Staind, Seether, Hoobastank, et Hinder

The band met and formed in Massachusetts in the mid-90s and started out covering songs by the likes of Rage Against the Machine and Alice in Chains which would help to mould their sound as they moved forward. The 5 piece line up consisted of Aaron Lewis, Mike Mushok, Johnny April and Jon Wysocki which remained a constant until Jon’s departure in 2011.

The band self-released a small quantity of their debut album ‘Tormented’ and, after opening for Limb Bizkit, made a new fan in frontman Fred Durst. With the help of Terry Date, Fred produced Staind’s major label debut ‘Dysfunction’ which, although a slow seller to begin with, began to pick up traction as the band toured hard and singles began to receive radio play.

The band really broke out with the release of third album ‘Break the Cycle’. As evidenced by hit single ‘It’s Been A While’, the band had started to blend more post-grunge sounds in with their nu-metal foundations with great results as the album debuted at number one in the album charts and eventually went on to sell 7 million copies round the world.

The band continued to release successful albums (all of which debuted in the top 10 of the album charts) and, after taking a brief hiatus in 2012, returned to touring in 2014 with numerous festival appearances.

While others of their ilk faded away, SEETHER maintains a strong sense of self, ignoring trends and critics in favor of a consummate devotion to their craft.

Their impressive sales and chart history includes three platinum and two gold albums, 15 #1 singles (including 2017’s “Let You Down,” 2014’s “Words as Weapons,” and 2011’s “Tonight”); 19 Top 5 multi-format hits, with US singles sales topping 17 million and over 1.5 billion streams worldwide across all platforms.

They are also creators of the Rise Above Fest, founded in 2012 to raise awareness for suicide prevention and mental illness. Past headliners of the annual gathering include Slash, Godsmack, Avenged Sevenfold, Papa Roach & many more. Since conception, the Rise Above Fest has turned into a broader movement, expanding its presence at additional music festivals around the globe. All SEETHER shows donate $1 of ticket sales to benefit the SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices Of Education) organization.

Three years after releasing their critically acclaimed record Poison The Parish, SEETHER announced their highly anticipated return with the new album, Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum out August 28th, 2020 via Fantasy Records. Translating to “If You Want Peace, Prepare For War,” the album features 13 new tracks, a primal mix of euphoria and misery.

Hoobstank, came together when Doug Robb, Dan Estrin and Chris Hesse decided to start a band. In the early stages of their career, they landed local support slots supporting bands such as Incubus. They released their debut album on their own in 1998, entitled “They Sure Don’t Make Basketball Shorts Like They Used To”. Their reputation was growing slowly but surely, especially in the Southern California area, which caught the attention of Island Records, who signed Hoobastank in 2000.

Hoobastank released their eponymous official album on November 20th 2001, lead by the single “Crawling in the Dark”, which set the tone for the record and charted in the US, UK and Australia. This was followed by “Running Away”, which went to number 2 in the US Alternative chart.

Following international chart success and an international tour, Hoobastank made a comeback with their brand new album called “The Reason”, released on December 9th 2003. “Out of Control” was the first single to be released on the label, which went to number 9 in the Alternative chart. It was the title track of the album that became an international hit and the band’s trademark making it to number 2 in the Billboard Hot 100 Chart charting in Australia, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Austria and UK. The single went Gold whilst the album went 2x Platinum, peaking at number 3 in the Billboard 200.

The band’s third full-length album, “Every Man for Himself” released on May 16th 2006, made it to number 12 in the Billboard 200 and was certified Gold. The sequential album “For(N)ever” made it to number 26 on the Billboard 200.

On December 8th 2009, the band released a live album “Live from the Wiltern”.

Once recruiting bass player Cole Parker, the now completed line-up set began their quest for fame as they began producing original material with the result in the form of demos “Someday” and “Broken” which would end up featuring in their debut EP “Far From Close” eventually released in 2003 through indie label Brickden Records. Having drummed up local support by playing in plenty of hometown shows and taking part in music competitions to help fund their releases.

In 2004 after Parker’s departure, the band were joined by Mark King (rhythm guitar) and Mike Rodden (bass). Following the release of “Far From Close”, the band received label interest from Atlantic, Roadrunner and Universal, eventually signing with Universal Records in 2005. With their new label on board Hinder released their debut full length album “Extreme Behaviour” later that year peaking at number three in the US charts and going triple platinum. The album featured the hit singles “Lips of an Angel”, “Get Stoned” and “Better Than Me”. Spending subsequent years touring nationwide and across the glove, Hinder shared the stage with the likes of: Papa Roach, Puddle of Mudd, Buckcherry, “3 Doors Down” and “Theory of a Deadman”.

Bestowed with one of the highest local honours, in 2007 Hinder were inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame with the Rising Star Award joining Carrie Underwood, Woody Guthrie and Wanda Jackson. The following year the band released their second album “Take It to the Limit” which debuted in the US album charts at number four. After releasing two further albums “All American Nightmare” (2010) and “Welcome to the Freakshow” (2012), the band parted ways with Winkler and was later replaced by Marshall Dutton.

In 2015, Hinder took to crowdfunding website Pledge for their fifth studio album “When The Smoke Clears”, offering rewards and exclusive access to contents to loyal fans also known as the Hinder Army who pledge from opportunities to tour manage the band for a day to personalised gifts. With an independent label and an allegiance of fans behind them, Hinder are stronger than even ever as they embark on this new chapter.