Anything But Joey

Anything But Joey
Origin	Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Genres	Pop-Rock
Years active	1995–2005
Associated acts	Thulium, Stuck On Broadway, The Famed, Walls of Jericho

Past members	Matt Groebe (vocals) Drew Scofield (bass) Bryan Chesen (guitar) Jeff Polaschek (drums) Wes Keely (drums) Steve Nick (Guitar in Thulium)

Anything But Joey was a pop-rock band from the Kansas City area. For the majority of its existence, the band was made up of high school friends Matt Groebe (lead vocals), Drew Scofield (bass/backing vocals), Jeff Polaschek (drums), and Bryan Chesen (guitar).

Band history

Thulium

The band formed in the summer of 1995, under the name M.I.P. After playing their first show, they decided to change their name to Thulium, after the 69th element on the Periodic Table of Elements.^[1] In December 1996, Thulium recorded and released a four-song demo called The Blue Tape. However, due to college commitments, the band saw little activity. During this slow period, they added second guitarist Steve Nick and made two more recordings. A self-titled album in 1997 (sometimes called the "white album") and an EP called Mars Needs Pimps Too the next year.^[1]

After college, things for the band began to pick up speed and they again returned to the studio. With producer J. Hall, Thulium recorded their second album, The Secret Club, in two weeks. The title refers to other bands in the Kansas City music scene that were more popular, such as The Get Up Kids, The Anniversary, and The Creature Comforts. Thulium felt these bands looked down on them because of the different style of music they played.^[1] With a new record, they began playing more local shows and touring regionally. In April 2001, Steve parted ways with the band, citing creative differences. Thulium would continue touring heavily, taking short breaks to record a few songs here and there.

Name change

In 2002, the band decided to change its name from Thulium to Anything But Joey (ABJ). With the name change came more success.^[2] Their song "Girl Roommate" became the most requested song on KRBZ 96.5 FM.^[3] With a local radio hit, Anything But Joey released a new album, Come Out Fighting, in December 2002. Come Out Fighting also produced other fan favorites such as "One" and "Girls Like You," although "Girl Roommate" was the only radio hit. In June, 2003, the group was the subject of a cover story for the Kansas City alternative weekly, The Pitch.^[4] The article described the growing "Joeymania" in the wake of "Girl Roommate." The next few years saw the band touring heavely, opening for Jimmy Eat World in Kansas City and playing a few dates on the 2003 Vans Warped Tour. They released another 4 song EP, Necessary, But Not Cool, in late 2004.^[5]

Break up

In late 2004, Jeff left the band and was replaced by former Walls of Jericho drummer Wes Keely. However, this line-up didn't last long. In January 2005, Anything But Joey announced that they were breaking up.^[6]^[7] After almost 10 years together, the members wanted to explore new things. Matt, Bryan, and Wes formed a harder styled emo/goth band called The Famed. Drew reunited with former guitarist Steve Nick to form another pop-rock band called Stuck On Broadway. Jeff later joined Stuck On Broadway after their original drummer quit.

Anything But Joey has reunited a few times since their breakup to open for their friends, such as St. Louis band Ludo.

"Sight Reading" from the "Come Out Fighting" album was used in the trailer for the 2007 film "Meet Bill."^[8]

Band members

Drew Scofield - Bass, Backing Vocals (1995–2005)
Matt Groebe - Lead Vocals, Synth (1995–2005)
Bryan Chesen - Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals (1995–2005)
Jeff Polaschek - Drums (1995–2004, returned for farewell tour)
Wes Keely - Drums (2004)
Steve Nick (in Thulium) - Rhythm guitar (1996–2001)

Discography

Albums

As Thulium

Thulium
The Secret Club^[9]

As Anything But Joey

Come Out Fighting^[10]

Demos and EPs