Showbread (band)

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Showbread

Country Savannah, Georgia, USA
Years active 1997–present
Genres Raw Rock
Post-hardcore
Screamo
Labels Tooth and Nail Records
Members Josh Dies
Ivory Mobley
Matt Davis
Mike Jensen
Patrick Porter
John Giddens
Justin Oblinger

Showbread is a Christian Post-Hardcore/Alternative band from the Savannah, Georgia area. They are signed to Tooth and Nail Records.

Showbread is one of many modern post-hardcore bands that have infused screaming into many different styles of music. They are known for having several unique twists to their sound and their image. First, their two vocalists, Josh Dies and Ivory Mobley, trade off in dueling vocals which alternate between yelling, screaming, and singing. This effect has caused the band to occasionally be labeled as a "spazz rock" band. Second, they are one of the few post-hardcore bands that use a keytar. Third, they are known for wearing matching outfits when performing, usually in red and black but more recently green and black replacing red in support of their new album "Age of Reptiles," an aspect that causes many critics to label them as a fashioncore band. All members of the band are very energetic during their concerts. Fourth, in keeping with their campaign for uniqueness in the music scene, the band generally does not refer to their music as a particular genre; instead, they prefer the term "raw rock." In the words of lead guitarist Matt Davis, "No one ever knew what to say when people asked what style of music we were, so rather than come up with some hyphen filled moniker, we just started saying 'raw rock' and turned it into our campaign." With the release of the album "Age Of Reptiles", Showbread detoured drastically from the spastic, screeching style of their previous albums. Their shift to a more straightforward alternative rock sound did not delight avid fans of "No Sir..." while others hold "Age Of Reptiles" as their best work to date.

Showbread played at the Cornerstone Festival in summer 2004 and quickly gained a strong following. In fall 2004, they released their debut album for Tooth and Nail Records, titled No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical. No Sir was produced by Sylvia Massy, who has also worked with Prince, Tool, and Johnny Cash.

Showbread's newest album, Age of Reptiles, was released on August 1, 2006.

Contents

[edit] History

The band was formed in 1997 by Patrick Porter and Travis Riner in an effort to create a praise and worship group fit to play Sunday mornings at the southern Baptist church they attended. The original lineup of the band that was first called showbread was Josh and Patrick Porter, Casey Belagorska, Travis Riner, and Davy Minor.

It has been mentioned by the band that during this period they worked solely on covering contemporary Christian bands like Third Day, dc Talk, and Jars Of Clay. When the church they attended deemed this music evil and of the Devil, Showbread was left with only Patrick and Josh Porter, and Ivory Mobley to pick up the pieces. Deciding to pursue original music, the band adapted a pop-punk sound and recruited drummer Marvin Reilly and vocalist Eddie Ortiz, moving Josh Porter to guitar and Patrick Porter to bass. The band continued on in this direction for an extended period, playing local and regional shows and garnering the attention of musicians in other Georgia based Christian rock bands. It was through these meetings that Showbread hired in the help of Mike Jensen (guitar), Matt Davis (guitar), and John Giddens (synthesizer). Ortiz left the group in 2001 but does appear as vocalist on the independently produced and released record "The Dissonance of Discontent" and plays guitars on the "Goodbye Is Forever", he returned briefly to tour and run merch for the band in 2004.

With their new line-up, Showbread toured independent of management, booking agents or record labels for two years before signing to to Tooth and Nail and Solid State Records in 2004.

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[edit] Members

[edit] Former members

  • Marvin Reilly - drums (1998-2005)
  • Frank Lipari - drums (2005)
  • Eddie Ortiz- vocals and guitar
  • Chris Nunnaly - synthesizer
  • Emmett Belagorska - vocals
  • Travis Riner - guitar
  • Paul Carrington - pooping
  • Taylor Stratton - no bass drum drumming
  • Derek Tarver - being a butthole
  • Eric Ellison - ya'll got taters?
  • Trailer - abode

[edit] Strange Traits

Showbread is known for being notoriously unreliable in the press. Most interviews, regardless of purpose, vary from light hearted nonsense to outright absurdity. Seemingly only genuine when answering questions dealing with their faith, the band has made claims ranging from accusations against their label and the storing of weapons of mass destruction, and the unverified claim that certain members of their band are space aliens, and that they travel the country on mutant Manta rays. Showbread's lyrics are often introspective and inspire many different interpretations from different listeners, sometimes using unusal things to draw analogies to larger topics. For instance, the song "A Llama Eats A Giraffe (And Vice Versa)" uses the two animals as symbols to represent conflicting views between Nihilism and Christianity.

Also, the infamous uniforms that the band dons while performing have become noticably more unusual over time. Josh Dies, the band's singer/songwriter even dresses in outlandish get-ups that include elbow-length latex gloves, fish net stockings, cowboy boots, surgical masks and David Bowie/Mechanical Animals inspired make-up.

The banter that band engages in on-stage is usually outlandish and seemingly only funny to the band themselves or their most loyal fans. Very open with their Christianity, the group has even been known to point out that the only serious things they will say during their set are those that deal with their beliefs.

Showbread also give whimsical names to their headlining tours like "Kings Of Krunk" and "To'...Fo' Sho'" and even reportedly suggested that their 2006 tour with the band Roses Are Red be titled "Dookie Eaters Anonymous".

[edit] Discography

[edit] Trivia

  • The members of Showbread have created and maintained many slang words such as Raw (positive) and Shame (negative). Their catch-phrase "Raw Rock Kills" can be seen on the front head of their bass drum.
  • Showbread changed the colors of their concert uniforms from red and black (to coordinate with the color scheme of No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical) to green and black (to coordinate with Age of Reptiles).
  • Showbread uses metaphorical references to horror movies in their lyrics, as can be seen in the titles of some songs. For instance, "Welcome to Plainfield, Tobe Hooper" from No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical refers to American film director Tobe Hooper, famous for the film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The song "George Romero Will Be at Our Wedding" from Age of Reptiles is a reference to another American director, George Romero, famous for such films as Night of the Living Dead. In "Dead by Dawn" the entire song deals with the Evil Dead movies.
  • Literary references are another trait not uncommon to Showbread records. Songs like "The Bell Jar", "Samsa Meets Kafka", and "Naked Lunch" all untilyze anologies from well-known novels.
  • Almost all of the songwriting (lyrically and musically) on Showbread's records are credited to singer Josh Dies. The exceptions being the song "Diary Of A Failure" which appears on "Goodbye Is Forever" and features music written by Mike Jensen, and the song "Girls Torture Guys Cause They Can" which appears on "The Dissonance Of Discontent" and has lyrics and music written by Eddie Ortiz. On the same record, Ivory Mobley co-wrote the lyrics to a song called "Kaboom".
  • Members of Showbread are also involved in the Punk Rock band Knife To Meet You.
  • On the News section of their website last year, there was an entry describing a showdown at a P.O.D. concert. Being a long-time P.O.D. fan, Ivory rushed the stage during the song "Southtown" and started singing into bassist Traa's mic. The song went on as a security guard wrestled Ivory from the stage.
  • Vocalist Joshua Stephen Porter (aka Josh Dies) is publishing a novel entitled "The Spinal Cord Perception". It will debut anywhere between late 2006 to early 2007. You can find more about it at his website.

[edit] Controversy

Despite their open statements concerning their faith, Showbread has endured intense criticism from some Christians who feel certain aspects of their music to be offensive and repugnant in terms of Christian morality.

In 2006, a fan made video for the song “Dead By Dawn” featured on You Tube was seen by the band and posted on their own site. In turn, this video was misinterpreted by some as an actual Showbread music video which brought attention to the subject matter and lyrics of “Dead By Dawn”. Certain Christian groups retaliated on web forums calling the band “satanic” and insisting that “the only reason these degenerates should be allowed in a church is if it is to get them saved”.

The album featuring the song in question, No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical, was even briefly pulled from some Christian music retailers in the wake of the backlash. However, upon further investigation of the accusations and those that made them, the album was restocked and the controversy dismissed.

After a period of silence, on September 7th, 2006 the band reposted (after their website crashed) a Statement on their site discussing the debate between Christian morality and secular media in defence of their music and the beliefs they stand for. From the Statement, Josh Porter concluded with:

“Showbread is a Christian band. As I tell you from the stage in dark musty concert venues each night, dressed in silly outfits, covered in sweat and in a tired voice. This means that we as a band believe in Jesus Christ, we believe the Bible to be the living word of God, we believe in love.”

[edit] External links

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