Letlive

letlive.

letlive. performing at 2014's Summerblast Festival in Trier, Germany
Background information
Origin Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres
Years active 2002 (2002)–present
Labels At One (2004–2009)
Tragic Hero (2009–2010)
Epitaph (2011–present)
Associated acts The Ghost Inside, Pierce the Veil, Of Mice & Men, Of Machines
Members
Past members See members section
Lead vocalist Jason Butler performing at 2014's Summerblast Festival

Letlive, stylized letlive.,[1] is an American post-hardcore band from Los Angeles, California. The band consists of lead vocalist Jason Aalon Alexander Butler (son of Aalon Butler, vocalist and guitarist of the soul group Aalon), guitarist Jeff Sahyoun, bassist Ryan Jay Johnson and drummer Loniel Robinson. Butler is the band's only remaining founding member.[2] The band has released four full-length albums and one EP, with their latest album If I'm the Devil being released on June 10, 2016. The band is currently signed to Epitaph Records.

letlive. released their first EP Exhaustion, Salt Water, and Everything In Between in 2003 and their first LP Speak Like You Talk in 2005. Their second album, Fake History was released in 2010. Upon its re-release on Epitaph in 2011, the album received critical praise and was also added to Rock Sound's 101 Modern Classics.[3] Their third album, entitled The Blackest Beautiful was released on July 9, 2013 and on June 17 was streamed on Epitaph Records' YouTube channel.[4]

They have toured with bands such as A Day to Remember, Architects, Enter Shikari, Underoath, Every Time I Die, Your Demise, Deftones, Bring Me the Horizon, Rise Against and Pierce The Veil.

Biography

letlive. formed in Los Angeles in 2002.[2] In 2003, their debut EP Exhaustion, Saltwater, and Everything in Between was released on At One Records. After a line-up change (with vocalist Jason Aalon Alexander Butler, then-bassist Christian Johanson and then-guitarist Ben Sharp remaining), their first album Speak Like You Talk was released in 2005, also on At One Records. The group gained momentum and after more personnel changes, signed with Tragic Hero Records in 2009.

letlive. toured extensively throughout the US and Canada and recorded their second album titled Fake History in 2009. The band continued touring and after signing with Epitaph Records in February 2011, undertook a brief European tour.[5] They were signed to Epitaph after Bring Me the Horizon frontman Oliver Sykes contacted label owner Brett Gurewitz after watching them perform at a single gig in 2008.[1]

Epitaph re-released Fake History in April 2011 with three additional tracks, including two B-sides and one new song produced by Brett Gurewitz.[6] The re-release has been the subject of several favorable reviews from AllMusic,[7] Alternative Press,[8] the BBC[9] and Rock Sound.[10] Starting in June 2011, the band undertook more extensive touring,[6] including appearances at Download Festival and Leeds Festival, supporting Enter Shikari and Your Demise on their mainland European tour, and, in the United States, supporting Underoath and August Burns Red.[11] In February 2012, letlive. toured again with Enter Shikari and Your Demise for their first time around Australia as a part of the 2012 Soundwave Festival.[12] Butler also featured on track Tangled In The Great Escape from Pierce The Veil's album Collide with the Sky.

In October 2012, the band announced they had parted ways with drummer Anthony Rivera.

In an interview with the band in late February 2013, Butler confirmed they would release a new album in early summer 2013. On April 23, the track list for the Warped Tour 2013 compilation album was released, including a new song titled "Banshee (Ghost Fame)". In late May 2013, Amazon listed on their website a new letlive. album titled The Blackest Beautiful to be released on July 9, 2013, which was confirmed on May 25 by Absolutepunk with a full track listing.

On June 4, the single "Banshee (Ghost Fame)" was released. On June 17, the full album was streamed on the Rock Sound website, three weeks before the scheduled release.[4]

The Blackest Beautiful was released on July 9, 2013 to positive critical reception. Also in an interview from Fuse released on July 16, it was confirmed that Loniel Robinson, their touring drummer, as well as drum tech for Of Mice & Men, would become a permanent member.[13] The album debuted in the United States at number 74 on the Billboard 200 and number six on Hard Rock Albums,[14] selling nearly five thousand copies.[15][16] In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 62.[17]

At Warped Tour, Butler was seen performing with bands The Chariot and Architects.

A music video for the song "Younger" was released on September 26, 2013. On January 23, letlive. revealed that they would be releasing "Renditions" of songs on The Blackest Beautiful featuring various artists on remade versions of the songs. The first "rendition" released was a new version of "27 Club" featuring Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die. On April 23, their second "rendition" released was a new version of "The Dope Beat" featuring Dan "Soupy" Campbell of The Wonder Years.

On February 10, 2015, Jean Nascimento left the band for unknown reasons. However the band is recording for their upcoming album. Since February 2015 Kenji Chan, former live guitarist for Bruno Mars and former member of Ryan and Jeff's previous band, Best Interest, has acted as the band's touring guitarist.

On September 25, 2015, the band posted a tweet confirming that they had completed their fourth album and that it would be released in 2016. On the same day, they also confirmed that further additions to their 'Renditions' project/album would be put on hold for now to focus on new music.[18]

On November 3, 2015, in an Revolver magazine online article, letlive. disclosed their fourth studio album will be entitled If I’m the Devil….

Musical style

letlive.'s musical style has been described as post-hardcore[2][7][9][13][19] as well as experimental rock,[20] art punk[21] and metalcore.[22] In a 2011 interview with Rock Sound, frontman Jason Butler stated that they "want to show people American punk rock soul is very much well and alive".[5] Typical aspects of the band's music include Butler's emotive vocal delivery, duelling guitars and introspective lyrics that cover topics such as infidelity, culture, greed and corruption.

Members

Current

  • Jason Butler – lead vocals (2002–present)
  • Ryan Jay Johnson – bass, vocals (2005–present)
  • Jeff Sahyoun – guitars, vocals, keyboards (2009–present)
  • Loniel Robinson – drums, percussion (2013–present)[13]

Current touring musicians

  • Mishka Bier – lead guitar (2016–present)

Former

  • Keeyan Majdi – rhythm guitar (2002–2003)
  • Alex Haythorn – drums, percussion (2002–2004)
  • Christian Johansen – bass (2002–2005)
  • Ben Sharp – lead guitar (2002–2007)
  • Craig Sanchez – rhythm guitar (2003–2005)
  • Adam Castle – drums, percussion (2004–2007)
  • Omid Majdi – rhythm guitar (2005–2007)
  • Brenden Russel – lead guitar (2007–2009)
  • Anthony Rivera – drums, percussion (2007–2012)
  • Jean Nascimento – guitars, percussion, keyboards (2007–2014)

Former touring musicians

  • Aric Improta (of Night Verses) – drums, percussion (2012–2013)
  • Kenji Chan – lead guitar (2015)
  • Nick DePirro (of Night Verses) – lead guitar (2015-2016)

Former studio musicians

  • Christopher Crandall – drums, percussion (2012–2013)

Timeline

Discography

Letlive discography
Studio albums 4
Music videos 7
EPs 1

Studio albums

EPs

Tours

Supporting

References

  1. 1 2 Christopher McLallen (April 2011). Joe Barnes, ed. "Letlive. lound as shit and with some pretty big deal friends, meet the band you'll tell people you saw when they were small". Front. No. 155. London: The Kane Corporation. pp. 32–33. ISSN 1464-4053. OCLC 226099638.
  2. 1 2 3 Heaney, Gregory. "Letlive - Music Biography, Credits and Discography : AllMusic". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Rock Sound's 101 Modern Classics: 74 - 50". Rock Sound. Freeway Press. June 27, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2012. Few albums encapsulate the idea of a modern classic quite as perfectly as this one. The essence of hardcore distilled by five LA lifers, ‘Fake History’ is at once a howl of vulnerability and a fuck-you-you-will-never-break-me clarion call of utter defiance. Truly, genuinely thrilling.
  4. 1 2 letlive. Hit The Cover Of Rock Sound Magazine, Out Wednesday June 19th! | News | Rock Sound. Rocksound.tv. Retrieved on 2013-08-06.
  5. 1 2 Patashnik, Ben (February 25, 2011). "Letlive Q+A: 'I want people to have a human experience'". Rock Sound. Freeway Press. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  6. 1 2 "letlive. – Artist Info". Epitaph Records. 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  7. 1 2 Heaney, Gregory (2011). "Fake History – Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  8. ↑ Pearlman, Mischa (2011). "Reviews – Fake History". Alternative Press. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  9. 1 2 Pearlman, Mischa (April 6, 2011). "Letlive Fake History Review". BBC Music. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  10. ↑ Newbound (April 11, 2011). "letlive. – Fake History Album review". Rock Sound. Freeway Press. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  11. ↑ "A Bazillion New Download Bands". Rock Sound. April 8, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Soundwave 2012 lineup". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. January 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  13. 1 2 3 Melody in the Chaos: Letlive.'s Jason Butler on His Troubled Youth and 'The Blackest Beautiful' - Fuse. Fuse.tv (2013-06-20). Retrieved on 2013-08-06.
  14. ↑ "The Blackest Beautiful - Letlive | Awards | Allmusic". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  15. ↑ Brown, Matt (July 17, 2013). "Metal By Numbers 7/17: Like Festivals To Flames". Metal Insider. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  16. ↑ Joe DeAndrea (July 17, 2013). "Album Sales Round-Up: Week of July 17th, 2013". Absolute Punk. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  17. ↑ "LETLIVE | Artist | Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  18. ↑ "NEWS: letlive. finish work on fourth studio album!". DEAD PRESS!. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  19. 1 2 "Rise Against Announce Summer 2015 Tour With Killswitch Engage + Letlive". April 6, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Review: letlive. – The Blackest Beautiful". Legends Arising. August 29, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2016. ...their mish mash of Post-Hardcore, Experimental Rock and a variety of other genres...
  21. ↑ Gonda, Christopher (April 26, 2016). "LETLIVE. Share Summer 2016 U.S. Headlining Tour with Performances by SEAHAVEN and SILVER SNAKES". PureGrainAudio. Retrieved October 5, 2016. oday, the Los Angeles art-punk band has shared details on their headlining tour...
  22. ↑ Crane, Matt (February 27, 2014). "The 15 best screamers in modern metalcore". Alternative Press. Retrieved April 7, 2016. Here we acknowledge the best screamers in the metalcore genre today.
  23. ↑ "Rise Against 2015 North American Summer Tour Schedule With Killswitch Engage & Letlive". April 7, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Rise Against Announce North American Summer Headline Tour". Retrieved April 8, 2015.

External links

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