A Day to Remember

All Music Guide:

A Day to Remember were formed in 2003 and mix emo, hardcore, and metal into a blend affectionately referred to by their fans as "pop mosh." Hailing from Ocala, FL, vocalist Jeremy McKinnon, guitarists Neil Westfall and Tom Denney, bassist Joshua Woodard, and drummer Bobby Scruggs financed their first EP themselves, then signed with Indianola Records for the release of their full-length And Their Name Was Treason in spring 2005. The record went on to sell over 8,000 copies through word of mouth alone, and a year later the guys were signed to Chicago powerhouse Victory Records. Work quickly began on their label debut; For Those Who Have Heart appeared in January 2007, featuring new drummer Alex Shelnutt. Homesick, the band's sophomore release, arrived in October 2009. After Homesick, Tom Denney left the band (although he remained a part of the writing process) while Kevin Skaff (from Four Letter Lie) assumed the guitar duties. The group's fourth studio album, What Separates Me from You, was released the following year.

Wikipedia:

A Day to Remember is an American rock band from Ocala, Florida. Founded in 2003 by guitarist Tom Denney and drummer Bobby Scruggs, the band has released four studio albums, 15 singles and 11 music videos. They are mainly known for their unusual amalgamation of metalcore and pop punk as a musical style. The band consists of vocalist Jeremy McKinnon, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Neil Westfall, bassist Josh Woodard, percussion and drummer Alex Shelnutt and lead guitarist Kevin Skaff.

History [edit]

Early years and debut album (2003–2006) [edit]

After all playing in different groups in the Ocala music scene, singer Jeremy McKinnon, guitarists Neil Westfall and Tom Denney, bassist Josh Woodard, and drummer Bobby Scruggs came together in 2003. Soon after, the band embarked on a "DIY" tour, playing well over 200 shows, making a name for themselves. They were signed to Indianola, from which they recorded their debut full-length debut album, titled And Their Name Was Treason in May 2005. The album sold over 8,000 copies but the band felt that bigger and better things were to come. "A friend of mine said he had the AIM screenname of someone at Victory Records,” Woodard said. "I didn’t believe him, but I still started communicating with the guy. We IM’ed back and forth for about six months, and it happened that we were playing with the band On the Last Day in a town outside of Chicago—and this guy was going to be there filming it. It was our first time we ever played in Illinois, yet the 50–60 kids there were singing along to our tunes like they’d been fans all their lives."

Victory Records and For Those Who Have Heart (2006–2008) [edit]

Soon after signing with Victory, the band with their new drummer Alex Shelnutt went into Zing Studios to record their second full-length. The album, titled For Those Who Have Heart was released in January 2007 on Victory and peaked at number 17 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart and number 43 on the Top Independent Albums chart. On September 24, 2007, they put a cover of Kelly Clarkson's hit single, "Since U Been Gone" on their MySpace. This was later featured on the re-release of For Those Who Have Heart, released in February 2008.

A Day to Remember toured the United Kingdom for the first time ever in January 2008, and were later nominated for "Best International Newcomer" at the 2008 Kerrang! Awards, but lost to Black Tide. Afterwards, the band had a lengthy tour opening for Silverstein along with The Devil Wears Prada, and Protest the Hero (who dropped off the tour and were replaced by A Static Lullaby). They then played The Bamboozle Left on April 6 at the Verizon Amphitheater in Irvine, California, one of the two days at the 2008 Bamboozle Festival in East Rutherford, New Jersey on May 3 and 4, as well as the Download Festival in June, and the 2008 Vans Warped Tour. Before playing the Download Festival, they toured the UK with The Devil Wears Prada and Alesana on the Road To Download Tour. In mid-2008, the band played all the U.S. dates of the "Easycore Tour" along with New Found Glory, Four Year Strong, Crime in Stereo and International Superheroes of Hardcore.

Homesick and Denney's departure (2008–2010) [edit]

A remastered version of their first album, And Their Name Was Treason, titled Old Record, was released in October 2008 through Victory. In December 2008, A Day to Remember toured across Australia with Parkway Drive, Suicide Silence, The Acacia Strain and Confession. A Day to Remember played sold out shows across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide in support of Parkway Drive's "Sweatfest" 2008 Australian tour. Later that month, the band also finished recording their third studio album, Homesick. It was released on February 2, 2009 in Europe and February 3, 2009 in the United States and placed at number 21 on Billboard's Top 200 Listings and at number 1 on Top Independent Albums. It was additionally featured in Rolling Stone's "Top 40 Albums" that month, hitting number 21, and as of July 2010 has sold over 200,000 copies. Following two sold-out UK tours, A Day to Remember went on a European tour in February 2009, with the leg of the tour that took the band to Germany for the first time supported by For The Fallen Dreams and Kenai.

A Day to Remember toured the United States from March to May 2009 with The Devil Wears Prada, Sky Eats Airplane and Emarosa. Prior to the tour, Tom Denney broke his wrist; filling in for him was Kevin Skaff formerly of Four Letter Lie. They also toured the UK with For the Fallen Dreams and Azriel. They also toured as part of the Warped Tour 2009, played at the Download Festival 2009 and toured Asia, Australia and New Zealand in August and September. The band also contributed a track to Punk Goes Pop 2 record from Fearless Records, covering The Fray's "Over My Head (Cable Car)". On June 2, 2009, the band announced that Tom Denney had left the band. The band stated that Denney left because he wants to focus on his marriage, a family, and his recording studio. Denney has been noted for recording such bands as The Starlight Getaway, Dang! We're on Fire, We Are Defiance as well as a number of solo acts. Regardless of his departure from the band, he will still remain a part of the writing process of new material. His replacement is Kevin Skaff, formerly of Four Letter Lie.

"The Downfall of Us All" was released as downloadable content for the Rock Band series of video games, whilst "NJ Legion Iced Tea" was released as a download for Guitar Hero World Tour on July 9, 2009. A Day to Remember were set to play Reading & Leeds Festival in 2009 but pulled out due to Neil Westfall having to have surgery. They did their first headlining tour called The Pulling Your Pud Tour, along with Parkway Drive, In Fear and Faith, and I See Stars starting in September 2009. The band then supported Bring Me the Horizon, with guest August Burns Red, on their tour of the UK and Europe in October–November 2009. On December 16, 2009, A Day to Remember released a holiday-oriented song as a single entitled "Right Where You Want Me to Be". A video was also made for the song and released through SantaMosh.com.

What Separates Me from You (2010–2012) [edit]

A Day to Remember performed at the 2010 Soundwave Australian music festival. They toured across the UK in March 2010 with support from Architects and Your Demise followed by "Toursick" in North America with August Burns Red, Silverstein, Enter Shikari, Veara, and Go Radio from March 31 to May 18, 2010. On July 14, 2010, MTV.com posted the music video for the band's latest single from Homesick – "Have Faith in Me", on their website. According to Victory Records, it was claimed that the band will set to release their fourth studio album titled "What Separates Me from You" on October 26, 2010. The album was recorded in Ocala, Florida, with producer Chad Gilbert who has also produced Homesick, with the tracking being done on July 23, 2010. On September 20, 2010, A Day to Remember announced in a live video through Victory Records' website the name of their new album being What Separates Me from You. They also then revealed the cover art for the album. The album was delayed a few weeks for release until November 16, 2010. On November 16, 2010, it was announced that A Day to Remember will play the 2011 edition of the Vans Warped Tour.

On January 6, 2011, the band showcased the official music video for the first single taken from the album, "All I Want" through an MTV premiere. The music video features several musicians from many different musical groups such as A Day to Remember's former lead guitarist Tom Denney, as well as Vic Fuentes, Pete Wentz, Dallas Taylor, Tim Lambesis and others. On January 11, 2011, the band made their national TV debut, while performing the songs "All I Want" and "Better Off This Way" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Prior to Vans Warped Tour 2011, A Day to Remember headlined the "Game Changers Tour" (March – April 2011) with support from Bring Me The Horizon, Pierce The Veil, and We Came as Romans. On June 7, 2011, the band released the music video for the second single off the album – "All Signs Point to Lauderdale". On December 15, 2011, it was announced that A Day to Remember had plans of pressing charges against their label, Victory, due to breach of contract. Legal action was reportedly initiated on May 31 of that year, in which the band claims Victory owes them over $75,000 in royalties.

Victory has said, on their behalf, that the lawsuit is actually about the band's refusal to fulfill their 5 album contractual commitment to Victory and their new-found desire to move to a major label. A Day to Remember gave Altpress.com this statement: "A Day To Remember would like to make it clear that they did not announce nor seek any attention regarding their ongoing suit with Victory Records. This information has been public record since May of 2011 and they have no intention of speaking publicly or disparagingly regarding their disagreement with Victory. A Day To Remember will continue to release music for their fans and are looking forward to touring in 2012." Beginning in January 2012, the band went on tour supporting Rise Against throughout the US, with the tour spreading over two legs and the band performing in Australia and New Zealand between tour two parts. On February 27, 2012, the band released "2nd Sucks" as the fourth single off What Separates Me from You, along with a music video, featuring their ex-guitarist Tom Denney.

Common Courtesy (2012–present) [edit]

On December 30, 2011, in an interview with an exclusive Kerrang! podcast, Jeremy has said that the band's previous lead guitarist Tom Denney would set to provide vocals on their upcoming new record. "As for if he would be screaming, chumming tunes, whistling or rapping on the track, we have not decided yet. It's totally a game changer for Tom to be in this set." On May 8, 2012 at a show in New Jersey, it was announced by the band that the upcoming album would be called Common Courtesy. On December 3, 2012, the band released a countdown on their website, counting down to December 21st but not revealing what it was counting down to. When the countdown reached zero, a new song was released titled "Violence (Enough Is Enough)". On January 21, 2013, A Day to Remember released more information about their upcoming tour, referring to it as the "Right Back At It Again" tour. It was also announced that they would be touring with Of Mice and Men, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! during the March and April dates and Issues on the rest of the dates.

On March 18, 2013, McKinnon announced that the new album Common Courtesy has completed the recording process and was now going to be tracked. On March 20, 2013, the band's bassist Josh posted an image on his official Twitter account, stating that the band is back "on the road again". On March 20, and the first stop for the North American Tour, A Day to Remember played a new track off of Common Courtesy titled "Right Back At It Again." They have continued to play this new track on each stop of the Right Back At It Again tour.

Musical style [edit]

A Day to Remember have been described by critics as metalcore, pop punk, post-hardcore, and emo-pop. They have been described as a fusion of "emo, hardcore, and metal". A Day to Remember's song structures typically follow a metalcore verses and blends into a more pop punk style chorus. Fans and critics alike have described this blend as "pop-mosh," "popcore", and, more recently, "easycore". When asked in an interview with AbsolutePunk about their sound, Jeremy McKinnon stated: