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From First to Last
From First To Last
Background Information
Origin Orlando, Florida[1]
Genre Post-Hardcore
Years active 2002-present
Label(s) Suretone
Interscope
Capitol
Epitaph
Four Leaf Recordings
Associated Acts The Color of Violence
Limp Bizkit
Sonny Moore
Website http://www.fromfirsttolast.com
Members
Matt Good
Travis Richter
Derek Bloom
Sonny Moore
Former Members
Chris Lent
Jon Weisberg
Phillip Reardon
Joey Antillon
Wes Borland
Spencer Sotelo

From First to Last (sometimes shortened to FFTL) is an American post-hardcore band. The band released their first EP titled Aesthetic in 2003 with vocalist Philip Reardon, followed by Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count in 2004 and Heroine in 2006, both with vocalist Sonny Moore. Following the departure of Moore in February 2007 to work on his solo electro/alternative project, the band added permanent bassist Matt Manning and Matt Good moved to lead vocals/guitar. They released a self-titled album in 2008, and are currently signed to Suretone Records.[2]

History[]

Formation and Aesthetic (2002–2003)[]

In November 1999, From First to Last was formed by Matt Good, Steve Pullman, and Scott Oord under the name First Too Last.[1] Eventually a solid lineup was formed, featuring lead vocalist Philip Reardon, guitarist/vocals Matt Good, guitarist/vocals Travis Richter, bassist Joey Antillon and drummer Derek Bloom. In 2003, the band released their debut EP Aesthetic on Four Leaf Recordings. By the end of the year they had signed to Epitaph Records.[1]

Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Bodycount (2004-2005)[]

After the Aesthetic EP, Reardon was missing by the time they were going to record Dear Diary he had called the band and said he was to be leaving for personal reasons. By this time Jon Weisberg had joined on bass. The band wanted to move Matt Good to lead vocals. However, Good was reluctant to take on both lead vocal and guitar duties. He wanted From First to Last to have a frontman, to connect with the crowd better. Using the social networking site MySpace, Good came in contact with a guitarist from California by the name of Sonny Moore. Moore flew to Georgia, where Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Bodycount was being recorded, and was set to be the band's second guitarist. However, when the other band members heard Moore singing "Featuring Some of Your Favorite Words", they decided that he was much better suited for lead singer than guitarist.[3]

Matt Good and Travis Richter wrote the album in two weeks. Moore came in after the music was tracked and completed the vocals. Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count was released on June 29, 2004.

From late May to mid June 2005, From First to Last participated in the "Dead by Dawn" tour with bands Emanuel, Halifax and He is Legend.[4]

Heroine (2006-2007)[]

The band went to Radio Star Studios in Weed, California to record their second album, produced by Ross Robinson.[5] As their previous bassist Weisberg had been formally asked to leave the band due to internal conflicts, producer Ross Robinson asked Wes Borland, former Limp Bizkit guitarist, to play bass on the album.[1] Borland later played several tours with the band. The album was released on March 21, 2006. It opened on the Billboard albums chart at #25, with first-week sales of over 33,000.[6] Shortly thereafter in April, they signed to major label Capitol Records[1] after bidding between that label and Warner Bros..[6]

From mid March to mid May the band toured alongside Fall Out Boy, Hawthorne Heights, and The All-American Rejects for the "Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour" in support of their release Heroine.[7]

FFTL then did a short European Tour with various bands. The band then played several dates on the 2006 Vans Warped Tour, but were forced to drop out due to surgical removal of a nodule on Moore's vocal cords. He received his second nodule surgery in early July (his first being in May 2005).[8][8] Following his recovery, From First to Last went out on the "World Championship Tour" supporting Atreyu along with Every Time I Die and Chiodos. While on that tour, Moore once again had vocal cord problems and had to leave the tour. The band had planned to have guitarists Good and Richter cover Moore's vocal duties for the duration of the tour until singer of Chiodos, Craig Owens, insisted that he provide lead vocals for their sets.[9] Atreyu eventually forced From First to Last to drop the tour.[1] The band later explained, "Our plan to enable us to play the rest of the tour was disregarded and as our crew was setting up for the show in Worcester, MA we were informed that we were being kicked off of the tour. Understand that it was not our choice to leave this tour... we were forced to leave."[9] Atreyu then returned a statement about the controversy concerning From First to Last's departure, saying, "They couldn't perform as FFTL and are no longer on this tour."[10]

Self-titled album (2008–2009)[]

Main article: From First to Last (album)

In February 2007, lead singer Moore left From First to Last to pursue a solo career.[11] His decision to leave was based on his urge to create his own music, and also on the fact that singing in FFTL was putting an immense strain on his vocal cords. Moore has posted new recordings on his myspace and is part of a group of artists that form, modernorganic.

After vocalist Moore's departure, FFTL faced a crisis. Their label, Capitol Records, had dropped them due to financial problems. Without a vocalist, label, permanent bassist, or any money, the band almost split. Guitarist/Vocalist Matt Good, however, decided to take on lead vocals while still providing a backup guitar role. The band also quickly picked up Matt Manning to become full-time bassist .The band then spent their remaining money on a studio in which to continue work on their already-written third album.

The remaining members of From First to Last finished a headlining tour from July 21 through August 5 with guests Alesana, Vanna, Brighten, and Four Year Strong. Shortly before recording another album, the band played for a portion of the Show Must Go On tour with Hawthorne Heights, Secondhand Serenade, Powerspace, and Brighten, but later cancelled their dates on the last part of the tour to open for Deftones on a separate Canadian tour.

After completing a full mix of their new material, FFTL was picked up by Suretone Records. Shortly after they re-entered the studio to record their album again, this time with a professional crew and better quality.

The band recorded for the second time in Los Angeles, with producer Josh Abraham and seasoned engineer Ryan Williams. They have since completed the album, and at midnight on November 14, 2007, they released a new song, Two as One, on their Myspace account.

FFTL began their fall headlining tour, RATHER BE SLAYIN' N00BZ, starting November 1st with guests blessthefall, A Skylit Drive, and Vanna. Around the middle of the tour, the guests changed to Envy On The Coast, Pierce The Veil, Four Year Strong, Mayday Parade, Mia Medusa, and A Day To Die For.[12]

On November 29, FFTL announced they were going to be a part of the 2008 Hot Topic Take Action Tour. They played at the MTV Winter Valencia in Spain on March 6. On December 6, they announced they were going to be part of the 2008 Vans Warped Tour.

On May 6, 2008, FFTL released their self-titled album, and starting June 20, hit the road on the Vans Warped Tour for its entirety.[13]

On June 28, FFTL updated their band members section of their MySpace, making Chris Lent a full time member.

From the end of September to October 12, From First to Last bought onto The Blackout's "Sleep All Day, Party All Night" tour in the UK, along with The Medic Droid and We are the Ocean.

Fourth full length album (2009–present)[]

FFTL have stated that they will be on a break from touring late 2008. Members Travis Richter and Derek Bloom were focusing on their Color of Violence side project with tours and an album (Youthanize) due april 7 2009. FFTL began writing new songs early 2009 and started demoing new songs in march 2009, for their next album expected to be released early 2010.

Band members[]

Current members[]

  • Matt Good – vocals, lead guitar (2002–present)
  • Travis Richter – rhythm guitar, vocals (2002–present)
  • Matt Manning – bass, backing, live guitar (2007–present)
  • Derek Bloom – drums, percussion (2002–present)
  • Chris Lent – keyboard, live bass (2007–present)

Touring members[]

  • Rick Patterson – guitar (2003–2004)
  • Alicia Simmons-Way – bass (2005)
  • Wes Borland – bass (on Heroine and live shows, 2005–2006)

Former members[]

  • Sonny Moore – lead vocals, live guitars (2004–2007)
  • Jon Weisberg – bass (2003–2005)
  • Phillip Reardon – lead vocals (2002–2003)
  • Joey Antillion – bass (2002–2003)

The Color of Violence[]

The Color of Violence is a band featuring guitarist/vocalist Travis Richter and drummer Derek Bloom going by the names of Guy Nucleosity and Glitch Killgasm, respectively.[14]

Discography[]

Albums[]

Singles[]

Year Title Album
2003 "Such a Tragedy" Aesthetic
"My Heart, Your Hands"
2004 "Ride the Wings of Pestilence" Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count
2005 "Note to Self"
2006 "The Latest Plague" Heroine
"Shame Shame"
2008 "Worlds Away" From First to Last

Compilation appearances[]

  • "X12 Days of XXXMASX" – Released on A Santa Cause - It's A Punk Rock Christmas compilation album, in 2003. Featuring old vocalist Phil Reardon.
  • "Ride the Wings of Pestilence" was featured on Punk-O-Rama Vol. 9.
  • "Failure by Designer Jeans" – Non-album track, included on the Punk-O-Rama Vol. 10 compilation album, in 2005 (Also released on Smartpunk.com's Music on the Brain volume 1).
  • "Christmassacre" – Found on the Taste of Christmas compilation album (2005). This song does not feature Moore's vocals, as he was recovering from a vocal node surgery at the time. Instead, Good took over lead vocals while Richter did throat.
  • "The Latest Plague (Atticus Ross Remix)" – Found on the Epitaph: Unsound Vol. 1 compilation album in 2006.

References[]

External links[]


Smallwikipedialogo.png This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at From First to Last. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Less Than Jake Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


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