Crash Kings is an American rock band formed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California in 2006. The members are vocalist–keyboardist Antonio "Tony" Beliveau, his brother, bassist Mike Beliveau, and drummer Tom Roslak. The band's debut album, ''Crash Kings'', was released May 26, 2009, on Custard/

Universal Motown Universal Motown Records was an American record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company tha ...

. The first single, " Mountain Man", came out on U.S.

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

radio stations in October and entered ''Billboard'''s Alternative Songs chart the following month. It reached #1 on the Billboard Alternative Radio charts in March 2010. The band is known for using analog keyboards, such as the clavinet, with distortion effects and a

whammy bar A vibrato system on a guitar is a mechanical device used to temporarily change the pitch of the strings. Instruments without a vibrato have other bridge and tailpiece systems. They add vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the stri ...

, in place of a typical lead guitar.

History

Brothers Mike and Tony Beliveau grew up in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

, a suburban city north of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Tony started playing piano by age six, and began to write music during middle school. After high school, he briefly studied jazz piano at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School, ...

before deciding to return to Boston and ultimately attend the Berklee College of Music, where younger brother Mike was already a student. After Berklee and relocating to Los Angeles, Tony sent Mike (who had relocated to New York) some recorded tracks he had been working on. Impressed with the tracks and Tony's singing, Mike packed up and moved to LA a week later. A few months after the band's formation, Crash Kings drew the attention of songwriter and record producer

Linda Perry Linda Perry (born April 15, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, and has since founded two record labels and composed and produced hit songs for ...

, who met with Tony and signed the group to her label,

Custard Records Custard Records is an American record label, best known for its success with English singer-songwriter James Blunt. The label is run by former 4 Non Blondes member Linda Perry and has a partnership with Warner Music Group's Atlantic Records ...

. After the band performed for Sylvia Rhone, president of

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

's Motown Records, Crash Kings were directed to

Dave Sardy David Stuart Sardy (born 1967), more commonly known as D. Sardy, is an American composer, musician, songwriter, and multiple Grammy winning record producer. He came to prominence as the leader of 1990s noise rock band Barkmarket before turning ...

, who produced the band's eponymous debut album for Custard/Universal Motown. Released on May 26, 2009, it reached number 30 on ''Billboard'''s U.S.

Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

albums chart. The album's first single, " Mountain Man", entered the ''Billboard'' Alternative Songs chart in November and peaked at #1 on March 28, 2010. The band has toured with such artists as

Chris Cornell Christopher John Cornell (né Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American singer and musician best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary lyricist and songwriter for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave ...

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, Jet,

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, and

Rooney Rooney may refer to: People *Wayne Rooney, English football manager and former player *Rooney family, of the Pittsburgh Steelers American football franchise *Rooney (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Rooney (given nam ...

. Crash Kings have since released a second album, titled ''Dark of the Daylight'', raising funds for the project via the Kickstarter platform.

Band members

* Antonio Beliveau – lead vocals, piano, clavinet, keyboards * Mike Beliveau – bass, backing vocals * Tom Roslak – drums, percussion

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crash Kings Alternative rock groups from California American musical trios Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups established in 2006 Custard Records artists Universal Motown Records artists Republic Records artists