Showbread (band)

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Showbread
Origin Savannah, Georgia, USA
Genre(s) Post-hardcore
Alternative rock
Christian rock
Years active 1997–present
Label(s) Tooth and Nail Records

Solid State Records
Members
Josh Dies
Mike Jensen
Patrick Porter
Ricky Holbrook
Former members
Matt Davis
Ivory Mobley
John Giddens
Notable instrument(s)
Keytar

Showbread is a Christian post-hardcore/alternative rock band from the Savannah, Georgia area. They are signed to Tooth and Nail Records. Known for their spastic vocals and energetic live shows, they are also one of the few post-hardcore bands to use a keytar.[1] The band had two full time vocalists until Ivory Mobley's departure in 2007. Josh Dies, the band's primary vocalist, is also the author of "The Spinal Cord Perception." Showbread gained media attention when, in 2006, a fan made video for the song “Dead By Dawn” was featured on YouTube. The video was seen by the band and posted on their own site, giving rise to controversy over Showbread's lyrical themes. According to Matt Davis, the band's name comes from "a biblical reference that Jesus used to show how Christianity isn't so much about rules but about love." [2]

Contents

[edit] History

The band was formed in 1997 by Patrick Porter and Travis Riner. Their purpose was to create a praise and worship group fit to play Sunday mornings at the southern Baptist church they attended. The began to play "goth punk" music, and in turn, the church they attended was less than thrilled with the approach and told them to stop playing that form of music.[3][4] Eventually, Showbread was left with only Patrick Porter, Josh Porter, and Ivory Mobley. [5]

The band went through line-up changes, including the addition of Eddie Oritz as vocalist, and began playing local and regional shows, which garnered the attention of musicians in other Georgia based Christian rock bands. It was through these meetings that the additions of Mike Jensen (guitar), Matt Davis (guitar), and John Giddens (synthesizer) took place. Ortiz left the group in 2001 but does appear as vocalist, and is credited, on the independently produced and released record "The Dissonance of Discontent" and plays guitars on the album "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, and record labels for two years before signing to Tooth and Nail / Solid State Records in 2004.

Showbread played at the Cornerstone Festival in summer of that year 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.[6]

Showbread's Age of Reptiles, was released on August 1, 2006. On this album, Showbread departed drastically from the spastic, screeching style of their previous albums, to a more alternative rock sound, while keeping with their trademark lyrical style and keytar.

Showbread announced on April 2, 2007, that Ivory Mobley would be leaving the band in May, his last show being Cornerstone Florida.[1] Two months later, on July 13, 2007, they announced that they asked drummer Justin Oblinger to step down from the band. Oblinger was replaced by Ricky Holbrook, the former drummer of Our Heart's Hero. As announced on April 12, 2008, John "JG" Giddens, the keytar player, left the band to pursue otehr interests, however, the band has not as of yet hired a new keytarist. [7]

[edit] Anorexia Nervosa

On 03/04/07, Showbread posted on their official website that they would be writing a new record in the spring that they hope to record in the fall and release in 2008. On 5/1/07, the band's blog [2] became home to bizarre videos and messages filled with codes and hidden messages leading to more clues and hidden messages about the band's new record. Fans worked together to connect the puzzle pieces that they believe coincide with the new album. Anorexia Nervosa was announced by the band to be released May 13, 2008. The "album" was released as two separate albums, one called "Anorexia" and the other "Nervosa." Many of the songs on each album share the same names, although the sound is different for each album. They also come with a different story to be read along with the song.

[edit] Musical and Lyrical Style

When Ivory Mobley, the band's second primary vocalist, shared lead vocals with Josh Dies, they would trade off in dueling vocals which alternated between yelling, screaming, and singing. This effect, combined with the band's frenetic live shows, have caused the band to occasionally be labeled as a "spazz rock" band. In addition, Showbread is one of the few post-hardcore bands that use a keytar. In keeping with their campaign for originality in the music scene, the band generally does not refer to their music as a particular genre; instead, they prefer the term "raw rock." Matt Davis, the band's lead guitarist, stated, "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."[8] Josh Dies also credits Ivory Mobley with the idea, stating "For the longest time we all used to live together and at some point like Ivory started saying raw all the time. Anytime something was good he’s go “that’s raw” and than like so it became to the point where we said raw for everything, anytime anything was great it was raw. At the same point everyone was asking us what we call out music and no one knew what to say, just uh I don’t know what we call our music, it’s rock."

Showbread's lyrics are often introspective and inspire many different interpretations from different listeners, sometimes using unusual things to draw analogies to larger topics. For instance, the song "A Llama Eats A Giraffe (And Vice Versa)", the lead track for No, Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical, uses the two animals as symbols to represent conflicting views between Nihilism and Christianity, and how the two actually share similiar ideologies. The lyrics in each album also contain similiar symbolism, such as eviceration and gore in "No, Sir," and vomiting and reptiles in "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 Chain Saw Massacre and Plainfield refers to the hometown of serial killer Ed Gein. 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. Their metaphorical use of symbolism is not limited to their lyrics, as they use the same style in interviews.

When asked about other bands and their usage of the "Christian band" label, Porter responded "Some people are just trying to get around the stipulations that come from being a Christian band and some people that are Christians and in bands have their hearts right but they don’t want to be called a Christian band because that just is not what the band was called to do and it’s just something their doing because they love it and their doing the right thing. It’s just a different avenue that we’ve taken and some people don’t take that one."


[edit] Strange Traits

Showbread is known for giving ridiculous statements in the press and in interviews. Most interviews, regardless of purpose, vary from light hearted nonsense to outright absurdity, becoming serious only when answering questions dealing with their faith. They have made many absurd claims, ranging from the accusations that Blindside's members include a vampire, werewolf, and a zombie, [9] to accusations that Pillar's bandmembers are made of grass clipping. Despite the nature of many of these statements, it appears they were meant to be taken in a light-hearted manner.[10]

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," due to a re-occuring joke between vocalists Mobley and Porter.

They are known for wearing matching outfits when performing to promote their albums, such as red and black for "No Sir, Nihilism is not Practical" and black and green for "Age of Reptiles."

[edit] Controversies

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 YouTube 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”. [11] The album, 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 defense 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] 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 sometimes be seen on the front head of their bass drum.
  • Literary references are another common trait on Showbread records. Songs like "The Bell Jar", "Sampsa Meets Kafka", and "Naked Lunch" all reference well-known novels.
  • Almost all of the songwriting (lyrically and musically) on Showbread's records are credited to singer Josh Dies. Exceptions include the song "Diary Of A Failure" from Goodbye Is Forever featuring music written by Mike Jensen, and "Girls Torture Guys Cause They Can" from The Dissonance Of Discontent which 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.
  • One of the founding members, Travis Riner, is now affiliated with the Christian missions agency called Servants in Faith and Technology (SIFAT) in Lineville, Alabama. SIFAT[4]

[edit] Members

[edit] Current Members

[edit] Former members

[edit] Live Members

  • Landon Ginnings (guitar)
  • Garrett Holmes (synthesizer)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

Year Title Label Chart peaks
Billboard 200 [12] Heatseekers [12] Top Christian Albums [12]
1999 Goodbye Is Forever Self-released — — —
2003 Life, Kisses, and other Wasted Efforts Steel Roots — — —
2004 No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical Solid State/Tooth & Nail — — —
2006 Age of Reptiles Tooth & Nail 198 9 14
2008 Anorexia — 22 18
Nervosa — 23 19
a "—" indicates that the album did not chart

[edit] EPs

Year Title Label
1998 The Dissonance of Discontent Self-released
2000 Human Beings are too Shallow to Fall in Love Self-released
2001 Goodnight Sweetheart, The Stitches Are Coming Apart Self-released
2002 Promotional EP Self-released

[edit] DVDs

Year Title Label
200X How Showbread Ruined My Life (DVD) Tooth & Nail

[edit] Rarities

Title Song Type Released Through
Head Like a Hole Nine Inch Nails Cover Raw Rock Militia Myspace
Your Friends Are Fake Demo Raw Rock Militia Myspace
Dead By Dawn Demo Raw Rock Militia Myspace
And the Smokers and Children Shall Be Cast Down Demo Raw Rock Militia Myspace
I Had Music In My Heart But Now My Heart Is Dead Demo Raw Rock Militia Myspace
Your Owls Are Hooting Demo Raw Rock Militia Myspace
Rudkus Anorexia Nervosa Clue Raw Rock Militia Myspace
The Truth Anorexia Nervosa Clue Raw Rock Militia Myspace
Safety Dance Live Men Without Hats cover Live Bootleg
Sugar Pie Honey Bunch Live Four Tops Cover Live Bootleg
Never An Oceanographer Live Acoustic B-Side Live Bootleg

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/showbread/artist.jhtml#bio
  2. ^ http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/Raw_Rock_Revolutionaries/14538/p1/
  3. ^ http://www.hardcorechristian.com/articles/interviews/showbread.html
  4. ^ http://www.deathway.com/interview-showbread.htm
  5. ^ http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/news/Giddens_Departure/31310/p1/
  6. ^ http://www.absolutepunk.net/artists/showlink.php?do=showdetails&l=4682
  7. ^ http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/news/Giddens_Departure/31310/p1/
  8. ^ http://lyrics.crossmap.com/artist/showbread.htm
  9. ^ http://www.deathway.com/interview-showbread.htm
  10. ^ http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=1498130
  11. ^ Dead by Dawn Controversy. Christian Worldview Network (2006). Retrieved on 2008-06-08.
  12. ^ a b c Showbread album charts on AMG Retrieved on June 7, 2008
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