About The Starting Line
The Starting Line is an American pop-punk band formed in Churchville, Pennsylvania in 1999. They are currently based in Philadelphia.
In 1999, the band that would become The Starting Line was initiated when guitarist Matt Watts, from his Connecticut dorm room, sent out emails to people from the AOL member directory who had similar bands in their profiles. He sent out many emails including one vocalist/bassist Kenny Vasoli. It asked if the 14-year-old Vasoli, who was at that time in a band called Smash Adams, was interested in "Jamming and shit", as the message title read. Kenny was the only person to respond to Matt's emails. Only a few weeks later, Vasoli found himself rehearsing with his future band-mates Watts, guitarist Mike Golla and drummer Tom Gryskewicz. According to Matt Watts, the guys "jammed and wrote a couple of songs".
From there, the band started to book shows. One of the shows was with the band Saves the Day. Saves the Day was putting out a record-release show for their second album Through Being Cool in Harrisburg, PA. Soon, the band started touring under the name Sunday Drive, selling out home-made merchandise and a self-recorded demo cassette titled Four Songs. Their first official release was a three-way split with The Jimmy Tuesday Band and The Commercials contributing three songs each, released on KickStart Audio in 2000. The three songs on the split from the band were 'West Girl Scout Road', 'Forever in a Day' and 'Nothing Short of a Miracle'.
Sunday Drive was soon approached by We the People Records and asked to produce a recording session . Set for a release in December 2000, the twelve songs were initially planned to become the band's debut full-length on We the People Records, but they ended up serving only as demos for tracks on future releases, as the band signed with Drive-Thru Records in April 2001. They later found out that the name Sunday Drive was already taken by a Christian rock band, so they changed their band name to the Starting Line. The band has said there is no significance behind the name, it was the only name they all could agree upon.
On Drive-Thru, they soon released their debut EP With Hopes of Starting Over... on July 17, 2001. The album contained an earlier version of the song 'Leaving', which was a fan-favorite from the We The People sessions, and would eventually become the band's second single on their debut full-length album Say It Like You Mean It.
On July 16, 2002, almost exactly one year after the release of their EP, the full-length Say It Like You Mean It followed. The songs ranged from energetic and fast-paced to melancholy and calm, dealing with performing on stage , vacation and getting even with Vasoli's ex-girlfriend . The single "The Best of Me" and its two music videos, as well as the second single "Leaving", received heavy radio and TV airplay, securing the Starting Line a spot on the Warped Tour. A clip of "Up & Go" was played during an episode of the short-lived television series from Fox, John Doe. The episode aired December 13, 2002, and was entitled 'The Mourner.' "Up & Go" was also included in the full-length trailer for the movie She's The Man, which starred Amanda Bynes. In 2003 the band appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, performing the song "The Best of Me".
Due to their desire to put out new material, the band decided to release an all-unplugged EP, recorded in three sessions over the following year. The first three songs , the second session and the last track became The Make Yourself at Home EP, released on November 25, 2003. The CD and the DVD version issued simultaneously, featuring an acoustic set performed live at Skate & Surf 2003 in Asbury Park, New Jersey, would be their last releases put out solely on Drive-Thru Records, as The Starting Line was signed by Geffen Records soon afterwards.
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