Story of the Year
Story of the Year is an American rock band formed in St. Louis, Missouri,[2] in 1995 under the name 67 North.[3] The band eventually changed their name to Big Blue Monkey in 1998, and then subsequently changed it again to Story of the Year in 2002, after the release of their self-titled EP on the indie label Criterion Records. At the time, they claimed they discovered that a blues group named Big Blue Monkey had already existed. Later, on their podcast "Page Avenue Crew", they clarified that they just didn't care for the name and made up the excuse of another band having the same name.
Story of the Year
- 67 North (1995–1998)
- Big Blue Monkey (1998–2002)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
- 1995–2011
- 2013–present
- Dan Marsala
- Ryan Phillips
- Josh Wills
- Adam Russell
- John Taylor
- Perry West
- Greg Haupt
- Philip Sneed
It would not be until eight years after forming that Story of the Year saw its first piece of commercial success in its major label debut album, Page Avenue (2003), containing the popular singles "Until the Day I Die" and "Anthem of Our Dying Day". A second album, In the Wake of Determination, followed in 2005, but did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor. The band released their third album, The Black Swan, on April 22, 2008, which was their first release on Epitaph Records, followed by 2010's The Constant.
On August 11, 2017, Story of the Year teased a 90-second clip of a new song off their crowd-funded fifth studio album. The pledge campaign began in November 2016 and was completely funded in less than 3 days. The band used high-profile producer Aaron Sprinkle and mixers Tom Lord-Alge & J Hall to complete their fifth studio album. They confirmed via the pledge site that the new album will be titled Wolves, which was released through PledgeMusic on December 1, 2017. The album's wide release was on December 8, 2017. On February 2, 2019, Story of the Year held their annual hometown show at the Pageant in St. Louis, Missouri to promote Wolves.
History[edit]
67 North & Big Blue Monkey (1995–2002)[edit]
The band were formed in 1995 under the name "67 North" by guitarist Ryan Phillips of the bands Means Well and Locash, drummer Dan Marsala, vocalist John Taylor and bassist Perry West. They changed their name to "Big Blue Monkey" in 1998 before releasing the first EP Three Days Broken that same year. In 1999, they released another EP called Truth in Separation, their last under the line-up. In 2000, West and Taylor would both depart from the group, leading to Marsala moving to vocal duties, and the recruitment of Means Well drummer Josh Wills as well as the members' long time friend Adam Russell on bass duties, despite him never having played bass prior (previously a guitarist prior to joining the band). It was at this point that the band relocated to Orange County, California, where the final Big Blue Monkey EP was released in 2002 titled Story of the Year, which they would then change their name to later that year.[3]
Musical style and influences[edit]
Story of the Year has been categorized under several genres, especially emo,[25] screamo,[26][27][28] post-hardcore,[29][30] and pop-punk.[31][32][25] AllMusic describe the band as "emo punk" and "emo-inflected post-grunge"[2] and the band has also been labeled as alternative rock[33] and melodic hardcore.[34] Story of the Year's early material as Big Blue Monkey is considered nu metal.[35]
The band's influences include Skid Row, Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, NOFX, Pennywise, Sick of It All, and H2O.[31]
Studio albums