Dashboard Confessional

Dashboard Confessional was originally conceived as a solo side project of musician Chris Carrabba. The singer’s debut output, 2000’s “The Swiss Army Romance” was released whilst Carrabba was still a member of Further Seems Forever, however after their debut “The Moon Is Down”, the singer left the group to focus on Dashboard Confessional. In 2001 the sophomore album “The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most” was issued by Vagrant Records, and marked the arrival of a band in support of Carrabba. Now a group, with Chris Carrabba at its introspective core, Dashboard Confessional gripped the emo genre by the scruff of its neck and shook it back to life.

After a several month tour in support of the album, Carrabba et al. began collaborating with Dan Hoerner, which resulted in the EPs “So Impossible” in 2001 and “Summers Kiss” in 2002. Also in 2002 the band recorded and released an instalment for the MTV Unplugged series, which represented the band’s biggest breakthrough, with the album “MTV Unplugged 2.0” going platinum. With a line-up now consisting of Carrabba, bassist Scott Schoenbeck, guitarist Johnny Lefler, and drummer Mike Marsh, the band released the full-length “A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar” in 2003. Charting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, the album earned strong reviews from critics, and spawned the singles “Hands Down” and “Rapid Hope Loss”. The band’s song “Vindicated” was later used on the “Spider-Man 2” soundtrack and subsequently at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The full-length “Dusk and Summer” followed in 2006 featuring production from Daniel Lanois and Don Gilmore. Once again the album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, and was supported by a North American tour alongside Say Anything and Ben Lee. The band’s fifth full-length “The Shade of Poison Trees” arrived in October 2007, followed by “Alter the Ending” in November 2009.

Childhood friends Ronnie Winter and Duke Kitchens formed the band while attending a music theory class in 2001, however The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus officially came into fruition with the addition of new members in 2003. Despite an extensive 18 month period of writing songs, recording and releasing a 6-song EP and expanding their fan base through utilising social media sites, the band failed to get signed.

Due to this disappointed a number of members left or were kicked out and were replaced by Elias Reidy on guitar and vocals, Joey Westwood on bass and drummer Jon Wilkes. With new members The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus honed in and focused their emo-pop and screamo sound, which ended up getting the band signed with Virgin in 2005. A year later came their debut LP “Don’t You Fake It” which was certified gold selling over 500,000 copies. The album and major-label distribution introduced the band to a much wider audience after which their fan base swelled considerably. The album featured the singles “Face Down”, False Pretence”, “Your Guardian Angel” and “Damn Regret” and was supported by touring alongside the likes of My Chemical Romance, Rise Against and Thirty Seconds to Mars.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus released their sophomore album “Lonely Road” in February 2009. The album debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard 200, was produced by Howard Benson known for his work with My Chemical Romance and Hoobastank and featured the singles “Pen and Paper” and “You Better Pray”. The band subsequently toured with Shinedown, Framing Hanley and Tickle Me Pink, before returning in 2010 with their independently released EP “The Hell or High Water”.

“Am I the Enemy” arrived in August 2011 featuring the singles “Salvation” and “Fall from Grace”. After the release guitarists Duke Kitchens and Matt Carter departed the group to focus on their personal lives, with fan Josh Burke and Randy Winter filling in. It wasn’t long before Jon Wilkes departed the group as well prior to the group headlining the People Awakening and Uniting for Liberty Festival in Florida, U.S. On July 4, 2014 The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus released their fourth studio album “4” featuring the singles “The Right Direction” and “Not My Style”.