Underoath

Underoath is an American Rock band based in Tampa, Florida; they are currently signed to Tooth & Nail/Solid State Records. Though the band's musical style has changed substantially since its inception in 1998, it may be said that currently the sextet plays a brand of hard music which combines elements of post-hardcore, metalcore, and emo. Underoath is also a Christian band, though they are popular among both Christian and secular audiences.

Underoath could be considered a poster child for the success of hard music in the early 21st century; despite limited airplay on radio and television outlets such as MTV and VH1, the band has achieved Gold status because of constant touring and popularity on internet sites such as MySpace and PureVolume.

History

Early Years

Underoath formed in 1998 in then-vocalist Dallas Taylor's bedroom in Ocala, Florida. The band was signed to Takehold Records in 1999 and that year released their debut, Act of Depression. This album was followed a year later by the five-song, forty-minute Cries of the Past; both albums are currently out of print. The band's lineup during this time changed frequently and bore little resemblance to the current band. Likewise, the band's music was far heavier in those days, dabbling in grindcore and melodic death metal, along with periodic structure and time changes and electronic elements. These first albums brought Underoath a small but devoted fanbase.

In 2001, Takehold Records was bought out by Tooth & Nail Records; Underoath was subsequently signed to Tooth & Nail's heavier subsidiary, Solid State Records. The band, which was now a sextet, worked with Cries of the Past producer James Paul Wisner (Further Seems Forever, New Found Glory) on their Solid State debut, The Changing of Times, which was released on February 26, 2002. Frequent lineup changes were the main cause of a slightly more accessible sound for the band; shorter songs and more melodic, verse-chorus oriented song structures replaced the epic twists and turns of their earlier records. Though the change in style caused some long-time fans of the band to criticize the album, The Changing of Times went on to outsell both of their previous albums combined.

In 2003, Underoath supported The Changing of Times through their first stint on the Vans Warped Tour, but their participation in the tour came to a screeching halt when lead singer Dallas Taylor controversially left the band. Reasons for Dallas leaving the band are explained in Alternative Press [#219]. Taylor was asked to leave Underoath by guitarist Timothy McTague after a disagreement within the band. Taylor is now the lead singer for Southern metalcore outfit Maylene and the Sons of Disaster.

Underoath dropped off the rest of the Warped Tour and the band's future was in considerable doubt. However, the band then went on a supporting tour with Atreyu that fall with Winter Solstice vocalist Matt Tarpey as the temporary vocalist. Then later in the year, at the CMJ Fest in New York City, the band reappeared with new lead vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, formerly of This Runs Through.

They're Only Chasing Safety

During the early months of 2004, the band hit the studio again with Wisner to record their first album with Spencer Chamberlain on vocals and their second record for Solid State. They're Only Chasing Safety proved to be a breakout success for the band, going on to sell about 350,000 copies to date. Far more melodic than past efforts, Underoath moved even further away from their metal roots; drummer Gillespie arguably made as much of an impact with his singing on the record as Chamberlain did with his screaming. "Reinventing Your Exit" and "It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door" were the album's singles; both songs spawned music videos that received airplay on MTV2 and Fuse.

They're Only Chasing Safety debuted at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and later charted well into the Billboard 200. Following the release of the album, the band played a number of Warped Tour dates. In the Spring of 2005 the band was asked to participate on the inaugural Taste of Chaos tour. Shortly after the tour, the band embarked on its first headlining tour. The band premièred two brand-new songs during the length of the tour.

The band landed on the cover of Alternative Press magazine for the first time in September of 2005, and in October of 2005, They're Only Chasing Safety was re-released in a two-disc set with four unreleased songs, new artwork by Converge's Jacob Bannon, and a DVD with over two hours worth of footage of the band touring in support of the album.

Define the Great Line

Underoath entered the studio in January 2006 to record their fifth album. Matt Goldman, a founding member of Blue Man Group, and Adam Dutkiewicz, guitarist for Killswitch Engage, worked with the band in producing the album, which would come to be titled Define the Great Line. The album combined the intricate melodies of They're Only Chasing Safety with a partial return to the band's metalcore roots.

An unfinished version of the album was leaked onto BitTorrent websites and P2P services months before the release date. Members of the band released a statement saying that the leaked version was an unmixed & unmastered, raw copy of the album which lacked certain elements and the finished product would sound much different.

The band flew to Sweden in the spring of 2006 to make videos for the new songs "In Regards to Myself" and "Writing on the Walls"; the latter was chosen as the lead single for the album and was later nominated for the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. When Define the Great Line released on June 20, 2006, it sold 98,000 copies in its first week and made it's début on the Billboard 200 Chart at #2 , the highest debut for a Christian album since 1997 . In its first four weeks on the chart, it stayed in the top 50. It debuted at #1 on the Christian, Christian/Gospel, and Rock charts.

With the debut of Define the Great Line, Underoath simultaneously released a special edition version of the album featuring special artwork and a DVD that includes another behind-the-scenes movie and a "making of" video.

Define the Great Line was certified Gold by the RIAA on November 11, 2006, representing 500,000 shipped units of the album. It is the first album in Solid State history to reach that distinction.

The band toured extensively throughout Europe, Australia, and Asia in the fall of 2006 and is scheduled to tour with Taking Back Sunday and Armor for Sleep from February to April in 2007. Underoath is currently shooting videos for the songs "You're Ever So Inviting" and "A Moment Suspended in Time"; the former will be released in March, the latter some time later in the year. [1]

Multiple rumors have flown around by word of mouth and through the internet of Underoath breaking up, members leaving, and rehab stories. Underoath released a statement confirming none of this was true and they followed through by doing their Canadian tour followed by the 'Taste of Chaos World Tour'. It has now been confirmed that Underoath will be playing again on Warped Tour 2007 from July 24th to August 7th.

Departure from Warped Tour and alleged NOFX controversy

Underoath was scheduled to spend the summer of 2006 on the main stage of the Warped Tour, but on July 28, 2006, it was announced that Underoath was dropping off the remaining dates of the tour. A statement from the band stated that the members "felt it necessary to take some immediate time to focus on our friendship, as that’s more important than risking it for the sake of touring at this time.".

Rumors to the contrary, however, flew that the band had actually left because NOFX frontman Michael "Fat Mike" Burkett had made fun of Underoath and their religious beliefs on-stage. These rumors were debunked when Burkett told PunkNews.org in a statement of his own that Underoath's claim of needing a break was indeed true. Burkett did admit to poking fun at the band and criticizing their stance on gay marriage, but emphasised that he befriended Underoath's band members at the start of the tour, had very civilized conversations with various members right up to the band's departure, that he had a personal policy of not making jokes on-stage about anyone he wasn't friends with or didn't like personally, and that there were never any hard feelings between himself and Underoath's band members. Burkett also revealed on the August 2006 Fat Wreck Chords Podcast that internal troubles amongst the members of Underoath started after Spencer Chamberlain had indulged in a couple of cans of Bud Light with Burkett backstage a few nights prior to Underoath's sudden departure.

In an Alternative Press cover story on Underoath, Burkett told the magazine that Spencer Chamberlain had confided in him that Underoath's band members had been "having a lot of arguments over their religious beliefs.". In a sidebar of the same article, Burkett stated that he was "not calling Underoath homophobic, but they're against homosexual people having the same rights that straight people do. I find that to be bigoted."

Tim McTague admitted that "90 percent of what [Fat Mike] believes in and thinks is wrong about our country and our government, I agree with... [my] opinion doesn't align with the conservative church or the extreme leftist liberal side, either."

In a January 2007 interview with Ultimate-guitar.net, Tim McTague stated the following when asked about Fat Mike's involvement in Underoath's departure,

"That wasn’t an issue. I mean, that was an issue on the tour in the sense of like there were some things that were said that probably shouldn’t have been said by him. But it never really got to the point where it affected us. That wasn’t the breaking point really for us at all. I think he definitely played a role in making a lot of our stuff public and exaggerating a lot of our beliefs and a lot of our conversations that we had to him. So he definitely loves to stir the pot, and I’ll give him that. But beyond that, we shouldn’t have been on Warped Tour to begin with. It definitely wasn’t a Fat Mike thing." Interview with Tim McTague

In continuation of the 'drama,' Fat Mike, in an interview with Australian youth radio station Triple J on the 23rd February 2007, stated that, whether or not it was the reason that Underoath left the tour, Nofx did ridicule Underoath. In the rare interview, Fat Mike poked fun at the members of Underoath for their beliefs, particularly their nonacceptance of homosexuality and that they did not believe that dinosaurs once existed.

Members

• Spencer Chamberlain - Vocals
• Aaron Gillespie - Drums, Vocals
• Timothy McTague - Guitar
• James Smith - Guitar
• Grant Brandell - Bass
• Christopher Dudley - Keyboard, Sampling

Former members

• Dallas Taylor - Vocals (currently in Maylene and the Sons of Disaster)
• Luke Morton - Guitar
• Corey Steger - Guitar
• Matthew Clark - Bass (currently in Sleeping By The Riverside)
• Samm Shuffler - Guitar (currently in The Milanos)
• Octavio Fernandez - Bass/Guitar (currently in At The Wake)
• Billy Nottke - Bass
• Scott (Kelly) Nunn - Drums and guitar (currently in Malayne)

Discography

Album Cover	Title	Release Date	Label
50px	Act of Depression	July 4, 1999	Takehold Records
50px	Cries of the Past	July 4, 2000	Takehold Records
50px	The Changing of Times	February 26, 2002	Solid State Records
50px	They're Only Chasing Safety	June 15, 2004	Solid State Records
50px	They're Only Chasing Safety (Special Edition)	October 4, 2005	Solid State Records
50px	Define the Great Line	June 20, 2006	Solid State Records

Singles

Year	Title	Chart Positions			Album
		US Hot 100	US Modern Rock	US Mainstream Rock
2002	"When the Sun Sleeps"				The Changing of Times
2004	"Reinventing Your Exit"				They're Only Chasing Safety
2005	"It's Dangerous Business Walking out Your Front Door"				They're Only Chasing Safety
2006	"Writing on the Walls"		#39		Define the Great Line
2006	"In Regards to Myself"				Define the Great Line
2007	"You're Ever So Inviting"				Define the Great Line
2007	"A Moment Suspended In Time"				Define the Great Line

Non-album tracks

"Wrapped Around Your Finger" (The Police cover) – released on Policia! - A Tribute to the Police (2005)

External links

• Official Web site
• Define The Great Line mini-site
• They're Only Chasing Safety mini-site
• MySpace Profile
• Underoath at PureVolume
• Unofficial Fan Site
• Interview with Spencer
• Underoath Interview - May 4th, 2006