Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- the_blamed [2018/12/02 03:57] – admin
+++ the_blamed [2020/02/04 22:02] (current) – [Compilation Appearances] admin
@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 Punk Rock / Hardcore / Emo\\
+California / Chicago, Illinois, USA
+The Blamed is a Christian hardcore punk band currently based out of Chicago, Illinois. The Blamed are known for their diverse range of styles they have played throughout the years, giving them their own unique sound. During their tenure, they have played primarily hardcore punk, pop punk, punk rock, and emo music with some influences from metal as well. They originally are from California having relocated to Illinois after guitarist Bryan Gray moved to Chicago. The band originally formed in 1994 and disbanded in 2003. Members during this era of the band included Bryan Gray, Christopher Wiitala, Trevor Wiitala, Jeff Locke, Jim Chaffin, John Hansen, and Matt Switaj. They released three albums with [[Tooth & Nail Records]] (//21// in 1996, //Frail// in 1996, and //Give Us Barabbas// in 2002) and four albums with [[Grrr Records]] (//...Again// in 1998, //Forever// in 1999, //Germany// in 2000, and //Isolated Incident// in 2001). The Band reformed in the summer of 2016 to play a one off set at Audio Feed music festival. This has since lead to the band reforming and recording a Split EP with the Chicago hardcore band The Satire, a band sharing multiple members with the Blamed. The Split EP was released in November 2018 through Indie Vision Music.
+Bryan Gray and other members of The Blamed were involved with [[Left Out]] as well.
 ===== Discography =====
-| 1991 | Pay the Rent |
+| 1991 | [[https://christiantapeunderground.wordpress.com/2019/02/02/the-blamed-pay-the-rent/|Pay the Rent]] |
 | 1991 | Live as They Were |
 | 1994 | 21 | [[Tooth & Nail Records]] |
@@ Line 16: / Line 21: @@
 | 2001 | Isolated Incident | [[Grrr Records]] |
 | 2002 | The Blamed / Noisetoys Split |
+| 2002 | That One Time We Played Live |
 | 2002 | Give Us Barabbas | [[Tooth & Nail Records]] |
 | 2018 | The Blamed x The Satire | [[Indie Vision Music]] |
+| 2019 | 20 Years...Again | [[Indie Vision Music]] |
+| 2019 | The Church is Hurting People |
 ------
@@ Line 24: / Line 32: @@
 Independent
+Mark – Bass\\
+Bry – Guitars, vocals, drums\\
+Justin – Lead guitars\\
+Adam – Drums possibly
   - Airhead
@@ Line 62: / Line 75: @@
 Bryan Gray - Guitar\\
 Jake Landrau - Guitar\\
-Eric Churchill - bass Guitar\\
+Eric Churchill - Bass Guitar\\
 Jim Chaffin - Drums
@@ Line 169: / Line 182: @@
 [[Burnt Toast Vinyl]] (BTV032)
+Bryan Gray - Guitars, keys\\
+Matt Switaj - Guitars, vocals\\
+Chris Wiitala - Bass, vocals, keys\\
+Trevor Wiitala - Drums
+(Bryan can't remember who played keys on this, but Bryan and Chris typically played them on the records)
   - This is for David
   - On Westnedge
   - ...In Amsterdam
+"We were pretty integrated with the band [[Scientific]]. Chris and Matt would occasionally play live backing them up - a phenomenal band. [[Burnt Toast Records]] and Matt worked out them putting out a 7". We recorded this ourselves. The first song "This is for David" is still one of my all time favorite Blamed songs to play live. We typically only played it when something broke because I could play almost the whole song by myself. The second song "On Westnedge... In Amsterdam" we made up in the studio that day, it is the only time we ever played this song. The opening guitar parts were inspired by the epic music from the lightsaber dual with Darth Maul. We don't have the masters for this song because we are dumb. My friend Doug Peterson had ripped MP3s straight from the vinyl - I dig that you can hear the popping of the needle and the vinyl, it helps with the character of this recording." - Bryan Gray
 ------
@@ Line 179: / Line 201: @@
 Computer Club Records (CCRP-1001)
+Bryan Gray - Guitars, piano\\
+Matt Switaj - Guitars, clarinet\\
+Chris Wiitala - Bass, piano\\
+Trevor Wiitala - Drums
+(I don't remember who played timpani on this, but it was cool)
+Engineered by Ed Bialach at Tone Zone Studios
   - For Brian Wilson (1:56)
@@ Line 184: / Line 215: @@
   - Our Bazaar World (2:17)
   - That's the Ticket (3:04)
+"We tried to record extra material with each release. During the //Isolated Incident// session we tracked an instrumental song "For Brian Wilson" and one of Chris' songs. Jake Brown from Computer Club Records was putting out some cool stuff and had worked it out with Matt to release a "maxi single" of the song "At This Moment" from the //Isolated Incident// album. Music was alive in 2001 - I kinda miss it." - Bryan Gray
 ------
@@ Line 220: / Line 253: @@
 Independent
+Bryan Gray - Guitar, vocals\\
+Christopher Wiitala - Bass, vocals\\
+Trevor Wiitala - Drums
   - The Blamed - Crescendo
@@ Line 229: / Line 266: @@
   - Noisetoys - Pastor Poster
   - Noisetoys - Fill
+"So the story behind the import split: we were down to a 3 piece and we were booked for this long tour overseas. We were touring with an old friend Daniel Benjamin's bands, the first leg was with [[The Noisetoys]] and the second leg was with Jumbo Jet. So Daniel proposed we record a split CD to promote the tour. I got with the twins (bassist and drummer Chris and Trevor Wiitala) and wrote 2 new songs. Daniel responded back that he wanted 4 songs if possible and the twins said they had 2 songs and I said OK. I probably should've listened to their 2 songs first, but I am a huge fan of their writing so no regrets. I love how this CD turned out, and it was fun to sell overseas and eventually here in the US as a limited edition "import" CD. Tooth and Nail was completely supportive and eventually bought a case of CDs to sell through their mail order" - Bryan Gray
+------
+==== That One Time We Played Live ====
+Independent
+Bryan Gray - Guitar, vocals\\
+Matt Switaj - Guitar, vocals\\
+Chris Wiitala - Bass, vocals\\
+Trevor Wiitala - Drums
+  - To See You How You are Seen (7:08)
+  - At Last We Will Have Revenge (5:38)
+"I vaguely remember someone recording all of the Grrr bands at Cornerstone (we released 4 thingy's on Grrr). I think when I got the live CD I didn't like it and was bummed that it was in circulation. I kept 2 songs on my hard drive that I didn't hate. I think that this recording captures an interesting time stamp for the band. Upon listening back the live version of "To See You," it has the original version of "Cyclical" at the end. There was always a bit of tension within this version of the band regarding Chris' vocals. It was kind of a jerk move, but in tracking process of //Give Us Barabbas//, Chris sang "Cyclical" and Matt had a different vocal idea. The one day the twins went to see U2 during the mix down, Matt re-sang "Cyclical." I knew Chris would be bummed, but Matt's vocal on the //Give Us Barabbas// version is possibly one of my favorite of his vocal performances. "At Last We Will Have Revenge" is just a live version of the song. I considered us an evangelical band in the old days. I actually kinda cringe hearing my voice but it is worthy timestamp, free jazz. Fun Fact the lyrics from this song are from //The Phantom Menace//." - Bryan Gray
 ------
@@ Line 264: / Line 319: @@
 ------
+==== 20 Years...Again ====
+[[Indie Vision Music]]
+  - Beginning in the End (4:19)
+  - Casualty of War (Reprise) (1:01)
+  - Don't Fall (2:17)
+  - Covered (2:45)
+  - Live by Truth (2:14)
+  - D Sin Grate (Feat. Luke Easter) (3:33)
+------
+==== The Church is Hurting People ====
+Independent
+------
+==== Compilation Appearances ====
+//**Sweet Family Music: A Tribute to Stryper**// (1996 [[Flying Tart Records]])\\
+) Soldiers Under Command (5:26)
+Jeremy Moffett - Vocals\\
+Bryan Gray - Guitar\\
+Gary Ottosi - Bass\\
+Jim Chaffin - Drums
+"That one time we played a [[Stryper]] song for a comp CD and it was rad. Jim played to the CD and Gary and I played to Jim and Jeremy did what he does. This was the last thing recorded with Jeremy Moffett and Gary Otossi before we went on hiatus and I joined [[Six Feet Deep]] for a season." - Bryan Gray
+//**Lost Lonely Vicious Comp**// (1999 [[Boot to Head Records]])\\
+) Strawberry Fields Forever (3:23)
+Bryan Gray - Guitars, vocals\\
+Matt Switaj - Guitars, vocals\\
+Jeff Locke - Bass, vocals\\
+Jim Chaffin - Drums
+"This was recorded by The Blamed during our demo sessions for the //Forever// album (I think). It was originally released exclusively on a [[Boot to Head Records]] sampler //Lost Lonely Vicious//. The days of amazing comps in the late 90s and early 2000s was insane and this comp was amazing. This was the last song we recorded with Jim Chaffin and Jeff Locke before combining the 2 bands [[Left Out]] and The Blamed." - Bryan Gray
+//**Songs From The Penalty Box Volume 5**// (2002 [[Tooth & Nail Records]])\\
+) She Shows Me How (4:27)
+"So I think the release of this song is one of those classic bad decisions, I mean releasing the song wasn't a bad decision, NOT releasing the song on the album was the bad decision. Then deciding to put it on the comp CD that T&N releases to the world to showcase it's artist was an even worse decision. I think my "get out of jail free card" on this one was that I was trying to let the other guys (Matt) make this call. And ironically I knew better, as if history within the T&N culture hadn't already shown me this was a bad idea, for example, [[Crux]] //Failure to Yield// is one of my top 10 releases on the label, they released the one song their bass player Andy sang in the same context, if that was your intro to Crux, the rest of the record sounded nothing like this, I remember the guys saying that people heard them on that comp and then bought the record and complained it was totally different. Luckily we never received this kind of feedback. I also understand Matt's thought process, we had at that point released a maxi single from our previous record with Computer Club records with some B side material and that went really well. So anyways, Chris is a great singer and musician and it is great to hear this song featuring his voice." - Bryan Gray
+------
+===== Links =====
+  * [[https://theblamedband.com|The Blamed's Official Website]]
+  * [[https://www.facebook.com/TheBlamed|The Blamed on Facebook]]
+  * [[http://computerclubrecords.bandcamp.com/album/at-this-moment-norway|Purchase "At This Moment" single]]