Driving East

“If it had been released by a major label, Driving East’s debut EP would have every shot at MTV-level stardom on the level of Yellowcard or Fall Out Boy,” says Stewart Mason of All Music Guide. Hailing from Fairfax, Virginia the members of Driving East bring an eclectic mix of influences and unyielding desire to their hard hitting style of punk pop.
Driving East is the newest signing to powerhouse indie label The Militia Group, which has launched the careers of bands such as Cartel, Copeland, and Acceptance. They bring with them a DIY play anywhere for anyone attitude and a work ethic to match. “We will truthfully play anywhere and everywhere. Literally, one night we were opening for Midtown and the next we were playing in front of 15 kids at a Chuck E. Cheese in the middle of nowhere. But every show and every crowd means just as much as the last. Whether it’s 15 or 1500 kids we love to play together and hopefully that comes across to the crowd,” drummer Jon Jester explains. Their hard work and attitude have started to pay off. In the year since their inception the boys have performed with national headliners such as Maroon 5, Sugarcult, Midtown, Fall Out Boy, The Early November, The Starting Line, Acceptance, Motion City Soundtrack, and many more earning fans and respect along the way.
After numerous line-up changes the band has grown into the unstoppable unit that steps on stage today. Jon Jester, the original drummer, moved to California to work with his friends in the South African band Just Jinger shortly after they signed with Capitol Records. The lure of playing drums and chasing his dream eventually brought him back to the east coast and back to Driving East. Along with him came Aaron Hubbard, with a masters degree in music and upright bass in hand (You don’t see that in many punk bands, do you?). The union of Jester, Hubbard, guitarist/vocalist Nate Taylor, guitarist Justin Horenstein, and lead vocalist Barrett Mullins make up Driving East today.
The band’s debut EP A Black Eye Or A Broken Heart was produced by Matt Squire (Panic At The Disco, The Receiving End Of Sirens, Junior Varsity) and garnered the band the east coast leg on last summer’s Warped Tour. “Many people try to write songs to get them on the radio but with Driving East what you’re hearing is what comes naturally to them,” says Squire. Driving East is back in support of their forthcoming Militia Group debut, recorded at Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta with producers Zach Odom and Kenneth Mount (Cartel’s “Chroma”).