Flee the Seen

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Flee The Seen
Flee The Seen (L to R): Anderson, Brooks, Sanchez, Crawford
Origin	Kansas City, Missouri
Country	United States
Years active	2003 – Present
Genres	Rock Punk
Labels	Facedown Records
Members	Kim Anderson R.L. Brooks Manuel Sanchez Aaron Crawford Lucas Dills

Flee The Seen is a Rock band based out of Kansas City, Missouri and is currently signed to Facedown Records. Contrary to both the general acts on the record label to which they are signed, and somewhat popular belief, Flee The Seen is neither a Christian or Straight Edge band. The group is currently comprised of Kim Anderson (Vocals), R.L. Brooks (Vocals/Guitar), Manuel Sanchez (Guitar), Aaron Crawford (Drums), and Lucas Dills (Bass). Anderson also played bass from 2003-07, including on their debut album. Dills was recruited about a year after the release. Together, Anderson and Brooks share lead vocal duties (usually singing lead on the respective songs to which they've written lyrics), and often complement each others' vocals in their songs.

1 Biography
2 Band Members
3 Albums
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Kim Anderson and R.L. Brooks both met in 2000 while attending Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph. They formed their first band called "Stellar" in 2001 with Anderson on bass and vocals, Brooks on guitar, drummer Tom Flaska. The group played a handful of local shows before disbanding when Anderson left for St. Louis to finish school. When she returned to Kansas City in 2003, she and Brooks made contact again and formed a new band called "Fighting Chance," releasing one self-titled EP in 2003 under that name, with drummer Jared Hoffman.

Fighting Chance continued playing several local shows throughout the year as a three-piece band first with Hoffman on drums, then with a handful of rotating fill-in drummers, until a permanent replacement could be found. Towards the end of 2003, the band began entertaining the idea of adding to their sound by recruiting a second guitarist. Having met Manuel Sanchez as a mutual acquaintance at a few prior shows, Brooks began contacting him in November of that year, about a possibly playing with the band. Sanchez ended up inviting Brooks to the "Beau & Manuel's Extreme Birthday Challenge" party (an annual birthday gathering hosted by Sanchez and a close friend) where the two became more closely acquainted, and arranged a time to practice together. Within a matter of days, Sanchez was officially added as a second guitarist.

In early 2004, while playing a show with a temporary drummer at "Groundwork Coffee House" in Leavenworth, Kansas, Aaron Crawford, the venue's sound technician, arrived to fix a problem with the building's PA System. After watching the band perform he requested to audition for the position as the band's permanent drummer. Crawford became the band's official drummer shortly afterward.

Throughout most of the year, the band performed scores of shows in the Kansas City area, and on August 17, 2004 they announced the bands’ name-change to “Flee The Seen”. They released their second EP (their first under the “FTS” name), The Sound of Sirens in September of 2004. The band continued playing several shows throughout 2004 and 2005 and gained significant airplay on locals stations such as “96.5 The Buzz”, who helped to arrange for the band to open for such acts as Weezer in July of 2005, and later that December, Coheed and Cambria.

Flee The Seen signed with Facedown Records on December 4, 2005 and made a formal announcement of the signing later that week. Despite its Christian Hardcore roots, Facedown was actually looking to expand their catalogue beyond the Christian music scene and sign a secular act. Thus, contrary to popular belief, Flee The Seen is not - nor do they consider themselves to be – a Christian band (personal beliefs of the individual members aside).

Flee The Seen’s debut full length album, Doubt Becomes the New Addiction was released on March 14, 2006 despite the record being recorded, mixed and mastered almost a year earlier. Shortly thereafter, the band was named to Alternative Press Magazine's “100 Bands To Know” in 2006. The album has sold 10,000+ copies to date.

Flee The Seen recently wrapped up a tour supporting Haste The Day, Heavy Heavy Low Low and Calico System. On February 9, 2007 the band announced that Anderson would begin performing solely as a vocalist, and would no longer play bass. The band hired a fifth member, Lucas Dills, to take over bass duties. They plan to spend the next month finishing songs for their second album which is scheduled to begin recording in the spring of 2007. Their newer music for the upcoming release is a step away from the abrasive hardcore/screamo-influenced sound of their debut album, and towards a more indie rock/punk feel, reminiscent of their first two releases prior to signing with Facedown.