Straight Faced
Encyclopedia
Straight Faced was a punk rock
band from Huntington Beach, California
.
at their second show. At this time, Stewart was asked to leave the band. He was replaced soon after by Damon Beard, who had been playing with Polentz and Louis in Adverse Reality. Straight Faced recorded their first full length, Guilty, and released it with Lethal Records, but due to the lack of a signed contract, quickly took the recording to Bob Becker to release on Fearless. They returned to the studio to record “Broken” in 1996 before setting off on their first European tour, a 7 week stint opening for their friends, Ignite
.
to release “Conditioned”, their third LP. Following this, rhythm guitarist Damon Beard left the group, and bassist Kevin Norton was replaced by Jeff Hibben. A fourth full-length, Pulling Teeth, was released on Epitaph in 2000 before the group disbanded some time after.
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band from Huntington Beach, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Origin
Straight Faced began as a Huntington Beach hardcore band named "Above All" in 1991. The founding members were Eric Glenn Stewart (1973–2007), Ron Moeller, Matthew Polentz, and Samuel Marrs. All members were friends who grew up together in Huntington Beach, California in the late 1980s. Stewart set them up in a warehouse in Santa Ana that his father used to run a construction business out of, and taught the other members how to play. With a handful of originals and cover songs, they played one backyard party. Shortly after the addition of Kevin Grossman as second guitar, Above All broke up due to a rift that split the band in two. At the request of Ron Moeller for his birthday, he and Grossman rented a rehearsal studio and recruited their new friend Johnny Miller to sing. The bass player for that night never showed up so they asked Jack C. Louis to fill in at the last minute. Within a few months, Eric Stewart joined the newly formed group. One week before their first show they brought Marrs in to replace Louis on bass.Early years
Grossman dubbed the reconstituted group Straight Faced. The group played its first shows in early 1993 and quickly released "Self Will Run Riot", a five song 7", after being approached by Bob Becker of Fearless RecordsFearless Records
Fearless Records is an alternative rock-oriented record label that has been signing artists since 1994. Fearless is based in Westminster, California and are best known for their early pop-punk moments captured in the Fearless Flush Sampler and Punk Bites releases, as well as additional releases by...
at their second show. At this time, Stewart was asked to leave the band. He was replaced soon after by Damon Beard, who had been playing with Polentz and Louis in Adverse Reality. Straight Faced recorded their first full length, Guilty, and released it with Lethal Records, but due to the lack of a signed contract, quickly took the recording to Bob Becker to release on Fearless. They returned to the studio to record “Broken” in 1996 before setting off on their first European tour, a 7 week stint opening for their friends, Ignite
Ignite
Ignite is a program for gifted and talented young people in South Australia, created in 1998 and formerly known as SHIP . It is administered by the South Australian Department of Education and Children's Services....
.
Epitaph Years
After Grossman and Marrs’ departure in 1997, the group enlisted Dave Tonic and Kevin Norton and signed with Epitaph RecordsEpitaph Records
Epitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record...
to release “Conditioned”, their third LP. Following this, rhythm guitarist Damon Beard left the group, and bassist Kevin Norton was replaced by Jeff Hibben. A fourth full-length, Pulling Teeth, was released on Epitaph in 2000 before the group disbanded some time after.
Members
- Johnny Miller - vocals
- Samuel Marrs - bass 1992-1998
- Kevin Norton - bass (to 1998)
- Kevin Grossman - Guitar (1992–1997)
- Jack Louis - bass (1992)
- Jeff Hibben - bass (1998–2000)
- Ron Moeller - drums
- David Tonic - guitar (1997)
- Damon Beard - guitar (to 1998)
Discography
- Self Will Run Riot 7" (Fearless RecordsFearless RecordsFearless Records is an alternative rock-oriented record label that has been signing artists since 1994. Fearless is based in Westminster, California and are best known for their early pop-punk moments captured in the Fearless Flush Sampler and Punk Bites releases, as well as additional releases by...
, 1992) - Guilty (Original release on Lethal Records, 1993)
- Guilty (Fearless RecordsFearless RecordsFearless Records is an alternative rock-oriented record label that has been signing artists since 1994. Fearless is based in Westminster, California and are best known for their early pop-punk moments captured in the Fearless Flush Sampler and Punk Bites releases, as well as additional releases by...
, 1993) - Broken (Fearless, 1996)
- Revolve 7" (Hostage Records, 1998)
- Conditioned (Epitaph RecordsEpitaph RecordsEpitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record...
, 1998) - Pulling Teeth (Epitaph, 2000)
External links
- Straight Faced at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Straightfaced at Epitaph RecordsEpitaph RecordsEpitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record...