The Escape Engine was a

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

from

Paramus, New Jersey Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

, that existed from 2002 to 2006. They were signed to

Fidelity Records Fidelity Records was an independent record label based in Hillsdale, New Jersey, United States, owned by Jonathan Strauss. Bands * The Escape Engine * We're All Broken *Race The Sun *Madison History Jonathan Strauss launched Fidelity Record ...

History

The Escape Engine was founded in the spring of 2002 by vocalist Dom Lettera and guitarist/vocalist George Leontaris after the break-up of Two Weeks From Tomorrow. Soon after, Kevin B. Robbins, John "Fitz" Fitzpatrick (who, along with George Leontaris, played in Two Weeks From Tomorrow as well), and Amanda Klimek joined the line up. The band's name comes from a

Burning Airlines Burning Airlines was an American rock band from Washington, D.C. J. Robbins and Bill Barbot of Jawbox formed the band with Peter Moffett (formerly of Government Issue) in 1997. The band released two full-length albums, a self-titled 7", and sp ...

song titled "The Escape Engine". It wasn't until the band was at the recording studio, finishing up their 4-song demo, where the engineer asked what name should be put on the master that the band finally agreed on the name. Within a matter of months of recording their demo the band was approach by Jon Strauss whose intentions were to start an independent record label. The band ended up becoming the first band to sign with the newly created

''Celebrity Role Model''

In February 2003, the band entered the studio with producer

Jesse Cannon Jesse may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible. * Jesse (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' (a ...

, to record their first full-length album, ''Celebrity Role Model''. It was released on May 27, 2003. The album art featured photos taken of a young woman named Brittney Hammer, a friend of the band from California. The magazine ''

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...

'' gave ''Celebrity Role Model'' a 5-star rating in August 2003. The first single from the album was "This Jagged Alibi". A video for the song was created, which featured Hammer, as well as Eyerly St. James. The video was produced and

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

Darren Doane Darren Doane (born September 20, 1972) is an American filmmaker, actor, and music video director.Shane Drake Shane C. Drake is an American music video director and producer originally from Redding, California. He has directed videos for many artists, including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Avril Lavigne, Trivium, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the ...

. The video premiered on

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to sh ...

's Extreme Rock on July 13, 2003, and soon after was broadcast on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

MTVX MTVX was a Viacom-owned American hard rock music video channel. MTVX was available exclusively on digital cable providers, being the first network made available in the "MTV Networks Digital Suite". Format MTVX aired no advertising outside of M ...

and

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

. "This Jagged Alibi" was included in the 2003 compilation albums ''

Wonka Vision ''Wonka Vision'' was an American music magazine. History While Justin Luczejko was attending high school, he started ''Wonka Vision'' with two friends, Elysa Stein and Andrew Wertz in 1998; a twenty-page zine that they copied at an OfficeMax sto ...

Issue No. 23 Winter 2003'', '' Radiotakeover Presents the Back to School Tour '03'' and ''

Go-Kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance Kart rac ...

MP300 Raceway''. The video for "This Jagged Alibi" was included in the video compilation '' XdoaneX - The Shape of Videos to Come''. Another song from the album, "A Lesson In Futility", was included in the compilation album ''CMJ New Music Monthly Sampler,

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

Volume 113''. The Escape Engine were selected as one of ten bands to perform on the summer 2003

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 ...

. "Welcome To The Conversation" was featured in Warren Miller's 2003 film titled "Journeys." While "Intro", ''Celebrity Role Models first track, was featured in the movie's trailer.

Departures

Upon arriving back in New Jersey after 4 months of touring along the east coast and performing on the

, John Fitzpatrick informed the other members that he was leaving the band. Shortly after, the band auditioned several drummers as a replacement; among them were Chris Osborne and Aaron Elliott. The band eventually selected Osborne as Fitzpatrick's replacement. Osborne officially joined The Escape Engine in early October. Later that month, on October 22, 2003, John Fitzpatrick returned to play his last show with The Escape Engine at Tobacco Road in New York City as part of the 2003

CMJ Music Marathon CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

. The group hit the road again on November 3, 2003, this time for their first U.S. cross-continental tour. By early January 2004 guitarist Kevin B. Robbins, departed from the band over creative differences. Mike Carroll, Lettera's longtime friend who often accompanied the band on tour, stepped in to replace Robbins. Robbins later partnered with Jonathan Strauss to assist with the

label. The band broke up in 2006. In August 2011, Conor Clark (the band's final rhythm guitarist) died in Ridgewood,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. The band re-united on May 4, 2012, for a single sold-out performance at

Maxwell's Maxwell's, last known as Maxwell's Tavern, was a bar/restaurant and music club in Hoboken, New Jersey. Over several decades the venue attracted a wide variety of acts looking for a change from the New York City concert spaces across the river. Max ...

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...

, New Jersey.

Members

;Original *Dom Lettera - vocals *George Leontaris -

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 ...

, vocals *Kevin B. Robbins -

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 ...

*Amanda Klimek - bass *John Fitzpatrick - drums, percussion ;Others *Chris Osborne - drums, percussion *Aaron Elliott – drums, percussion *Mike Carroll -

*Conor Clark -

Discography

* ''Celebrity Role Model'', May 2003

Press

All Ages at The Saint (live show review)
- NJ Coast Newsletter (''November 2002'') *The Engine's Mechanics - The Aquarian, East Coast Rocker (''June 2003'')
Celebrity Role Model (cd review)
thePRP.com (''June 2003'')
Celebrity Role Model (cd review)
- CD Baby (''2003'')
Celebrity Role Model (cd review)
Punknews.org (''August 2003'')

- ''

'' (''August 2003'') *Alternative Press Magazine (''August 2003'')
The Escape Engine offers repetitiveness
Den Music (''September 2003'')
Celebrity Role Model (cd review)
- belchinwaffles.com (''October 2003'')
Celebrity Role Model (cd review)
- Skratch Magazine (''October 2003'')
Forging their own scene
- Washington Square News (''November 2003'')
Celebrity Role Model (cd review)
- Wickedland
Honesty is the best Policy
- The Aquarian, East Coast Rocker (''November 2004'')

External links

The Escape Engine on PureVolumeThe Escape Engine on MTV.comThe Escape Engine on MySpaceThe Escape Engine on FacebookFidelity Records
(''label for The Escape Engine'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Escape Engine Musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups from New Jersey Musical groups established in 2002 People from Paramus, New Jersey Culture of New York City American post-hardcore musical groups Alternative rock groups from New Jersey 2002 establishments in New Jersey