Your Enemies Friends
Encyclopedia
Your Enemies Friends is a post-hardcore rock band that formed in late 2001 in Los Angeles, California
.
They have shared the stage with bands such as ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
, Blonde Redhead
, The Icarus Line
, TV on the Radio
, The Promise Ring
, and The Mars Volta
.
After enlisting the help of producer Alex Newport
, Your Enemies Friends immediately began recording The Wiretap EP. Picked up by Buddyhead Records a month later, The Wiretap EP was re-released to much acclaim in underground circles.
“The Wiretap is one of the most stellar and impressive debuts our ears have ever experienced” – Kerrang! Magazine.
In the Spring of 2002, Your Enemies Friends began the touring schedule that would keep them out for the next 19 months.
Your Enemies Friends started out by sharing the stage with the likes of Jimmy Eat World
, Blonde Redhead, The Promise Ring, the Mars Volta, The Icarus Line, and Hella
. Followed up by extensive tours throughout the United States, Canada and Europe with the Donnas
, Pretty Girls Make Graves
, and Superdrag
.
“The Wiretap EP was basically a demo tape that got out of hand and kept us out on tour for a year and a half. And after touring that long off songs I wrote the first month of being in this band, we decided we were ready to make a record.” – Ronnie Washburn.
Recorded in the summer of 2003 with the aid of Cameron Webb (Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Danzig) and Curtis Mathewson (Motörhead, Train), Your Enemies Friends’ self-produced full-length, You Are Being Videotaped
was released in March 2004. The much anticipated disc saw the bands paranoid urgency and schizophrenic dynamics further highlighted by adding string arrangements and electronic elements.
2004 started out with a full US and Canadian tour with The Dillinger Escape Plan
and The Locust
, followed by a US tour with Midtown
and Armor for Sleep
. A Scandinavian tour including the Øya Festival in Oslo, Norway and a headlining US tour with Read Yellow.
Your Enemies Friends was named the House of Blues/Sirius’ Emerging Artist of the month, nominated by the Diesel:U:Music Radio Awards as Best New Artist, and Your Enemies Friends have been on the CMJ Top 200 charts for eight weeks.
As of 2011, Your Enemies Friends are no longer touring or recording. Washburn and Goodridge play in Seaspin, and have released one EP entitled Reverser.
groups. Among them Quicksand
, Unwound
and many others.
The band was largely influenced by Nirvana
, the Pixies, Fugazi and Shellac
.
they asked fans to bring dill pickles for them to their shows.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
They have shared the stage with bands such as ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead is an American alternative rock band from Austin, Texas. The chief creative members of the band are Jason Reece and Conrad Keely . The two switch between drumming, guitar and lead vocals, both on recordings and live shows...
, Blonde Redhead
Blonde Redhead
Blonde Redhead is an American alternative rock band composed of vocalist/rhythm guitarist Kazu Makino and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace , which formed in New York City in 1993....
, The Icarus Line
The Icarus Line
The Icarus Line is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California.The Icarus Line was formed out of the ashes of high school punk group Kanker Sores...
, TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio is an American art rock band formed in 2001 in Brooklyn, New York, whose music spans numerous diverse genres, from post-punk to electro and free jazz to soul music....
, The Promise Ring
The Promise Ring
The Promise Ring is an American emo band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In their early years, their music was usually classified as emo, but their later albums could be described more accurately as indie pop. They split up in 2002 and temporarily reunited in 2005...
, and The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
.
After enlisting the help of producer Alex Newport
Alex Newport
Alex Newport is a Grammy-nominated record producer, mixer and engineer, based in New York City.Newport was born in Wolverhampton, UK, in 1970 and grew up in the Midlands area....
, Your Enemies Friends immediately began recording The Wiretap EP. Picked up by Buddyhead Records a month later, The Wiretap EP was re-released to much acclaim in underground circles.
“The Wiretap is one of the most stellar and impressive debuts our ears have ever experienced” – Kerrang! Magazine.
In the Spring of 2002, Your Enemies Friends began the touring schedule that would keep them out for the next 19 months.
Your Enemies Friends started out by sharing the stage with the likes of Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World is an American alternative rock band from Mesa, Arizona, that formed in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jim Adkins, guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch and drummer Zach Lind....
, Blonde Redhead, The Promise Ring, the Mars Volta, The Icarus Line, and Hella
Hella (band)
Hella is an American band from Sacramento, California. They play a technical blend of math rock, noise rock, and experimental rock. The primary members of the band are Spencer Seim on electric guitar and Zach Hill on drums...
. Followed up by extensive tours throughout the United States, Canada and Europe with the Donnas
The Donnas
The Donnas are an American all-female rock band from Palo Alto, California. They draw inspiration from The Ramones, The Runaways, AC/DC, Bachman–Turner Overdrive and Kiss. Rolling Stone has stated that "the Donnas offer a guileless take on adolescent alienation; they traffic in kicks, not...
, Pretty Girls Make Graves
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Pretty Girls Make Graves was an art punk band, formed in Seattle in 2001, named after The Smiths song of the same name...
, and Superdrag
Superdrag
Superdrag is an alternative rock band from Knoxville, Tennessee. The band had a hit with its 1996 single "Sucked Out" off their album Regretfully Yours, for which a video clip was broadcast regularly on MTV...
.
“The Wiretap EP was basically a demo tape that got out of hand and kept us out on tour for a year and a half. And after touring that long off songs I wrote the first month of being in this band, we decided we were ready to make a record.” – Ronnie Washburn.
Recorded in the summer of 2003 with the aid of Cameron Webb (Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Danzig) and Curtis Mathewson (Motörhead, Train), Your Enemies Friends’ self-produced full-length, You Are Being Videotaped
You Are Being Videotaped
You Are Being Videotaped is the first full-length release by Your Enemies Friends. It was released March 9, 2004 on Buddyhead Records. The song "Back of a Taxi" was sampled by hip hop act Grayskul on their song "Haunted" featured in their 2008 release Bloody Radio-Track listing:# "The One...
was released in March 2004. The much anticipated disc saw the bands paranoid urgency and schizophrenic dynamics further highlighted by adding string arrangements and electronic elements.
2004 started out with a full US and Canadian tour with The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American mathcore band from Morris Plains, New Jersey. The group originated in 1997 after the disbanding of Arcane, a hardcore punk trio consisting of Ben Weinman, Dimitri Minakakis, and Chris Pennie. The band's current line-up consists of guitarist Ben Weinman,...
and The Locust
The Locust
The Locust is a musical group from San Diego, California, United States known for their unique mix of grindcore speed and aggression, mathcore complexity, and new wave weirdness.- Style :...
, followed by a US tour with Midtown
Midtown (band)
Midtown was an American pop punk band from Springfield, New Jersey. Midtown was formed in November 1998 by three Rutgers University students, but soon became a quartet. The band took advantage of the fertile New Jersey punk scene to develop a sound that combined elements of pop punk and punk rock...
and Armor for Sleep
Armor for Sleep
Armor for Sleep was an American rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001 and disbanded in 2009. The final lineup consisted of lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Ben Jorgensen, lead guitarist PJ DeCicco, bassist Anthony DiIonno and drummer Nash Breen....
. A Scandinavian tour including the Øya Festival in Oslo, Norway and a headlining US tour with Read Yellow.
Your Enemies Friends was named the House of Blues/Sirius’ Emerging Artist of the month, nominated by the Diesel:U:Music Radio Awards as Best New Artist, and Your Enemies Friends have been on the CMJ Top 200 charts for eight weeks.
As of 2011, Your Enemies Friends are no longer touring or recording. Washburn and Goodridge play in Seaspin, and have released one EP entitled Reverser.
Comparisons
The band has over the years been compared to a number of other similar rockRock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
groups. Among them Quicksand
Quicksand (band)
Quicksand was an American post-hardcore band from New York City founded in 1990 by singer/songwriter Walter Schreifels. Their debut self-titled EP was followed by two major label albums, Slip and Manic Compression...
, Unwound
Unwound
Unwound was a United States post-hardcore band based in Tumwater/Olympia, Washington. Formed in 1991, the band consisted of Justin Trosper , Vern Rumsey , and Brandt Sandeno , all of whom had previously been in a band called Giant Henry. Brandt Sandeno quit Unwound in 1992 and was replaced by...
and many others.
The band was largely influenced by Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, the Pixies, Fugazi and Shellac
Shellac
Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes , which are dissolved in ethyl alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish...
.
Trivia
When they recorded their first complete You Are Being VideotapedYou Are Being Videotaped
You Are Being Videotaped is the first full-length release by Your Enemies Friends. It was released March 9, 2004 on Buddyhead Records. The song "Back of a Taxi" was sampled by hip hop act Grayskul on their song "Haunted" featured in their 2008 release Bloody Radio-Track listing:# "The One...
they asked fans to bring dill pickles for them to their shows.
Band members
- Ronnie Washburn - vocals/guitar(2001- )
- Jennifer GoodridgeJennifer GoodridgeJennifer Goodridge is the former keyboardist of Your Enemies Friends. She is a current member of Seaspin where she is a songwriter and provides lead vocals and rhythm guitar. She provided background vocals on Blaqk Audio's album CexCells, on the song "Again, Again, and Again".-References:...
- keyboards/vocals (2004- ) - Luis-Carlos Contreras - drums (2001- )
- Dana James - bass / vocals (2001–2004)
- Allen Watke - guitar (2001- )
- Aska Matsumiya - keyboards (2001–2004), who also composed Paper Flower (film)Paper Flower (film)Paper Flower is a short narrative film by Toy Gun Films that premiered internationally in Tokyo in February 2011. Following Paper Flower’s international premiere, the short film premiered domestically in the U.S. at the Beverly Hills Film Festival on April 8, 2011...
- John Watson- bass (2001- )