Anberlin Biography

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Biography Anberlin

Anberlin is an American alternative rock band from Winter Haven, Florida that formed in 2002. The band consists of Stephen Christian (lead vocals), Deon Rexroat (bass guitar), Joseph Milligan (guitar), Nathan Young (drums), and Christian McAlhaney (guitar). Through constant touring and promotion via the internet, Anberlin has received much attention and press along with a large fan base. The band has released four albums and an EP in their six-year run and have sold over 350,000 albums.

History

SaGoh 24/7

Lead singer Stephen Christian met bassist Deon Rexroat while they were both in middle school. Being avid musicians, the two formed a Christian punk band called SaGoh (Servants after Gods own heart) 24/7. Eventually, Sean Hutson, a drummer, and Joseph Milligan, a guitarist and fellow student, completed the lineup. The band released two albums, Servants After God's Own Heart (1999), and Then I Corrupt Youth (2001), both under Rescue Records.Perez, Omar. Change the World. Orlando Weekly, July 24 2003. Accessed July 19, 2007. Selling a measely 1,300 units, the group began to deteriorate. Hutson, seeking to start a family, left the band, and Nathan Young, a drummer from another touring band, was to fill in temporarily, but ultimately became a permanent member. Christian and Milligan, in the midst of the downfall of the band, began working on an acoustic side project, which transmutated into Anberlin after Milligan suggested pursuing more of a rock sound. Some SaGoh 24/7 songs would later become Anberlin songs, reworked to fit the band's new alternative rock style.

Formation and Blueprints For the Black Market

The bandmates officially created Anberlin in 2002, after being approached by Tooth & Nail Records. Barely a year after their formation, their first album as a new band was entitled Blueprints for the Black Market (2003), and was produced by Aaron Sprinkle. It failed to chart, but spurred on by the single "Readyfuels", the album proved to be sufficiently successful, selling over 60,000 units. Through steady touring with other bands in their label and heavy internet promotion, Anberlin was amassing a dedicated fan base early on.

Rhythm guitarist Joey Bruce eventually was ejected from the band. According to Christian, he was all about "sex and drugs", and was going in a different direction than the rest of the band. After several failed replacements, Nathan Strayer from The Mosaic took over rhythm guitar duties. Bruce is now the singer/guitarist for the band Mouse Fire.

Never Take Friendship Personal

Anberlin released their follow up to Blueprints, Never Take Friendship Personal, in early 2005, again produced by Aaron Sprinkle. Charting at the #144 position on the Billboard 200, the album brought the band a step closer into the mainstream. NTFP was generally more well received by critics than Blueprints, and garnered favorable reviews. Prior to its release, the band promoted the album by releasing a track per week on their PureVolume and MySpace website accounts, as well as on their own website. Two singles were released from the album: "A Day Late" and "Paperthin Hymn". Both were reasonably successful on alternative rock radio, with the latter peaking at the #38 position on the Modern Rock chart.

Anberlin participated in a number of compilations during this time, recording covers of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence," and the song "Christmas ."

Cities and Lost Songs

at the 2007 Warped Tour]]Anberlin's third album produced by Aaron Sprinkle was released in early 2007 under the title Cities. It sold 34,000 copies in its first week of release, debuted at #19 on the Billboard 200 chart, and, like their previous album, received fairly positive reviews from critics. Prior to the release of Cities, the band released Godspeed EP exclusively on iTunes in late 2006 to give a preview to the new album. In support of the album, Anberlin held their first headlining tour, supported by Bayside, Meg & Dia and Jonezetta.

In an interview about the album, Christian commented that the lyrics throughout the band's discography are progressively becoming more mature. "The first CD (Blueprints for the Black Market) was childish in the manner that it was Man vs. World in the lyrics. The second (Never Take Friendship Personal) was Man Vs. Man. Cities is more adult in the manner that it's Man vs. Self."

One day before the release of Cities, it was announced that guitarist Nathan Strayer amicably left the band to go back to The Mosaic and that Christian McAlhaney, formerly of the band Acceptance, would take over as the new guitarist.Kohli, Rohan.

The band signed to Universal Republic Records on August 16, 2007 and are planning on releasing a new studio album sometime in mid-2008. In the meantime, a compilation album of unreleased material, called Lost Songs, was released on November 20, 2007.

Stephen Christian is also working on some solo music under the name of Anchor & Braille with Aaron Marsh of Copeland. They have released a 7-inch vinyl thus far, and have recently announced a full-length album in the works, slated for an early 2008 release.

Source of name

Various interviews credit vocalist Stephen Christian with providing conflicting origins of the band's name:

Christian had long planned to name his first daughter Anberlin. Struggling to find a name for the band, Stephen suggested it. "We were all sitting around trying to come up with a name. None of us were married or had kids, but one day I was going to name my daughter Anberlin, so I figured we could name the band that until we thought of something better. So we chose Anberlin and no one has thought of anything better."Bryson, Scott. He no longer plans to use Anberlin to name his first daughter, however: "If I ever have a daughter and name her Anberlin, she'll think she was named after the band instead of the other way around."Stavrinos, Nicole.
Christian stated in another interview that the band's name was created when he was thinking about cities in Europe he wanted to visit. In his mind he listed "London, Paris, Rome, and Berlin." Stephen thought that "And Berlin" would be a cool name for a band and so when the band was looking for a name Stephen suggested "And Berlin," which was then modified to "Anberlin."
Christian stated in yet another interview when asked about the origin of the band's name: "There are several stories that have circulated on the internet, but the actual story is when I was in college my favorite band was Radiohead; on one of their songs off the record Kid A there is a background noise on the song 'Everything in Its Right Place' (about 2 minutes 31 seconds into the song). While Thom is singing try to say I always thought the background noise sounded like Anberlin, I always thought that Anberlin would have been a great band name and well ... it was/is."

Involvement in Christian music

Over the years, many fans and members of the media have consistently characterized Anberlin as a Christian band. However, Stephen Christian denies these claims, stating in an interview, "I think we're categorized like that a lot because we're on Tooth & Nail Records, which, years ago, was known as a Christian label and never lost that reputation. I don't care who listens to our records. If it helps people in whatever circumstances they're in, that's amazing, but I definitely don't classify us as a Christian band." Elsewhere, Christian has remarked, " faith affects every single aspect of my life, but I'm not a preacher, I'm an entertainer."

Despite these statements and others of the like, multiple sources list the band as part of the Christian rock genre, and some songs' lyrics containing religious references further these inaccuracies. Furthermore, their songs have been included on Christian rock compilation CDs and DVDs.

Christian has also said in an interview with Lightforce radio how the band tries to "step out of the bubble" and referred to themselves as being part of Christian music. He discussed in detail about what Christians should do in their lives: love and embrace others as Jesus would as well as show God's grace to others. He mentioned as well how the band Fall Out Boy said in an interview that they did not really know much about Jesus until Anberlin toured with them.

Members

Current members

, Cleveland, OH, April 2007]]

Stephen Christian - lead vocals (2002-present)
Deon Rexroat - bass (2002-present)
Joseph Milligan - guitar, backing vocals (2002-present)
Nathan Young - drums (2002-present)
Christian McAlhaney (formerly of Acceptance) - guitar, backing vocals (2007-present)