Face to Face is a punk rock band from

Victorville, California Victorville is a city in Victor Valley in San Bernardino County, California. Its population as of the 2020 census was 134,810. History In 1858, Aaron G. Lane came to what is now known as Victorville and founded a waystation called "Lane's Cro ...

, formed in 1991 by frontman

Trever Keith Trever Keith (born May 28, 1969)Trever Keith
at

Rob Kurth Face to Face is a punk rock band from Victorville, California, formed in 1991 by frontman Trever Keith, bassist Matt Riddle and drummer Rob Kurth. The band rose to fame with their 1995 album '' Big Choice'', featuring the radio hit " Disconnec ...

. The band rose to fame with their 1995 album ''

Big Choice ''Big Choice'' is a full-length album by the California punk band Face to Face, released in 1995. It was released on Victory Music in 1995, and then re-released on A&M Records. "Disconnected" was released to alternative radio on January 20, 199 ...

'', featuring the radio hit " Disconnected" which received heavy rotation on

KROQ KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The st ...

radio in Los Angeles and appeared in the movies ''

Tank Girl ''Tank Girl'' is a British comic book character created by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, and first appeared in print in 1988 in the British comics magazine ''Deadline''. After a period of intense popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, ...

'' and ''

National Lampoon's Senior Trip ''National Lampoon's Senior Trip'' is a 1995 American comedy film for the National Lampoon magazine franchise, directed by Kelly Makin. It marked Jeremy Renner's film debut. Plot At Fairmount High School, Ohio in the suburbs of Dayton, a gro ...

''. Face to Face officially split up in September 2004, allowing the band members time to focus on other projects. During that time all the band members played in a number of post-Face to Face projects including

Legion of Doom The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains who originated in ''Challenge of the Super Friends'', an animated series from Hanna-Barbera based on DC Comics' Justice League. The Legion of Doom has since been incorporated into the main DC Univers ...

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (often shortened to just Me First or the Gimmes) are a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in San Francisco in 1995. The band's lineup consists of Spike Slawson, Fat Mike, Joey Cape, and Dave Raun. Ch ...

The Offspring The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guita ...

and

Saves the Day Saves the Day is an American Rock music, rock band from Princeton, New Jersey, formed in 1997. The band currently consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Chris Conley, guitarist Arun Bali, and bassist Rodrigo Palma. After forming under the nam ...

. In April 2008, after a four-year hiatus, Face to Face performed together for the first time at The Glasshouse in Pomona, California. Since then, the band has continued to perform and has released five more studio albums to date.

History

Beginnings (1987–1992)

Face to Face can trace its beginnings to 1987 when

Trever Keith Trever Keith (born May 28, 1969)Trever Keith
at

Matt Riddle Matthew Fredrick Riddle (born January 14, 1986, in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand, but is currently inactive due t ...

(bass, background vocals), who had both been friends since high school, and formed a heavy metal band named Victoria Manor that also featured Todd "Rick" Atmire (guitars) and Matt Atmire (drums). Other than one demo tape they released in 1989, Victor Manor never released any albums and after they disbanded, Keith and Riddle formed a band named Zero Tolerance with drummer

and guitarist Mark Haake who were both Air Force members stationed at George Air Force Base outside of

Victorville Victorville is a city in Victor Valley in San Bernardino County, California. Its population as of the 2020 census was 134,810. History In 1858, Aaron G. Lane came to what is now known as Victorville and founded a waystation called "Lane's Cro ...

. Like Victor Manor, Zero Tolerance never released a full-length album, but they recorded one demo tape in 1990 with the aforementioned line-up. By the following year, the band decided to take a new musical direction and changed their name to Face to Face. Shortly afterwards, guitarist Mark Haake left the band and the remaining members continued on as a three-piece. The band continued to play frequently throughout the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County to the west. It includes the cities o ...

and

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

and quickly became a local favorite alongside bands like

Guttermouth Guttermouth is an American punk rock band formed in 1988 in Huntington Beach, California and currently recording for Rude Records. They have released nine full-length studio albums and two live albums and have toured extensively, including perfor ...

Voodoo Glow Skulls Voodoo Glow Skulls are an American ska punk band formed in 1988 in Riverside, California, by brothers Frank, Eddie, and Jorge Casillas and their longtime friend Jerry O'Neill. Voodoo Glow Skulls first played at backyard parties and later at Spa ...

, and others. At a show in Montclair, CA in May 1991, the band met Bill Plaster of Dr. Strange Records and was offered a record deal. After accepting Plaster's offer, Face to Face entered

Westbeach Recorders Westbeach Recorders was a recording studio in Hollywood, California famous for recording punk rock groups, such as Bad Religion, Avenged Sevenfold, NOFX, Rancid, The Offspring and Pennywise. History It was established in 1985 by Bad Religion g ...

studio located in Hollywood, CA in October 1991 to record songs for their first album, '' Don't Turn Away'' (1992). Once the recording was finished, Dr. Strange Records had difficulty raising the financial resources to have the recordings pressed; in the interim, the band met Jim Goodwin. Goodwin offered to record the band's newest songs for free so they entered the studio in August 1992 and recorded "Nothing New," "Pastel," and "Disconnected". These three songs ended up being included on '' Don't Turn Away'' along with the songs recorded at

Success (1993–1997)

In 1993, following a three-week tour in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

supporting

Lagwagon Lagwagon is an American punk rock band originally from Goleta, California, just outside Santa Barbara. They formed in 1989, went on hiatus in 2000, and reunited several times over the years. Their name comes from the band's tour van, which can ...

, Face to Face added

Chad Yaro Face to Face is a punk rock band from Victorville, California, formed in 1991 by frontman Trever Keith, bassist Matt Riddle and drummer Rob Kurth. The band rose to fame with their 1995 album ''Big Choice'', featuring the radio hit " Disconnect ...

as an additional guitarist and new manager Desi Benjamin and began writing material for a new record. Before the band began recording the new material, they decided to sign a recording contract with a new major label and publishing deal which Desi Benjamin secured for them with JVC/Victory/A&M Records and E.M.I. Music Publishing. On the heels of the new recording contract, Face to Face entered the studio with producer

Thom Wilson Thom Wilson (died February 8, 2015) was an American punk rock record producer and engineer. Career Wilson began his musical career in the mid-1970s, engineering recordings by soft rock artists Burton Cummings and Seals & Crofts. He began working ...

(of

fame) and began recording the album that became known as ''

''. After finishing the recording, Victory Music decided they wanted to test their distribution system with a new release. To do so they assembled an EP of songs featured on several of the band's 7" records along with other unreleased recordings. This EP was titled '' Over It'' and was released several weeks before ''Big Choice''. The EP contained a remixed version of the song " Disconnected". This version began to receive significant airplay from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. This drove the label to push the band to re-record "Disconnected" for ''Big Choice''. It was featured as a bonus track alongside a cover of the

Descendents The Descendents are an American punk rock band formed in 1977 in Manhattan Beach, California, by guitarist Frank Navetta, bassist Tony Lombardo and drummer Bill Stevenson. In 1979, they enlisted Stevenson's school friend Milo Aukerman as a s ...

song "Bikeage". After touring with bands such as Sublime,

NOFX NOFX () is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. Vocalist/bassist Fat Mike, guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin are original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every ...

, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and

in 1995 supporting Big Choice, bassist Matt Riddle chose to leave the band. Riddle went on to play in 22 Jacks,

Pulley A pulley is a wheel on an axle or shaft that is designed to support movement and change of direction of a taut cable or belt, or transfer of power between the shaft and cable or belt. In the case of a pulley supported by a frame or shell that ...

No Use for a Name No Use for a Name (sometimes abbreviated NUFAN or No Use) was an American punk rock band from Sunnyvale, California, United States formed in 1986 by Chris Dodge (guitar), Steve Papoutsis ( bass) and Rory Koff (drums). The band's sound evolved con ...

, Implants and most recently

Fire Sale A fire sale is the sale of goods at extremely discounted prices. The term originated in reference to the sale of goods at a heavy discount due to fire damage. It may or may not be defined as a closeout, the final sale of goods to zero inventor ...

. The band replaced him with a then-unknown bassist,

Scott Shiflett Scott David Shiflett (born August 22, 1966) is an American musician who has been the bassist in the punk rock band Face to Face since 1995. Born in Santa Barbara, California, he is the brother of Foo Fighters lead guitarist Chris Shiflett. ...

. Scott's first show with the band was on December 2, 1995, at the Victorville Fairgrounds. In 1996, Face to Face began writing and recording what was to become their third album

self-titled An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

. This was the first record without Matt Riddle, who had been Keith's songwriting partner. Due to this, Keith wrote the majority of the songs on the album with some help from Shiflett and Yaro. In the studio, the band once again recruited Jim Goodwin to record and produce the record. Following the release of the album, they headlined the 1997

SnoCore Tour The SnoCore Tour, occasionally typeset as Sno-Core, was an annual festival tour of the United States. It features performances by some of the most popular groups largely of the alternative rock and metal spectrum. Other than 2008 and 2016, the eve ...

and joined the

Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

. Their song "I Won't Lie Down" was featured on the 1997 movie Mortal Kombat: Annihilation soundtrack.

Later years (1998–2004)

In 1998, it was announced that drummer Rob Kurth was leaving the band. To finish out the tour for their self-titled record, the band hired drummer

Jose Medeles Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

. After the tour ended,

Pete Parada Peter Parada (born July 9, 1973) is an American musician who has been a member of several bands. Parada's drumming career began in 1995 when he joined L.A. band World In Pain on a recommendation from future Korn drummer Ray Luzier and then Steel ...

joined the band as Kurth's permanent replacement. With Parada behind the drums, the band recorded and released two more albums (with producer

Chad Blinman Chad Blinman is an American recording engineer and mixer, music producer, and electronic musician. He has worked with such artists as Face to Face, The Get Up Kids, Saves the Day, Jackson United, Faith and the Muse, Monica Richards, Senses Fa ...

), '' Ignorance Is Bliss'' (1999) and ''

Reactionary In political science, a reactionary or a reactionist is a person who holds political views that favor a return to the ''status quo ante'', the previous political state of society, which that person believes possessed positive characteristics abse ...

'' (2000). Following the release of Reactionary, long-time guitarist Chad Yaro left the band to focus on his family. Following Yaro's departure, Face to Face decided to remain a three-piece and began writing material for their sixth studio album, '' How to Ruin Everything'', which was released on

Vagrant Records Vagrant Records is an American record label based in California. It was founded in 1995 by Rich Egan and Jon Cohen. The label focuses on rock, but features artists in a variety of other genres including folk, soul, electronic, and pop. It is hom ...

in 2002. Following the release of How to Ruin Everything, the band headlined The

. In the fall of 2003, the band began a temporary hiatus; however, the following year, they announced that their hiatus would be permanent. They gave their fans a proper farewell with "The Only Goodbye Tour" of 2004 with supporting acts

My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist Mi ...

and

Seconds to Go The second (symbol: s) is the unit of Time in physics, time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally t ...

, which followed with a raucous Warped Tour finale in Boston.

Reunion and beyond (2008–present)

On January 29, 2008, Face to Face announced that the band would be reuniting for select shows in the US and internationally, with the lineup including

Trever Keith Trever Keith (born May 28, 1969)Trever Keith
at

on bass and Chad Yaro returning on guitar. Later that same year the band launched a short U.S. tour with former Uprising drummer

Danny Thompson Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Mart ...

replacing

, who had recently joined

. This lineup recorded Face to Face's first studio album in nine years, ''

Laugh Now, Laugh Later ''Laugh Now, Laugh Later'' is the eighth studio album by United States, American punk rock band Face to Face (punk band), Face to Face, which was released on May 17, 2011, through Antagonist Records, a label run by the band's lead singer and guita ...

'' (2011), followed by ''

Three Chords and a Half Truth ''Three Chords and a Half Truth'' is the ninth studio album by American punk rock band Face to Face, released on April 9, 2013, through Trevor Keith's Antagonist Records, under exclusive license to Rise Records, their first album for Rise. T ...

'' (2013); both albums were released on Keith's label Antagonist Records. After the release of ''Three Chords and a Half Truth'', Yaro once again left Face to Face and was replaced by Dennis Hill. In September 2015, it was announced that the band had signed with

Fat Wreck Chords Fat Wreck Chords (pronounced "Fat Records") is a San Francisco, California-based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by NOFX lead singer Michael Burkett (better known as Fat Mike) in 1990. The label has released mater ...

and was headed to the

Blasting Room The Blasting Room is a recording studio in Fort Collins, Colorado. Founded by members of the punk rock band All in 1994, it is owned and operated by musician Bill Stevenson (Descendents, Black Flag, All, Only Crime) and Jason Livermore. The ...

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359 ...

to begin recording their ninth album. This album was released on March 4, 2016, and is titled ''

Protection Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

''. In August 2018 the band released an acoustic record titled, '' Hold Fast''. In December 2017, the band released a visual history coffee table book, ''Face to Face: 25 Years of SoCal Punk'', with author Aaron Tanner. As of April 2020, according to an interview with Trever Keith, a new Face to Face album is in the works. The album ''

No Way out but Through No (and variant writings) may refer to one of these articles: English language * ''Yes'' and ''no'' (responses) * A determiner in noun phrases Alphanumeric symbols * No (kana), a letter/syllable in Japanese script * No symbol, displayed � ...

'' was released on September 10, 2021.

Band members

;Current members *

Trever Keith Trever Keith (born May 28, 1969)Trever Keith
at

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

(1991–present) *

– bass, vocals (1995–present) *

– drums (2008–present) * Dennis Hill –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, vocals (2015–present) ;Past members * Chad Yaro – rhythm guitar, vocals (1994–2000, 2008–2014) *

– drums (1998–2004) * Matt Riddle – bass, vocals (1991–1995) * Rob Kurth – drums, vocals (1991–1997)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums *'' Don't Turn Away'' (1992) *''

'' (1995) *'' Face to Face'' (1996) *'' Ignorance Is Bliss'' (1999) *''

Standards & Practices In the United States, Standards and Practices (also referred to as Broadcast Standards and Practices or BS&P for short) is the name traditionally given to the department at a television network which is responsible for the moral, ethical, and leg ...

'' (1999) *''

'' (2000) *'' How to Ruin Everything'' (2002) *''

'' (2011) *''

'' (2013) *''

'' (2016) *'' Hold Fast: Acoustic Sessions'' (2018) *''No Way Out But Through'' (2021)

Footnotes

External links

Face to Face official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Face To Face Musical groups established in 1991 Fat Wreck Chords artists Punk rock groups from California Skate punk groups Musical groups disestablished in 2004 Musical groups reestablished in 2008 People from Victorville, California Pop punk groups from California 1991 establishments in California Vagrant Records artists A&M Records artists Rise Records artists JVC Records artists