Instant Winner profile picture

Instant Winner

Rock With Horns Since 1998

About Me


Conception of the Instant Winner sound started with the release of the Yellow No. 5 EP (Jan 1999) by a trio of friends from Jr. High School. After meeting some horn players in High School and gaining some show experience and beginning to quickly develop a following, the band was forced to changed its name to Instant Winner. Packing out all-ages shows, they sold all 1000 copies of their first LP Instant Winner (Feb 2000). Local college station 88.9 FM KGRG picked up on it immediately. Word spread fast. Shows continued to pack out. Merchandise sales doubled. After release of the self-produced and recorded Cease & Desist (March 2001) the shows just got bigger. They soon played the Ernie Ball Stage at Warped Tour and have opened for many national touring acts. Some of which include: Sum 41, Sugarcult, Static-X, The Vandals, Millencolin, H2O, The Mad Caddies, Mest, The Ataris, Rx Bandits, Five Iron Frenzy, The Long Beach Short Bus, and Goldfinger.Instant Winner’s last full-length Free For All (May 2002) is filled with anthems, sing-a-longs, and experimentation. These songs pack a punch. They are passionate and intimate while still maintaining an edge. Upon its release, Free For All charted on Seattle’s alternative newspaper - The Stranger’s “NW Top 20” list, peaking at 8. After a short hiatus in the fall of 2003, the band returned in the Summer of 2004 with a slight lineup change and a reformed agenda to have fun and make music that they all enjoy.The band's fourth and pinnacle release "Thirteen Times" was just released (Oct 2007), and the 5 years since their last release have proven they’ve been busy developing their sound - now the perfect combination of their trademark high-energy punch, with a mature new stage obvious in the songwriting. This is amazingly melodic, classically rock-driven powerpop at it’s finest.
INSTANT WINNER: Thirteen Times (2007)

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 6/7/2004
Band Website: instantwinnermusic.com
Band Members: Neal Martin - Vocals, Guitar
Morgan Hushagen - Drums
Aaron Hushagen - Bass
Chris Swartz - Backing Vocals, Guitar
Brien Beebe - Trombone
Chad Fondren - Trumpet
Influences: The Beatles, Nirvana, 311, Rage Against The Machine, Sublime, The Specials, The Clash, Less Than Jake, so many it would be pointless to keep typing...
Sounds Like: Nothing Else
Record Label: Sliver Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Last Show...

For awhile... I know a lot of people are still confused about how we are still playing shows as we had a "last show" once before on Halloween a few years back.  Well we gave it a go: put out a ne...
Posted by Instant Winner on Wed, 28 May 2008 01:42:00 PST

KGRG In-Studio/ Benefit Show!

Instant Winner will be performing live on KGRG this Thursday Jan 24th at 7PM.  Find us on your radio dial in the Seattle/Tacoma area at 89.9FM or listen live online from anywhere in the world... ...
Posted by Instant Winner on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 11:12:00 PST

Weekly Volcano Column

Hey everyone - we were featured on this weeks "Band in a Box" column in Tacoma's Weekly Volcano newspaper. Check it out here: http://www.weeklyvolcano.com/2007-09-20/band-in-a-box/1103/. ..
Posted by Instant Winner on Thu, 20 Sep 2007 09:13:00 PST

NWBands.com Thirteen Times Review

The kind people at northwestbands.com have published some kind words about the new record... come see for yourself! http://www.northwestbands.com/reviews_instantwinner.php...
Posted by Instant Winner on Wed, 19 Sep 2007 07:30:00 PST

Dub Club/ Promotions

You can sign up for the Instant Winner Street Team at www.groups.myspace.com/dubclub We have a couple of big CD Release shows coming up... if you want to help flyer, click on the dub club group link a...
Posted by Instant Winner on Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:50:00 PST

New CD finished !

Well. after over 3 years - the trials of pre-production, recording, mixing and mastering our 4th official release have finally come to completion. Our newest cd "13 Times" is going to press ...
Posted by Instant Winner on Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:57:00 PST

Hear "In Words" - Live on 107.7 The End

If you missed the live in-studio performance by Instant Winner or you just want to hear it again - download "In Words" live from Studio B at 107.7 The End: Instant Winner "In Words"Real | Win ...
Posted by Instant Winner on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

Redefine Magazine Interview

REDEFINE MAGAZINE October 2004 Issue Redefine interviews Instant Winner: http://www.redefinemag.com/09-102004/instantwinner.html...
Posted by Instant Winner on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST