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Laden Swallow

About Me

Humboldt County based alt-rock band Laden Swallow formed in the waning days of 2004 when singer/guitarist Mark Staley and original drummer Eduardo Donoso stumbled onto bassist Justin Vanegas and decided to start an alt-rock band. The trio added a fourth member in guitarist Josh Leong after a few months and began to establish themselves in the secluded community of Humboldt County. Donoso would soon leave for Southern California, however and was replaced with the more metal-minded Chad Helmonds. With Helmonds behind the kit, Laden Swallow started laying down tracks for what would become their debut album Awaken in November of 2006. The album was finished and released in May of 2007 to overwhelmingly positive reviews just in time for Chad to move to Minnesota to attend recording school. He was replaced by Conor Bent just in time for Laden Swallow to win the 2007 Power 96.3 Battle of the Bands Tournament in front of over 200 people in Eureka. With a newly solidified line-up, a strong debut album and an always entertaining and energetic live show, Laden Swallow is looking to bring their unique brand of alternative rock beyond the scenic and secluded confines of Humboldt County.
Press about Laden Swallow:
"Like any first effort by an indie band -- they proudly handled every aspect of production, from recording to artwork -- it's rough around the edges, but the strength of Laden Swallow's songs, mostly written by guitarist and singer Mark Staley carries the record.
Laden Swallow is nothing if not versatile, and they made it work; the first four tracks on “Awaken” are thick slabs of pop-punk verging on chugging metal, without relying on the hackneyed clichés of either genre. It isn't until the song "Until Then", that a more perfect synthesis emerges: Staley's strong vocal presence has a little room to breathe, guitarist Josh Leong's soaring riffs act as a counterpoint, backing vocals kick in; the result is heavenly."
-Joel Hartse for the Eureka Times-Standard
" 'This love is a drug... you'll be my heroine,' cried Mark Staley on Laden Swallow's debut album Awaken. Comparing love to a drug and using a play on the words - heroine and the drug heroin - Staley builds an anthem for the broken- hearted.
Fueled by members of the Humboldt State football team chanting, "You'll be my Heroine," this song has a power and a drive like, well, a football team. Members of the Humboldt State girls-volleyball team sing/chant back up on this song to give it an ethereal, unearthly feel. With Chad Helmonds' loud hard drumming, Josh Leong's backbone lead guitar and Justin Vanegas' dependable interesting bass playing, Heroine is the landmark song on Laden Swallow's debut album.
Some of the best songs on Awaken are ones Staley just wrote for the sake of music. Track number six is a song called Blast Off, a simple acoustic piece about love lost and Staley counts from 1 to 10 and then back down again.
Between the intense screaming and hard loud rock songs like Misdirection to the acoustic quiet love songs this album shows off the musicians' versatility."
-Melody Stone for the Jack Online
Buy Awaken online at CD Baby and iTunes

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 08/09/2005
Band Members: Check out our pages:

Mark - Guitar/Vocals

Justin - Bass/Vocals

Josh - Guitar

Conor - Drums

Booking: [email protected]
Influences: Our Lady Peace, Switchfoot, Green Day, PFR, Third Eye Blind, The Who, Gin Blossoms, Normal Like You, Rush
Sounds Like: Dear Monica

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Suburban Nights
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Zombie (Cranberries cover Live at the Power 96.3 Battle of the Bands

Until Then (Live at Mosgo's 2/10/07)

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Type of Label: Major

My Blog

Our Farewell Show on May 9th

There's a bit of confusion about how we're seemingly playing our third "farwell" show. Here's the deal. The whole decision to call it a band came about really quickly and in really close proximity to ...
Posted by on Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:18:00 GMT

We’re calling it a band.

After almost three years, countless shows, one album and a few line-up changes, I am beyond sorry to report that Laden Swallow will be breaking up following the shows we're currently booked to play. I...
Posted by on Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:14:00 GMT

Lyrics for 'Awaken'

For those of you who wanted to know what Mark and Justin are singing on 'Awaken'...STAR CROSSED   A lonely state of mind   it's with me all the time   time stands still at best   a form of house arres...
Posted by on Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:30:00 GMT

Laden Swallow in the Times Standard

Come 'Awaken' to Laden Swallow - Joel Hartse / For the Times-StandardIt's both the end and the beginning for Laden Swallow.The end because finally after months of work in the studio (or, rather, the g...
Posted by on Thu, 17 May 2007 16:40:00 GMT

It's an album. Final studio blog.

It's finally DONE!!! After months of work, I am stoked to announce that we are DONE with production on our debut album Awaken. It's admittedly been a longer process than I think any of us thought it w...
Posted by on Mon, 30 Apr 2007 04:08:00 GMT

Second-to-last studio blog (INCLUDING TRACK LISTING)

I'm quite stoked to report that we're done with principal recording for "Awaken" as of Saturday night. Even unmixed, we're really proud of what we've done so far. All we have left to do is record a co...
Posted by on Mon, 02 Apr 2007 10:28:00 GMT

If you were wondering what's been taking us so long.... Quotes from recording yesterday.

"We're gonna record until Mark's voice gives out." - Chad"So should I go home and get my own liquor?" - Josh"And I, being more pessemistic, thought it was 'when'." - Josh in reference to the typo in o...
Posted by on Sun, 25 Mar 2007 16:40:00 GMT

Those little moments that make things awesome. (Recording Update)

It's been a crazy few weeks in the world of Laden Swallow. The album is slowly but surely coming together. We listened to the non-mixed recordings of three of the songs (sans vocals) last night and th...
Posted by on Wed, 07 Mar 2007 13:25:00 GMT

Help save a really cool all ages venue.

Info on Out of the SunPosted by the Pro Super Heroes:Out of the Sun has had it's music permit revoked by Fortuna's city manager! To help the people fight for what is right, please e-mail Fortuna's cit...
Posted by on Thu, 22 Feb 2007 10:26:00 GMT

First Studio Update in hella days

Ok. I know I meant to do this more often, but whatever. I've got some free time now so I figured I'd give everyone an update on the status of the recording of the album.The recording is coming togethe...
Posted by on Mon, 19 Feb 2007 12:22:00 GMT