Facing New York is a three-piece progressive

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band from the Bay Area, California, formed in January 2004.Mason, Stewart
Facing New York Biography
",

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

. Retrieved October 25, 2018 The band is signed to Nice Life Recording Company and has released three full-length

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

History

The original five members formed from other bands from the Bay Area scene, with Omar Cuellar and Matt Fazzi previously playing together in Tragedy Andy and Eric Frederic and Rene Carranza in Locale A.M. Bass player Brandon Canchola was added to complete the line up. In early 2004, the group participated in the

Vans Vans is an American manufacturer of skateboarding shoes and related apparel, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and motocross teams. From 1996 to 2019, the comp ...

Warped Tour 2004 on select dates.Maerz, Jennifer (2009)
Just Tweet It
", ''SF Weekly'', September 23, 2009. Retrieved October 25, 2018 They sold their self-released EP, ''Swimming Not Treading'' to customers queuing to get into the shows, and it was successful enough to get the band signed to Five One, Inc. They went on a US West Coast tour with

Rx Bandits Rx Bandits are an American four-piece band based in Seal Beach, California, United States. The band formed in 1995 in Orange County, California. They have appeared on the Vans Warped Tour, at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Valle ...

and

Steel Train Steel Train was an indie rock band from New Jersey. They have toured with The Juliana Theory, Tegan and Sara, Girl in a Coma, Ben Folds, The Fray, Silversun Pickups, Hanson, The Format, Gomez, O.A.R., Something Corporate, Jack's Mannequin, Bare ...

, and then a tour with Somerset in May 2005. The band's self-titled album was released on August 30, 2005, which was preceded with a month-long US tour. In March 2006, the band undertook a tour with fellow label mates

Eastern Youth Eastern Youth is a Japanese punk rock trio formed in 1989 in Hokkaidō. Their sound blends many different styles, and is especially complex for a three-piece band. Their lyrics express the helplessness of Japanese youths. Their influences includ ...

, and then with

Taking Back Sunday Taking Back Sunday is an American rock band from Long Island, New York. The band was formed by guitarist Eddie Reyes and bassist Jesse Lacey in 1999. The band's members currently are Adam Lazzara (lead vocals), John Nolan (lead guitar, keybo ...

in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...

in April of the same year. The tour then lead them traveling as far as Japan, in early June 2006, to do a series of shows again with Eastern Youth and the Japanese

group, Toe. In July 2006, Carranza stated he would be leaving the band to go back to school. Following this, they supported

Coheed and Cambria Coheed and Cambria are an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York, formed in 1995. The band consists of Claudio Sanchez (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Travis Stever (guitars, vocals), Josh Eppard (drums, keyboards, backing vocals), ...

at a handful of shows. Carranza played his last show on September 1 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, and the remaining members finished off the remainder of 2006 with a headlining tour throughout the US, with friend and label mate

Gavin Castleton Gavin Castleton is a musician/songwriter/producer from Providence, Rhode Island. Originally known for his work with Gruvis Malt as keyboardist and singer, Castleton has released nine full-length albums and seven EPs as a solo artist. He has als ...

filling in. In March 2007, the band participated in the South by Southwest music festival and wrote new material which they performed at the festival. In June and July 2007, the band went on a US tour with

Tera Melos Tera Melos is an American math rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 2004. They incorporate many styles of rock, ambient electronics and unconventional song structures. They are currently a three-piece, consisting of guitarist/keyboard ...

and By the End of Tonight. They toured Europe with

in September and October 2007. Fazzi played his final show with the band on April 19, 2008, at San Francisco's Bottom of the Hill. The encore featured Carranza back again on keyboards for a dramatic finale. It was revealed on May 8 that Fazzi had joined

, after the departure of

Fred Mascherino Frederick Paul Mascherino (born July 27, 1974) is an American musician best known for his work as lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist in alternative rock band Taking Back Sunday. He is currently active with the band The Color Fred, and also know ...

.Stosuy, Brandon (2008)
Facing New York Release Two New Songs
", Stereogum, September 16, 2008. Retrieved December 17, 2018. In July 2008, the band supported

and Portugal. The Man on their co-headlining US tour. Preceded by "Cops on Bike" and "Comin' Up", the band released their second album, ''Get Hot'', on October 14, 2008. The album received a B+ rating from

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

, with reviewer Chris Martins calling the album "worth discovering...a sturdy work that's artful as well as entertaining". On March 2, 2009, Canchola left the band, resulting in the cancellation of a UK tour. The band has cited

Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas aro ...

The Jesus Lizard The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas and based in Chicago, Illinois. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground… hoturned out a series of independent records filled with ...

, and Yes to

Talk Talk Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles " Talk Talk" (1982), " It's My Life", and " ...

, Failure and

Shudder to Think Shudder to Think was an American alternative rock band. Formed in 1986, they released three albums on the Washington, D.C.-based label Dischord Records, and two on Epic Records. Their early work was largely influenced by post-hardcore although ...

among their influences. They were described by

as "a second-generation emo band with some progressive and post-rock tendencies". The '' LA Weekly'' described the band: "There's some prog-rock here, a little Steely Dan sophistication, and a whole lot of Parliament-Funkadelic's surrealistic whimsy, filtered through the band's non-genre-specific rambling." Frederic also performs solo as Ricky Reed and

Wallpaper Wallpaper is a material used in interior decoration to decorate the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" (so ...

. In November 2018, the band announced via Instagram that their third full-length album, entitled "Dogtown," would be released December 14.Facing New York
, November 2, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2018

Members

Eric Frederic Eric Burton Frederic (born July 23, 1982), known professionally as Ricky Reed, is an American artist, music producer, singer, songwriter, and founder of Nice Life Recording Company. From 2005 to 2014, Reed was also known as Wallpaper. Early w ...

– vocals/guitar/keyboard (2004–present) *Omar Cuellar – drums (2004–present) *Brandon Canchola – bass/vocals (2004–present)

Past members

*Matthew Fazzi – guitar/vocals/keyboard/drums (2004–2008) *Rene Carranza – keyboard (2004–2006)

Discography

Albums

*''Facing New York'' (2005), Five One, Inc. *''Get Hot (2008),'' Five One, Inc. *''Dogtown'' (2018), Nice Life Recording Company

Singles/EPs

*''Swimming Not Treading'' (EP) (2004) * Split: Facing New York/Amity (2004) *"Full Turn" (single) (2005), Five One, Inc. *"North/South" (2006), Springman (split 7-inch with The Jade Shader, The Rum Diary, Years around the Sun) *"The Messenger" (single) (2007), Five One, Inc. *''FNY Live 4.19.08'' (2008) *"Cops On Bikes" (2008), Five One, Inc. *"Cops On Bikes Remix" (2009), Five One, Inc.

References

{{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from California Musical groups from the San Francisco Bay Area Musical groups established in 2004 Progressive rock musical groups from California