Myspace Layouts - Myspace Editor
Hello everyone! Thanks for taking the time to visit this myspace page I have created in honour of the band BigBlueMonkey.
For introductory purposes; my name is Matt (aka Cloggy) and I'm from the Gold Coast, Australia. I'm 19 and by chance happen to be a big SOTY/BBM fan.
What you see here is something I have worked on over the last 6 months or so, whenever I've had some spare time. It has been compiled from various sources I found online and I have also had help from the members of the band as well as Phil Sneed (previously of Maybe Today and currently of SOTY)
I would like to thank the members of BBM and SOTY from the bottom of my heart for their assistance with the information and for taking the time out of their busy schedules to answer any questions I had. Your endless support has meant the world to me.
I hope you all enjoy reading it and listening to the old songs. Please add me and tell me what you think. Don't be shy to ask any questions or make any queries.
Thanks,
-Matt
The story begins (no pun intended) in early 1995 when Dan Marsala and Ryan Phillips where in a rap n' roll band called '67 North'.
Ryan Phillips was also in 'Means Well' with future Story of the Year member Josh Wills.
The band 'Locash' was graced with the talents of Adam Russell and Ryan Phillips.
Phillip Sneed spent his time forming the band 'Sound Advice' which later became 'Maybe Today'.
Bernard's Pub in Saint Louis is where many of the local Saint Louis bands had their start. These bands were no different, and they began playing shows in late 1995.
BigBlueMonkey was formed by Dan Marsala (drums) and Ryan Phillips (guitar). Joining them were John Taylor (vocals) and Perry West (bass). This line up existed while they played all of the popular Saint Louis venues, and while they toured the Midwest and recorded two EPs. ("Three Days Broken" and "Truth In Separation")
Soon it was time for high school graduation, attempts at college, and the new millennium. Around that same time John and Perry decided that they would leave BigBlueMonkey. Dan Marsala though decided to stick with the band, but move from drums to vocals. Josh Wills, knowing Ryan Phillips from their days in 'Means Well' had gone with BigBlueMonkey on road trips as the Drum tech, and guest vocalist on a few live songs, so it was only natural that such a great friend, and a fellow drummer, would replace Dan behind the drum kit. Adam Russell, though never having played bass before was one of their closest friends and had the heart and dedication needed to learn and become BigBlueMonkey's newest bassist. Ryan Phillips felt that they needed a second guitarist to round out the sound, so fellow Saint Louis native, Gregory Haupt, was given the job as the final member of BigBlueMonkey's new line-up.
The band would wake up every afternoon and practice until 5pm. Then from 5 until midnight, Ryan, Josh, and Dan would deliver pizzas for 'Papa John's', while Adam was a manager for 'Imo's', another local pizza place. After getting off work they would get together to work on flyers, their video, and the website, before catching a few Zzz's and waking up to do it all again.
BigBlueMonkey members dedicated all of their time to the band, and worked only so they would have money to help pursue the greater interest of the band. With their own money they recorded 3 more EP’s, created a street team, covered Saint Louis in flyers, burned thousands of sampler CDs, ran the bands website, and shot their own video. They went to practically every show in Saint Louis to promote themselves with flyers and CDs and if given the chance, they opened for every national act that came through the area, won local band contests, and even got some radio play.
The band decided that it was in their best interest to move from Saint Louis to California, if they wanted a real chance at stardom. So the members worked as much as possible to save up money for their move to Orange County, California. It seemed that fate was on their side, and they were able to play Point-Fest, a music festival showcasing the best the Midwest has to offer, right before they moved. At Point-Fest the members of BigBlueMonkey passed out thousands of sampler CDs and videos to everyone they came in contact with. They even snuck onto Goldfinger's tour bus and left four copies of their home video there.
When it was time for the members to drive across the country, they not only took what they needed for the band and themselves, they also took 900 pounds of sound proof foam that they stole from Saint Louis so that they could turn their garage into a sound proof practice studio. There were 8 people living in a three-bedroom house in a Vietnamese ghetto, but they made the best of it, had fun practicing. Luckily they didn't have to stay in that living situation long.
Within two weeks of living in California Goldfinger's manager called them and asked them to come out on tour with Goldfinger. The band was thrilled by the offer and decided that it was a great opportunity. A name change was on the cards for the band (a blues group already had the name 'Blues Monkey') and they had released an EP with a song that was basically saying that they would move to California, and they would make it big, at whatever cost. That song was entitled 'Story of the Year', and was the title track off of the record. The band thought the song had a lot of meaning to them and decided it was to be the new name of their band.
As the tour progressed John Feldmen (Goldfinger vocalist) who has produced The Used decided he wanted to produce the newly named Story of the Year's album. When there was a break from touring Feldman took Story of the Year's video to Maverick Records.
Maverick was interested in their sound, so they set up a showcase for Story of the Year at The Viper Room. Within two hours of performing Maverick Record's offered Story of the Year a record deal.
Once the tour with Goldfinger was finished, the band started writing new music specifically for the album. At the end of the first month Story of the Year went into the studio to record "Anthem of Our Dying Day", "Until the Day I Die", and "Razorblades". Unfortunately as with many bands on their way up, tension began to grow between members. Due to creative and personal differences Greg Haupt decided it was time to part ways with Story of the Year.
The next seven weeks after Greg's departure the band spent their time writing and auditioning new guitarist to fill the now vacant spot. Phil Sneed whose band Maybe Today had played many shows with the formerly known Big Blue Monkey while they were still living in Saint Louis was a preferable choice. The band realized how talented Sneed was, and decided that since Maybe Today was on rocky ground they would fly Sneed out to California to audition for Story of the Year. Immediately the band decided Sneed was exactly what they were looking for.
Story of the Year wrote a magnitude of songs and within a week or two of being in the studio narrowed it down to the 10 songs they wanted on the album. They spent almost every day of the week, and up to 15 hours a day, recording. Feldmen was tough, but also knew how to have a good time as well. So Feldmen told the record company that the band should record the strings part of their songs in Hawaii. The trip to Hawaii lasted 6 days, and was spent mostly in the sun.
The album was finally finished in the spring of 2003 and named 'Page Avenue' as homage to where they grew up in Saint Louis. The day the last song was recorded the band packed up all of their things and made the trek across the U.S. once again to move back to their homeland of Saint Louis. On the fourth night after they finished recording the band was to set out on tour. On this tour they had a tour bus and a crew of people from Saint Louis.
The band knew that radio stations could be very fickle so they set out on tour to win a fan base from live shows, rather than radio airplay. This method worked well for them, and soon they went from playing headlining shows with an audience attendance of 30 people to 2,500 people. Page Avenue was released in September of 2003, and within 6 months had gone gold. They spent almost 20 months crossing the U.S. 10 times, non-stop. Winter 2004/2005 Story of the Year had finally taken a hiatus from touring to go back to the studio to begin working on their sophomore album (In The Wake Of Determination)
WATCH APESHIT!!!
Complete Discography:
Three Days Broken EP
1. Forjana
2. Best Left Unsaid
3. Shifting
4. Genuine
Released: 1998
Truth In Separation EP
1. Headcase9999
2. September
3. Forlife
4. With One Voice
Released: 1999
The 'Three Days Broken' EP and the 'Truth In Separation' EP releases were recorded by the original BBM line up.
Big Blue Monkey Sampler 2001
1. Nothing To Prove
2. So Far So Good (1st Version)
Big Blue Monkey 2nd Sampler 2001
1. Razorblades and Cupcakes (1st version)
2. Light Years Away
Story Of The Year EP
1. Story Of The Year
2. Light Years Away
3. Razorblades And Cupcakes (2nd version)
4. So Far, So Good (2nd version)
5. In Her Bedroom
Released: 2002
Label: Maverick Records
The two samplers and the SOTY EP releases were recorded with the newer line up after John and Perry departed... but Gregory Haupt did not record on these tracks, or any tracks for that matter. However, it was Ryan Phillips who tracked both guitars on these songs and Greg simply learnt and performed these tracks with the band during live performances.
Page Avenue Demo
1. And The Hero Will Drown
2. Until The Day I Die
3. Anthem Of Our Dying Day
Released: Early 2003
Page Avenue (Leaked Version)
You all know this one! Or do you?
1. And The Hero Will Drown
2. Until The Day I Die
3. Anthem Of Our Dying Day
4. In The Shadows
5. Dive Right In
6. The Unheard Voice
7. Nothing Can Fly
8. Page Avenue
9. Sidewalks
10. Symphony
11. Razorblades
12. Fiji
13. Falling Down
'Nothing Can Fly' was renamed as 'Burning Years' and 'Symphony' was renamed as 'Divide And Conquer' for the official Page Avenue release. The Unheard Voice and Fiji were removed from the disc completely and 'Swallow The Knife' was added in.
Here is a bootleg of the original BBM line up performing the song 'Best Left Unsaid' at Pop's Saloon in Sauget, Illinois on May 15, 1999.
Watch for Josh Wills with the broken arm doing guest vocals.
BigBlueMonkey Links Worth A Read:
This is an old yahoo group that the BBM boys kept for a year or so around 2002 - 03
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/bigbluemonkeysucks/
This site has some pics of BigBlueMonkey (Greg stage) performing at KCFV 30th Birthday Campus Concert on April 19, 2002
https://www.stlcc.cc.mo.us/fv/kcfv/anniversaries/index.htm
An interview with Dan recalling the bands past...
http://www.sfweekly.com/issues/2004-09-29/music/music2.html
A temporary BBM site they made announcing Gregs' addition to the band...
http://monkey67.tripod.com/main.htm
Everyone should also check out:
Thanks to Piero for all his help with this page, alot of credit needs to go to him. He single handedly set up all the music players and showed me how to get the layout etc all out of the kindness of his heart with no reward other than my heartfelt thankyous.
He is a truely awesome person and is possibly the most dedicated fan of music and SOTY I have ever met.
And just when you thought he could not possibly get any cooler, he does this, makes a downloadable file of ALL the BBM songs!
So here it is...
http://rapidshare.com/files/28394891/All_BBM_SONGS.zip
Make sure you all drop him a comment or a msg telling him how much he rules at...
http://www.myspace.com/storyoftheyearfans
or by clicking the banner above!