setlist — they live for it and deliver.
July 2004: Story Of The Year hits the stage of the Vans Warped Tour, though this time it’s on decidedly different terms — for starters, they’re playing the main stage. Thousands of dedicated fans rush to the front in an effort to gain a glimpse of the group well before the first note is even heard. Precisely as they’d done two years prior, the fivesome doesn’t just play the songs on the setlist — they live for it and deliver.
It’s this remarkable consistency that’s embedded within the collective mindset of Story Of The Year. Though they’re musicians first, the band also takes time out for a bit of good, sometimes-not-so-clean fun and games. “You can’t be serious for too long,” says bassist Adam Russell.
And it’s this well-balanced attitude that’s worked to the benefit of the group, particularly in the success of 2003’s near platinum, Maverick debut Page Avenue.
The next several months post-Page Avenue’s release were filled with whirlwind blurs of touring stints, both domestic and international, interrupted by mere days of rest. In fact, Story Of The Year wouldn’t have a significant break from the road until the end of 2004, when it came time to write and record their follow-up to Page Avenue.
Writing sessions began almost immediately after the band’s touring cycle ended. “We pretty much got together in the winter and just started working it like a 40-hour-a-week job,” Marsala says. Most of the writing took place at guitarist Ryan Phillips’ house, whose residence also doubled as the band’s practice studio.
With songwriting sessions wrapped up, the band joined forces with veteran producer Steve Evetts (Snapcase, Hatebreed) to begin tracking their new album. “[He recorded] a lot of old records that I grew up listening to, some of my favorite records of all time,” says Marsala of Evetts. “That’s one of the main reasons why a bunch of us were like, ‘Yeah, we should talk to this guy and see if he’s cool.’ And the first time we met with him, it was like instantly good chemistry. He really knew what we were trying to go for and we all agreed and were on the same page.
“We felt like we were always a little heavier than [Page Avenue] sounded,” he adds. “Live, we always played heavier than our record actually sounded, so we wanted to try and capture our live sound on this record.”
Capturing Story Of The Year’s stage sonics also meant being physically able to perform on record as the band had done on tour. During initial tracking sessions for Josh Wills’ drums in a Chicago studio, Marsala, Phillips, guitarist Philip Sneed and bassist Adam Russell performed alongside Wills, making sure to incorporate all their stage maneuvers.
“We did the drums with everyone in the room and we were actually jumping and stuff!,” says Marsala. “It was really cool, we acted like we were playing a show. Even Steve was in the room, rockin’ out with us.”
And when the drum sessions were complete, Wills made it a point to let everyone know. On the last take for the last song on the record, “Josh stabbed the heads of drums with his drumstick, pushed his drums over and we were all screaming,” Russell recalls. “We were feeling the fire!”
That same fire blazed its way back to St. Louis, as Story Of The Year continued its sessions at what became the primary recording studio for the new album — Phillips’ practice room.
“It’s just a big room, so we can run around and sweat in there,” says Marsala. “We made it really soundproof and with ProTools now, you can record anything anywhere. We did guitars, bass and vocals all in our practice room. It’s easier because you’re at home, you can spend more time, you don’t have to drive anywhere or go anywhere.”
The band spent plenty of time at their new studio, mostly recording, but at times, blowing off a little steam with plenty of pranks — much like the sort found on their recent DVD release, Live at the Lou/Bassassins — like tossing snap bags at each other. (Don’t try this at home!)
“Phil took off his shirt, and I was throwing handfuls of ‘em at him,” Russell says. “He was like, ‘Dude, throw two more!’ I eventually threw like 15 at his chest and he ended up with all these red marks. We took a big straw and started shooting them at each other.
Weeks later, Story Of The Year finalized their sophomore Maverick full-length, aptly dubbed In The Wake Of Determination. “We were really excited to write a new record, we knew exactly what we wanted to do, and we knew how we wanted to come across,” says Marsala. “We were just really determined, so it seemed as if the title worked really well. That was our mindset the entire time.”
Firing off with the first single, “We Don’t Care Anymore,” In The Wake Of Determination immediately finds Story Of The Year on a full-throttle course throughout its dozen tracks. The track offers tight, synchronized guitar riffing interspersed with broad choruses, and according to Marsala is about “the pressure of making a second record for a band like us, or just the pressure in anyone’s life, you know. Having to follow up to your first record, you can’t ruin what you already had, or else your band will be over. We could worry about all these things and have the pressure get to us, or we can do things for ourselves, do it the way we want to do it, and just have fun doing it.”
“Five Against The World” finds Story Of The Year reflecting on its success and accomplishments over the past couple years. “These are good days and we’ll remember this stuff for the rest of our lives,” Marsala says. “We’re happy to see where we’ve gone. We never thought we’d get as far as we did. It’s just an awesome thing.”
As one of the most propulsive tracks on In The Wake Of Determination, “Jarhead” recalls the hyper-tempo bursts of the legendary East Coast hardcore scene. As its title might suggest, “Jarhead” also points out miscreants whose sole purpose is to cause a commotion.
“From my whole life of going to shows and over the last few years of playing shows, you’d see those guys in the crowd who you could tell aren’t there for the music whatsoever,” says Marsala. “They’re just there to beat up as many kids as they can. But it’s not only about going to shows; it’s about any random, tough guy who thinks he’s tougher than any other guy in the world. He takes his aggression out to prove how cool he is. Why are you here? We’re here to have a good time, not to try and fight people.”
In addition to having a good time, Story Of The Year also has plenty of reason to celebrate. And looking back at the band’s roots as a hard-working, independent operation, Marsala understands just how much the band’s hard work and effort has finally paid off.
“It helps that we were that band that nobody knew and we’d try to go around and sell our CD,” Marsala recalls. “Especially on Warped Tour, I see a lot of bands do this now — but at the time we were one of the only bands that would walk out there and try to put headphones on people’s heads and sell them our CDs. It’s good to have that background of working like that, just to appreciate how lucky you are to make it as far as you did.”
After all, such determination (interspersed with an ounce of good humor) isn’t just the story of the year —— it’s the story of a lifetime.
Bio written by: Johnny Loftus |
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new cd..
i saw them on the nintendo fusion tour.. i
cant fuckin wait till they get the new cd
out.. i just wish they could tour at the same
time.. seen them twice.. so fuckin rad..
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ATTICUSROMANCE |
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Replys
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Listener
| you suck..lol..na you're just luckey. I
missed them when they came through seattle. I
cant fucking wait till they come out with a
new cd, cus a new cd means new tour!!! | sotyfrek | HELL YEAH NEW TOUR that fuking rocks cant
wait for the new cd | KrewZero | you want them to tour and record at the same
time?
isnt that asking alot...yea it is | i_heart_emo_boys187 | ok so when is their fucking dvd coming out.
1st they said Oct. then they said around
turkey time(thanxgiving) and now what? they
seriously suck! but i still love em!!! oh and
right now, i'm just hoping for a new cd
cuz my pissy mom probably wont let me go to a
show.... well maybe. | CarvedPride_SOTY | i dont do good when i dont go to a show for a
while....ive havent been to one since dec
8th....damn | i_heart_emo_boys187 | no EMO i dont want them touring and recording
at the same time cuz then there would have to
be TWO story of the year's and that would
be bad NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO that would be
great cuz that means there would have to be
TWO JOSHS
**drooling** | KrewZero | | what the fuck are you talking about | i_heart_emo_boys187 | i truly do not know
::stares out to space:: | CarvedPride_SOTY | | then stop | i_heart_emo_boys187 | | stop what? are you talking to me? | CarvedPride_SOTY | | both of you | i_heart_emo_boys187 | umm... okay, but i still dont know what
i'm suppose to stop. | CarvedPride_SOTY | stop talking to your dumb friend about stupid
things
this is a soty board not a you and her board | i_heart_EMO_boys187 | i love emo.. why the fuck do you care.. and
seriously.. "i dont do good when i
dont go to a show for a long time.. blah blah
im a fuckface blah blah.. " dude
seriously.. are you trying to make people
jealous cause you go to shows more than some
of them.. that had absolutely nothing to do
with my post.. let it go dude.. | ATTICUSROMANCE | ha ha thats funny.
"blah bla blah i'm a fuck face blah
blah blah."
lol | CarvedPride_SOTY | | o0o0o0o you burned me!! lmao | i_heart_EMO_boys187 | yeah dude.. your so fuckin emo cause you can
type like this "oOoOoOo" and
you cant burn yourself.. let it go.. | ATTICUSROMANCE | | cant burn herself?.... confusing. | CarvedPride_SOTY | | dude.. seriously.. your a total cocklick.. | ATTICUSROMANCE | cocklick. what the fuck is that?
seriously, i get enough bitching from EMO and
its REALLY annoying. she has a teenie
fedish(sp). so dude, dont start. | CarvedPride_SOTY | dude.. carved.. cocklick is my way of saying
your rad.. dude.. you said my "blah
blah im a fuckface blah blah" was
lol.. im totally not going to be negative
towards you.. and yeah.. dude.. i dont even
know EMO.. and their like.. yeah.. but no
dude.. | ATTICUSROMANCE | ok well then nevermind. i thought it was a
bad thing. :) | CarvedPride_SOTY | yeah dude.. im wicked sorry.. im totally used
to me and my friends calling eachother
cocklicks and fuckfaces.. | ATTICUSROMANCE | you two up there^^ not i heart emo but the
other two assholes.......shut the fuck up
youre really annoying | blackrain13 | dude.. totally seriously.. this is my fucking
post.. | ATTICUSROMANCE | | ..you sound like a valley girl | rach_luvs_simpleplan | black rain just doesnt want emo as an enemy
thats why he went against us and on her side.
emo can do that to people. | CarvedPride_SOTY | | i love you blackrain | i_heart_emo_boys187 | | shut up teenie | CarvedPride_SOTY | hah.. dude.. carved.. your so rad.. and uh..
"rach luvs sp" and whatnot.. i
might sound like a valley girl cause i say
totally but uh.. im not the one who listens
to simple plan.. seriously.. their as bad as
yellowcard and good charlotte.. what a
douche.. seriously.. | ATTICUSROMANCE | yeah i used to like yellowcard, but all of
the sudden i just disliked them. and GC i
never liked.... billy martin is just hot.
oh and your cool too. :) | CarvedPride_SOTY | how does valley girl have anything to do with
simple plan????? and just b/c i like them
doesnt mean i like gc.. I dont.
and uhhh...i wasnt insulting you.
you act like i did.. | rach_luvs_simpleplan | yeah dude.. chances are you do listen to GC..
but ever since people have been saying their
pop and have sold out.. you hid your cd's
in your dresser drawer right next to your
hanson collection.. and yeah i know simple
plan has nothing to do with what you said to
me.. and I dont recall it saying it did.. and
yeah.. saying someone sounds like a valley
girl is actually putting someone down.. maybe
you dont see it as such because you want to
be a valley girl. . good luck with that and
later.. | ATTICUSROMANCE | fyi. just becuz u like Simple Plan doesnt
mean you like GC. i'm like a huge fan of
SP and i HATE GC...ive hated them since day
1, not when ppl started calling them sellouts
er w/e u sed. and most people dont WANT er
TRY to be valley girls it just pretty much
like happens er where yer from affects it
kinda. uggh w/e
| SiMpLePlAnLoVeR13 | dude.. fuckin seriously..
becuz- because
u- you
er- dude what the fuck is er..
sed- said
yer- your
dude.. i hope the thirteen on your screenname
means that your thirteen years old.. cause if
not dude.. you have some "like"
serious explaining to do.. what the fuck..
spell out your words.. its highly annoying..
and yeah dude.. let it go.. later.. | ATTICUSROMANCE | er- is or
geez i can type however i feel like typin
and im not 13 im 16 | SiMpLePlAnLoVeR13 | man, i'm from california.... that
doesn't mean i'm a valley girl, right?
cuz i have to admit that i say like and
totally sometimes. but not really in a prissy
way. | CarvedPride_SOTY | A Dreams End...check out my Screamo band
www.myspace.com/adreamsend
www.purevolume.com/adreamsendca
www.isound.com/a_dreams_end | ADE987 | i saw them at the nintendo fusion tour too,
soty and my chemical romance were my only
reasons for going. | punkrockchopstix | and im a girl you fucking retarted
dipshit!......that post way up there by that
person^^^ | blackrain13 | yeah dude.. carved.. its alright.. i was born
in cali.. it doesnt make you a valley girl..
and you really shouldnt worry if anyone
thought you were.. what do other peoples
opinions matter.. and uh.. i say like and
totally all the time.. but i also know how to
type.. and dude.. blackrain and whatnot..
dude.. who the fuck are you talking about..
if its me dude.. i never said you werent a
girl.. so yeah.. why dont you put names when
your bitching someone out love.. | ATTICUSROMANCE | | hmmm..... okay whatever. | CarvedPride_SOTY | | | |
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