| Of Mice & Men | |
|---|---|
Of Mice & Men performing in Las Vegas, Nevada during Warped Tour 2011. |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California |
| Genres | Post-hardcore, metalcore |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Labels | Rise |
| Associated acts | Attack Attack!, A Static Lullaby, Sky Eats Airplane, Me Versus the Moon, Odd Project, Lower Definition, Covette, Though She Wrote |
| Members | |
| Valentino Arteaga Alan Ashby Shayley Bourget Austin Carlile Phil Manansala |
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| Past members | |
| Jaxin Hall Jon Kintz Jerry Roush |
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Of Mice & Men is an American metalcore band from Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by Austin Carlile and Jaxin Hall during mid-2009 after Carlile's departure from Attack Attack!. The name of the band is derived from John Steinbeck's novella of the same title.
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Of Mice & Men was founded by Austin Carlile, the original vocalist of Attack Attack!, and bassist Jaxin Hall, an import from Auckland, New Zealand during 2009 in Columbus, Ohio.[1] The two recorded their demo "Seven Thousand Miles for What?" with the band Though She Wrote at Paper Tiger Studios in Columbus. Carlile and Hall searched for other members for about a month. They came across Valentino Arteaga, drummer of Lower Definition, Jon Kintz of Odd Project, and Phil Manansala, a touring guitarist for A Static Lullaby. Carlile and Hall moved to Southern California to join up with the three. A little while later, Kintz was cut from the band and replaced with former rhythm guitarist (now bassist), Shayley Bourget. With a question at hand asking of the departure of Kintz in a Q&A for the group, Bourget jokingly stated "Jon didn't cut it." On Kintz's part, he reportedly cited that the band felt he was "partying too much."[2] After reaching 1,000,000 plays from their Myspace profile in just two months since its launch, the band uploaded a cover of Lady Gaga's song, "Poker Face". The song was mastered by Tom Denney, formerly of A Day to Remember and a copy of the demo was sent directly to Rise Records. Recognizing the band as Carlile's new musical project, Of Mice & Men was signed to the label.[3] The group then traveled to the Foundation Studios in Connersville, Indiana on July 14, 2009, with Joey Sturgis to record their self-titled debut album.
On December 6, 2009 they had two video shoots in Ventura, California for "Those in Glass Houses" and "Second & Sebring".[4] The band released their debut album on March 9, 2010 even though they planned on releasing it earlier. The album was originally intended to be released on February 23, however it was forced into a delay just days before its release, but leaked on February 10, 2010 by fans that hacked into the system.[5] The music video for "Second & Sebring" was released on Hot Topic's website[6] and made its television premiere on Headbangers Ball on March 15, 2010.[7]
The band quickly jumped on the Squash The Beef Tour supporting Dance Gavin Dance, along with Emarosa, Tides of Man, and Of Machines. Also in 2009, Of Mice & Men was support on the Atticus Tour along with Finch, Blessthefall, Drop Dead, Gorgeous, Vanna, and Let's Get It.
After completion of the Atticus Tour, the band supported I See Stars on the Leave It To The Suits Tour with We Came as Romans, Broadway, and Covendetta.
Jerry Roush, who was formerly a part of Sky Eats Airplane, soon became a permanent addition to Of Mice & Men. Originally, Roush was a substitute for Austin Carlile on The Emptiness Tour in 2010 which featured the band along with Alesana, A Skylit Drive, The Word Alive, and We Came as Romans.[8] Carlile required a heart surgery performed in the near future and was forced to not tour by his doctor. At the same time, Carlile fell in to a conflict with the other members. Through much deliberation, the band and Carlile decided to part ways.[9] The group thereafter invited Roush to front Of Mice & Men.[10] The band was featured on the cover for the 19th issue of Substream Music Press shortly after this decision.[11]
After "The Emptiness Tour", Of Mice & Men supported Attack Attack! on the "This Is A Family Tour" with In Fear & Faith, Pierce The Veil, and Emmure.
Months after Roush's inception, bassist, Jaxin Hall left the group on August 23, 2010.[12] Hall considerably explained that the reasons for this decision were made to concentrate more on his personal life as well as his clothing brand, Love Before Glory.[13] Dane Poppin of A Static Lullaby substituted as a bassist for Of Mice & Men's then upcoming tour dates after Hall's departure. The group were included in the Punk Goes... compilation, Punk Goes Pop 3, covering the R&B song, "Blame It" by Jamie Foxx with Poppin on bass and is the only recording by the band to feature Roush's vocals.[14]
The band participated in Warped Tour 2010.
Shortly after the conclusion of Warped Tour, Of Mice & Men toured the UK in support of August Burns Red and Blessthefall.
Leading onto Roush being a part of the band for already nine months, the group confirmed on January 3, 2011 that they reached a decision to have Jerry Roush leave Of Mice & Men in favor for former vocalist and founding member, Austin Carlile to return to the group.[15] Roush posted an extended response to his firing from the band on his Twitter account.[16] Carlile was under an intention for months to start a new musical project with musician, Alan Ashby until his request to return to the group. Ashby was then as well incepted into Of Mice & Men as a new member. The group then underwent a slight arrangement, since they required a bassist after several substitutions that Dane Poppin, of A Static Lullaby, contributed to.[17] Poppin's needed return to A Static Lullaby after extensive touring with Of Mice & Men had the group move Shayley Bourget from rhythm guitar to bass guitar but remain at clean vocals where Ashby was employed as rhythm guitarist instead of directly being employed the needed bassist in the group.[15]
The refreshed band started recording their sophomore album titled The Flood late January 2011. Soon after completion, the band headlined the 2011 annual Artery Across the Nation Tour with support from Woe, Is Me, Sleeping with Sirens, I Set My Friends on Fire, and The Amity Affliction.[18]
The band toured Europe and Australia in support of The Amity Affliction, along with I Killed the Prom Queen, and Deez Nuts.[19]
The band supported Asking Alexandria on a short four day UK tour along with While She Sleeps.[20]
On May 13, 2011 Of Mice & Men released a brand new single entitled, "Still YDG'N".[21] Also, on May 24, 2011 they released a second song entitled, "Purified".[22] "Purified" has been added to the 2011 installment of Sideonedummy's annual Warped Tour compilation.[23] "The Flood" was released June 14, 2011.
Of Mice & Men participated on all of Vans Warped Tour 2011. They were joined by former bassist Jaxin Hall on select California dates for "Second and Sebring."
From September 13, 2011, until October 14th, 2011 Of Mice & Men supported We Came as Romans on the Im Alive Tour along with Miss May I, Texas in July, and Close to Home.[24]
Of Mice & Men is currently headlining the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour with Iwrestledabearonce, I See Stars, Abandon All Ships, and That's Outrageous!. For the Fallen Dreams were also included on the first half of the tour.[25]
When asked about the band's name origin, vocalist Austin Carlile responded with;
| “ | "The book Of Mice and Men says 'the well laid plans of mice and men often falter.' You make plans, and they get screwed up. [Jaxin Hall] and I both had plans for life, and they both got screwed up, so now we're making the most of what we can." | ” |
Former bassist Jaxin Hall also commented stating;
| “ | "The main theme of [Of Mice and Men] is the American Dream [...] and being self sufficient [...] As a band, I was thinking about that when Austin and I were thinking about forming this band that we wanted this to be our American Dream, especially considering that I'm not from America [...] So this was to be our self sufficient thing that we could live off and make our own and achieve this dream. [...] So I looked at things that happened with [past relationships] and that everyone had the best intentions with things, and that they didn't quite work out the way we wanted it to."[26] | ” |
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| Year | Album | Label | Chart peaks[27][28] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US 200 | US Rock |
US Indie |
US Hard Rock |
US Heat |
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| 2010 | Of Mice & Men | Rise | 115 | 35 | 12 | 10 | 3 |
| 2011 | The Flood | 28 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | |
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