The Ernies

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The Ernies
Origin	Richmond, VA, U.S.
Genre(s)	Alternative Rock
Years active	1994 - 2001
Label(s)	Bob, Mojo
Former members
Will Hummel, Matt Goves, Hayes Smith, Mike Hughes, Chris Bondi, Stefan Demetriadis, Steve Bider

The Ernies were a popular American Alternative rock band from Richmond, Virginia.^[1] They released two albums on an independent label before signing to Mojo Records and releasing their third album entitled Meson Ray.

1 History
2 Mojo Records and beyond
3 Band members
4 Discography
- 4.1 Albums
5 References

[edit] History

The Ernies were formed in 1994^[2] by three students of Virginia Commonwealth University: Will Hummel, Matt Goves, and Hayes Smith. Hayes majored in music education, learning the saxophone and the bassoon, and Matt majored in music performance, focusing on percussion. Will studied English, and was especially influenced by the Modernists of the early 20th century.^[3]

The Ernies released their self-titled debut album on October 1, 1995. This album featured a three-piece horn section consisting of Steve Bider on alto saxophone, Stefan Demetriadis on trombone, and Hayes Smith on the baritone saxophone. In 1995, bassist Mike Hughes joined the band. ^[4]

On May 12, 1997, The Ernies released their second album, Dropping Science. This album diverged from the pure ska style present on their previous album. The first track, "Jive" addresses the style change with lyrics like "We're not ska-core or reggae, jazz or funk, we're not hip-hop or rock or pop" and "to pacify those of you who need a label, call it what you want, we know you'll kick it if you're able". Without Steve Bider in the band, the horn section on Dropping Science consisted only of Stefan Demetriadis on trombone, and Hayes Smith on the baritone saxophone.

[edit] Mojo Records and beyond

Chris Bondi joined the band in 1997, playing the turntables and theramin. While playing a show in Los Angeles during a tour across the United States, The Ernies were discovered by a record excecutive and signed to Mojo Records.^[5] Meson Ray was released on Mojo Records on April 20, 1999. With trombonist Stefan Demetriadis no longer in the band, the only horn section remaining for this release was Hayes Smith on a variety of saxophones.

A remix of the song "Motivate" appeared during a scene in the movie BASEketball. This version of the song also appeared on the BASEketball soundtrack, released by Mojo Records. The song "Here and Now" was featured in the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater in 1999,^[6] ^[7] ^[8]and has also been featured on various television commercials, including an advertisement for the American television show CSI: Miami,^{[citation needed]} the Australian television series Dangerous,^{[citation needed]} and a U.S. trailer "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (Knockin' on Heaven's Door)" in 2003.^[9] In the summer of 2006, the "WWE" featured the song "Polarized" as the theme for the one time special "WWE vs. ECW: Head to Head episode".^[10] The songs "Here and Now" and "Polarized" are also featured in a number of promotional training videos for the 2007 comedy Balls of Fury;^[11] specifically the "Backhand Punch" and "Forehand Block" videos.

Hayes Smith was a guest saxophonist, recording with The Pietasters on their 2002 album entitled Turbo.^[12] He is now playing bass and sax for a Dallas, Texas based band called Roy Bennett.^[13]