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boysetsfire is an American
post-hardcore band from
Newark, Delaware
Newark ( )Not as in Newark, New Jersey. is a small city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 31,454. Newark is home to the Uni ...
. Formed in October 1994, boysetsfire is composed of guitarists Chad Istvan and Josh Latshaw, vocalist Nathan Gray, and bassists Chris Rakus and Robert Ehrenbrand.
Lyrical themes express political views.
Biography
Boysetsfire released their first demo albums in late 1994 and early 1995. In 1996 the band released their first
EP, ''This Crying, This Screaming, My Voice Is Being Born''. In 1997, they signed a contract with
Initial Records
Initial Records was an independent record label in Louisville, Kentucky, that was founded in 1992. The label released music by Falling Forward, Boysetsfire and Ink & Dagger, and created the annual weekend long music festival, Krazy Fest.
Hist ...
, and recorded their first album, ''The Day the Sun Went Out''.
In 1999, their second album, ''After the Eulogy'' was recorded, and boysetsfire went on tour with
Snapcase
Snapcase was an American hardcore punk band from Buffalo, New York. Their records were released on the Chicago record label Victory Records. During the course of the band's initial run of fourteen years, they released six studio albums before ...
, as well as on Vans Warped tour. Also, boysetsfire released a split-EP with Snapcase in 1999, as well as the ''
Crush 'Em All Vol. 1
''Crush 'Em All Vol. 1'' is a split EP by hardcore punk bands Boysetsfire and Shai Hulud, released on March 24, 2000, on Undecided Records, 7" purple (25 press), grey (475 press), clear red (500 press), and Detroit Fest press black (#'d out of 30 ...
''
Metallica tribute with
Shai Hulud
Shai Hulud is an American metalcore band formed in Pompano Beach, Florida, in 1995, and later based in Poughkeepsie, New York. The band is named after the giant sandworms in Frank Herbert's novel ''Dune''.
The two mainstay members of Shai Hul ...
for
Undecided Records, and another with
Coalesce
Coalesce may refer to:
*Coalesce (band), a metalcore band from Kansas City, Missouri, active from 1994 to 1999, 2005–
**Coalesce discography, a list of Coalesce's albums and songs
* COALESCE, an SQL function
*Null coalescing operator, a binary o ...
in 2000.
Their former bassist was replaced by Rob Avery. After being signed to
Victory Records
Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several record labels. It has featured many prominent artists including Thur ...
, the band moved to
Wind-Up, an independent label distributed by
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
in the US. ''
Tomorrow Come Today'' was then released in 2003.
Following a dispute with Wind-up, in 2005 the band signed to the independent record labels
Burning Heart Records for worldwide distribution and
Equal Vision Records
Equal Vision Records is an independent record label based in Albany, New York. It was founded in the early 1990s by Ray Cappo, singer for the punk bands Youth of Today, Shelter, and Better Than a Thousand.
The label originally existed solel ...
for North American distribution. The album ''The Misery Index: Notes from the Plague Years'' got released in March 2006.
Brief hiatus
On July 31, 2006, the band informed the fans about its retirement through their official website. There was a farewell European tour in late summer; however, guitarist Josh Latshaw severely injured himself prior to its start. As a result, the band played those shows with roadie Chris "The Reverend" Rakus at the guitar instead, but returned to Europe in May 2007 to give Latshaw the chance to say goodbye to the European fans.
The band's final performance took place on June 9, 2007 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
at the
Trocadero Theatre
The Trocadero Theatre (opened as the Arch Street Opera House) is a historic theater located in Chinatown in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It offered musical comedies, vaudeville, opera, and burlesque. The Trocadero Theatre was refurbished for us ...
. A DVD has been released of this show in its entirety as well as parts of the final European tour.
On February 12, 2007, lead vocalist Nathan Gray announced that he was forming a new band by the name of The Casting Out. While the band includes several former members of boysetsfire, Gray informed fans that it would not be another political band.
Drummer Matt Krupanski went on to form new bands Bound and Buried and Young Lady, the latter which included future boysetsfire bassist, Marc Krupanski (formerly of Dear Tonight, Midvale, Eldritch Anisette, Dorian Gray, and Network 34) as well as two other Delaware natives, including members from Joshua Fit for Battle.
Reunion
boysetsfire announced their reunion on their website and official
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
-page on October 5, 2010. Tour venues were Berlin, the Groezrock Festival in Belgium, the Studio at Webster Hall and the
Nova Rock Festival
The Nova Rock Festival, also just Nova Rock, is an Austrian rock festival that has existed since 2005 and takes place each year in June. It is located in Burgenland, the easternmost federal state of Austria, near Nickelsdorf and the Hungarian ...
in Nickelsdorf, Austria. In August 2011, they played in the UK at the Reading & Leeds Festival. In November 2011, via the band's official
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
page, the band announced Robert Ehrenbrand had left the band.
The band then announced that Marc Krupanski (from a number of former bands, such as "Dear Tonight", "Midvale", and "Eldritch Anisette") officially joined as the new bassist.
The band recorded 5 new songs in the summer of 2012 with two of them scheduled to be released on Magic Bullet Records as a vinyl 7" record.
In 2012, five shows were played in the U.S.: two in January 2012 (one in their hometown of Newark, Delaware and the other in West Chester, Pennsylvania), one in Boston, one in Providence, one and at The Bamboozle Festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey in May 2012. They then conducted a three-week tour in July–August 2012 in Europe. In December 2012 via the band's official Facebook page, it was announced that both Matt and Marc Krupanski had left the band. A few days later, it was announced that Chris Rakus and Robert Ehrenbrand would share bass player duties. Dan Pelic joined as drummer.
In June 2013, the band released a two-song EP featuring brothers Matt and Marc Krupanski, as well as a fifth album, ''
While a Nation Sleeps...'', which featured new and previously unreleased songs re-recorded by Dan Pelic and Robert Ehrenbrand. It was well-received, especially in the German album charts where it reached #22. A European Tour was carried out in June and July 2013, including concerts at
Hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
and
Southside Southside or South Side may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Southside, Queensland, a semi-rural locality in the Gympie Region
Canada
* South Side, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community in the St. George's Bay area on the southwest coast of Newf ...
Festival, with additional shows being played in Dortmund, Stuttgart and Hamburg in October 2013. In November and December 2013, the band toured Australia and in April 2014 gave concerts in the UK. The band returned to Europe for summer and in celebration of its 20th anniversary, announced shows in Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin and Vienna in October 2014.
In September 2015, the band released their self-titled sixth album. This was followed by a European tour to support the album with
Silverstein and Great Collapse. In Summer 2016, they will be going on a European tour with Polar and Wolf down before taking a break in order to focus on other musical projects.
Personnel
Current members
*Nathan Gray – lead vocals, keyboard (1994–present)
*Josh Latshaw – guitar, backing vocals (1994–present)
*Chad Istvan – guitar, backing vocals (1994–present)
*Robert Ehrenbrand – bass (2004–2011, 2013–present)
*Chris Rakus – bass (2013–present)
*Jared Shavelson – drums (2013–present)
Former members
*Darrell Hyde – bass (1994–1999)
*Rob Avery – bass (1999–2004)
*Marc Krupanski – bass (2011–2013)
*Matt Krupanski – drums (1994–2013)
*Dan Pelic – drums (2013)
*Lee Dickerson – guitar (2013)
Timeline
Discography
Over the years, boysetsfire released records through Magic Bullet, Conquer the World,
Deathwish Inc
Deathwish, Inc. is an American independent record label conceived by Jacob Bannon of Converge and Tre McCarthy in 2000. Their first release was '' Deeper the Wound'', a split album between Converge and Japanese band Hellchild on April 23, 2001. ...
,
Initial
In a written or published work, an initial capital, also referred to as a drop capital or simply an initial cap, initial, initcapital, initcap or init or a drop cap or drop, is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that ...
,
Hydra Head
Hydra Head Records was an independent record label that specializes in extreme metal music, founded in New Mexico by Aaron Turner (the frontman of Isis) in 1993. It had another imprint, Hydra Head Noise Industries, which specialized in experiment ...
,
Victory
The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...
,
Wind-Up,
Equal Vision, and
Burning Heart. They have released split-EPs with
Coalesce
Coalesce may refer to:
*Coalesce (band), a metalcore band from Kansas City, Missouri, active from 1994 to 1999, 2005–
**Coalesce discography, a list of Coalesce's albums and songs
* COALESCE, an SQL function
*Null coalescing operator, a binary o ...
,
Shai Hulud
Shai Hulud is an American metalcore band formed in Pompano Beach, Florida, in 1995, and later based in Poughkeepsie, New York. The band is named after the giant sandworms in Frank Herbert's novel ''Dune''.
The two mainstay members of Shai Hul ...
,
Snapcase
Snapcase was an American hardcore punk band from Buffalo, New York. Their records were released on the Chicago record label Victory Records. During the course of the band's initial run of fourteen years, they released six studio albums before ...
,
Funeral for a Friend
Funeral for a Friend are a Welsh post-hardcore band from Bridgend, formed in 2001 and currently consists of Matthew Davies-Kreye (lead vocals), Kris Coombs-Roberts (guitar, backing vocals), Gavin Burrough (guitar, backing vocals), Darran Smit ...
, and KMPFSPRT.
Studio-albums
*1997: ''The Day the Sun went out'' CD/LP
*2000: ''After the Eulogy'' CD/CS/LP
*2003: ''
Tomorrow Come Today'' CD/DVD
*2006: ''The Misery Index: Notes from the Plague-Years'' CD/DVD
*2013: ''
While a Nation Sleeps...''
*2015: ''Self-titled''
EPs
*1994: ''Boysetsfire''
*1995: ''Premonition, Change, Revolt''
*1996: ''Consider''
*1996: ''This Crying, this Screaming, my Voice is being born''
*1998: ''In Chrysalis''
*1999: ''Snapcase vs. Boysetsfire'' (split)
*2000: ''
Crush 'Em All Vol. 1
''Crush 'Em All Vol. 1'' is a split EP by hardcore punk bands Boysetsfire and Shai Hulud, released on March 24, 2000, on Undecided Records, 7" purple (25 press), grey (475 press), clear red (500 press), and Detroit Fest press black (#'d out of 30 ...
'' (Boysetsfire/
Shai Hulud
Shai Hulud is an American metalcore band formed in Pompano Beach, Florida, in 1995, and later based in Poughkeepsie, New York. The band is named after the giant sandworms in Frank Herbert's novel ''Dune''.
The two mainstay members of Shai Hul ...
split)
*2000: ''
Coalesce / Boysetsfire'' (split)
*2001: ''
Suckerpunch Training''
*2013: ''Bled dry''
*2013: ''The Casting-out''
*2014: ''Split 7"'' (Boysetsfire/
Funeral For A Friend
Funeral for a Friend are a Welsh post-hardcore band from Bridgend, formed in 2001 and currently consists of Matthew Davies-Kreye (lead vocals), Kris Coombs-Roberts (guitar, backing vocals), Gavin Burrough (guitar, backing vocals), Darran Smit ...
)
*2015: ''Split 10"'' (Boysetsfire/KMPFSPRT)
Compilations and other appearances
*1995: ''Dad, I Can't Breathe''(Creep Records compilation)
*1997: ''For the Kids'' (7" benefit compilation, including an earlier version of BSF song "With Cold Eyes". Other bands include "The Weak Link Breaks", "By the Grace of God" and "Dorian Gray" which featured other Delaware natives including future members of Boysetsfire, Rob Avery and Marc Krupanski. Released by Diffusion Records)
*2003: ''
Daredevil: The Album'' (soundtrack to the original motion picture, LP)
*2005: ''
Before the Eulogy'' (B-sides and rarities CD)
One of their songs, "Handful of Redemption", is featured on the video games Tiger Woods '03 and MVP Baseball '03 by EA Sports. Their song "Rookie" from the After the Eulogy album was featured on the Legends of Wrestling video game. "Rookie" from After the Eulogy and "Handful of Redemption" from the
Tomorrow Come Today album were also featured in the video game
1080° Avalanche
''1080° Avalanche'' is a snowboarding video game for the GameCube, developed by Nintendo's in-house development studio, Nintendo Software Technology, and published by Nintendo. It was released in 2003 in Europe and North America, and in Japa ...
. Additionally, their song "High Wire Escape Artist" is featured on the soundtrack to ''The Daredevil'' motion picture.
The soundtrack record, released by Wind-up Records, is the band's first and only gold record.
Live-recordings
*2002: ''
Live for Today'' (EP)
*2009: ''Farewell Show'' (DVD)
Music-videos
*2003: ''Last Year's Nest''
*2005: ''Dear George''
*2006: ''Requiem''
*2013: ''Bled dry''
*2013: ''Closure''
*2013: ''Never said''
*2015: ''One Match''
References
External links
*
*
Burning Heart band informationITunes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boysetsfire
1994 establishments in Delaware
American post-hardcore musical groups
Burning Heart Records artists
Conquer the World Records artists
Deathwish Inc. artists
Equal Vision Records artists
Musical groups established in 1994
Rock music groups from Delaware
Undecided Records artists
Victory Records artists
End Hits Records artists