Chris Carrabba

Chris Carrabba
Background information
Birth name	Christopher Ender Carrabba
Born	(1975-04-10) April 10, 1975
Origin	West Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock, emo, acoustic
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Vagrant, Fiddler, Drive-Thru, Tooth and Nail
Associated acts	Dashboard Confessional, Further Seems Forever, Twin Forks,The Agency

Christopher Ender Carrabba^[1] (born April 10, 1975) is the lead singer and guitarist of the band Dashboard Confessional, lead singer of the band Further Seems Forever, and is the vocalist for the American Alternative/Folk band, Twin Forks

Early life and education

Born in West Hartford, Connecticut, Carrabba's parents divorced when he was three. At age 16, he moved with his mother to Boca Raton, Florida.^[2] Carrabba remains close to some relatives on his paternal side, but is not close to his father specifically.

As a teenager, Carrabba was interested in skateboarding and punk rock and, passionate about music, sang in the high-school choir. His uncle gave him a guitar, to which he devoted a great deal of his time, when he was 15. After graduating from Spanish River High School, Carrabba became more serious about music and joined his first band, The Vacant Andys, and matriculated to Florida Atlantic University to study education.

At college, alongside studies, Carrabba played with The Vacant Andys and, later, with The Agency, which featured Chris Carrabba on their second LP, ENGINES. This was the first recording to feature both Mike Marsh and Chris Carrabba before Mike Marsh became Dashboard Confessionals full time drummer. For several years, Chris taught at an elementary school in South Florida and played with the group Further Seems Forever.

Dashboard Confessional was born when Chris recorded the "Drowning" EP with Fiddler Records. "I started (Dashboard) as a side project from the band I was in," says Carrabba, "I was going through something really tough at the time and since I don't write in a journal, this is what I did with it. It was a good way to get it out of my system. I never thought anyone would hear these songs, but I played some for my friends and one of them who owned a little label talked me into recording." The name Dashboard Confessional comes from the song "The Sharp Hint of New Tears". The lyric "On the way home, this car hears my confessions" brought to mind the phrase "Dashboard Confessional".

Having received his first guitar from his uncle also named Chris, Carrabba took only a mild interest in his musical talent, preferring to skateboard. He taught himself to play at the age of 15,^[3] and recorded his first solo album, The Swiss Army Romance, for the enjoyment of family and friends^{[citation needed]}

Carrabba was a special education teacher prior to his success with Dashboard Confessional, often keeping a guitar in his office to write songs during downtime.^[4]

Career

Carrabba started his career with the Vacant Andys. In 1998, while playing with the Vacant Andys, he filled in on guitar in New Found Glory, when regular guitarist Chad Gilbert was on tour with his other band, Shai Hulud. In 2001, he joined the band Further Seems Forever for their debut album The Moon is Down, before moving on to found Dashboard Confessional. In 2002, Dashboard Confessional won the MTV2 Award at MTV Music Awards for the video for "Screaming Infidelities." The video was considered the "dark horse" nominee at the time, as it was up against The Strokes, The Hives, Norah Jones, Nappy Roots, and Musiq. The video was directed by Maureen Egan and Matthew Barry. It was filmed in Los Angeles, California, on a shoestring budget.^{[citation needed]}

Reuniting with Further Seems Forever

It was announced on August 24, 2010, that Further Seems Forever would be reuniting with original vocalist Chris Carrabba with the release of a teaser video featuring rehearsal footage of the song The Moon Is Down.^[5]

Covered in the Flood

In November 2011, Chris Carrabba released an album of covers entitled "Covered In The Flood" exclusively on his solo US tour.^[6] The album contains 10 cover songs, artists covered include R.E.M., Big Star, Guy Clark, Justin Townes Earle and The Replacements. Four songs are available to download free on Dashboard Confessional's official website.^[7]

Guest appearances

• Carrabba appears on the Hot Rod Circuit song "Unfaithful".
• Carrabba provides backing vocals on the Say Anything song "Retarded in Love", on the Twothirtyeight album Regulate the Chemicals, and on the New Found Glory cover of the song "The Promise", which is featured on the album From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II.
• Carrabba also appears in Notar's song "Reach".

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chris Carrabba.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chris Carrabba