The Exit was a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

-based band

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

group, formed in 2000. The band's music blended 1980s dub and reggae with 1990s punk and indie rock. The band's members included Ben Brewer on lead guitar and vocals, and Gunnar Olsen on drums.

Jeff DaRosa Jeffrey DaRosa (born July 31, 1982) is an American musician who is a multi-instrumentalist and a member of the Boston-based Dropkick Murphys. Early life and career Growing up in Watertown, Massachusetts (a suburb of Boston) and Somerville, Mas ...

was formerly the band's lead vocals and bass player.

History

Ben Brewer, a.k.a.

Benjamin Bronfman Benjamin Zachary Bronfman (born August 6, 1982) is an American entrepreneur and musician. Bronfman is a strategic advisor and principal investor with Algae Systems, a carbon capture project and an associate managing director at Global Thermosta ...

, son of billionaire

Edgar Bronfman Jr. Edgar Miles Bronfman Jr. (born May 16, 1955) is an American businessman who currently serves as a Managing Partner at Accretive LLC, a private equity firm focused on creating and investing in technology companies. He previously served as CEO of ...

, met Olsen in high school. The two have played in several bands together. One of these bands turned into an early incarnation of The Exit. In 2000 Brewer met

while attending Emerson College in

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 ...

. DaRosa grew up in

Watertown Watertown may refer to: Places in China In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways. Places in the United States *Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town **Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and was the bassist of the local punk band The Vigilantes. Brewer convinced DaRosa to join the group, and they started practicing in basements around Boston. The band made a demo tape which made its way into the hands of

Daniel Rey Daniel Rey (born Daniel Rabinowitz) is an American musician, record producer and songwriter from New York City, best known for his work with the punk rock band Ramones. As a teenager Rey played in punk band Shrapnel, which also featured Dave Wyn ...

known for his work with

The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United S ...

. Rey produces the band's first record, ''New Beat'', which came out on Some Records, a label started by

Walter Schreifels Walter Schreifels (born March 10, 1969) is an American rock musician and producer from New York City. Career In the late 1980s, he played in many New York hardcore bands, most notably Youth of Today and Gorilla Biscuits, where he was also th ...

. The band started touring in early 2001, booking their own shows. ''New Beat'' received favorable reviews, many of which likened the band to The Clash, The Police and U2. The artwork was done by Damian Genuardi of the Explosion. The Exit then entered the studio with producer

Ron Saint Germain Ron Saint Germain (alternate spellings Ron St. Germain, Ron Saint-Germaine and similar) is an American record producer, audio engineer, and mixer born in post-war Frankfurt, Germany, into a career Air Force family. Prior to his career in music p ...

(Bad Brains, Tool, Sonic Youth) to produce a follow up, ''Home For An Island''. The album featured Brewer singing lead for the first time, tribal rhythms, dubbed out guitars, and psychedelic bridges. The album was a political response to life in post- 9/11 New York City. Songs include "Soldier," "Home For an Island," "Let's Go to Haiti" and "Back to the Rebels." The album was originally released in 2004 on Some Records, but in 2005 The Exit signed to

Wind-Up Records Wind-up Entertainment was an American independent record label founded by Alan and Diana Meltzer in 1997. It was based in New York City and was distributed by BMG Distribution. Wind-up's best-selling artists worldwide were Creed and Evanesce ...

and re-released ''Home for an Island'', adding three new songs "Sun Will Rise in Queens," "Pressure Cooker" and "Warm Summer Days." Reviews were good.Press Clips
at Some Records The Exit supported

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

on two different US tours. On August 15, 2006, through a post on their MySpace

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...

, the band announced the departure of Jeff DaRosa. Olsen and Brewer noted the band will continue with a yet-to-be-announced lineup. The band was officially disbanded in 2007.

Tours

*Toured 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 ...

and

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), ...

in 2002 *Toured 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 ...

in 2002, 2003, and 2005, playing both the US and the UK *Supported

during spring and winter of 2004 *Supported for

311 311 may refer to: * 311 (number), a natural number * AD 311, a year of the Julian calendar, in the fourth century AD * 311 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 311 (band), an American band ** ''311'' (album), band 311's self-titled album ...

during the winter of 2005 *Supported

OAR An oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Oars have a flat blade at one end. Rowers grasp the oar at the other end. The difference between oars and paddles is that oars are used exclusively for rowing. In rowing the oar is connecte ...

*Supported

Against Me Against Me! is an American punk rock band formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida, by singer and guitarist Laura Jane Grace. That same year, Grace moved to Gainesville, Florida, which is considered the band's hometown. Since 2001, the band's lineu ...

Band members

* Benjamin Brewer - vocals, guitar * Gunnar Olsen - drums, vocals * Jeff DaRosa - vocals, bass guitar

Discography

Albums

* ''

New Beat New beat is a Belgian electronic dance music genre that fuses elements of new wave, hi-NRG,Simon Reynolds: ''Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture.'' Routledge 1999, , p. 124. EBM and hip hop (e.g. scratching).Ti ...

'' (May 4, 2002) * '' Home for an Island'' (original release September 7, 2004; re-released October 11, 2005)

EPs

*''Sing Four Favorites'' (October 1, 2004) *''The Live Sessions EP'' (June 20, 2006) (iTunes exclusive release)

Live albums

*''Live at the Metro 4/24/04'' (2004) *''Live EP'' (2006)

Music videos

* "Lonely Man's Wallet" (2002), directed by Major Lightner * "Let's Go to Haiti" (2004), directed by Major Lightner * "Don't Push" (2005), directed by Terry Timely * "Soldier" (2005), directed by Lightner * "Back to the Rebels" (2006), directed by Lightner and Javier Hernandez

Notes

External links

The Exit
on MySpace {{DEFAULTSORT:Exit, The American post-punk music groups Musical groups established in 2000 Musical groups disestablished in 2007 Indie rock musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups from New York City