John LeCompt

John LeCompt
Background information
Birth name John Charles LeCompt
Born March 10, 1973
Little Rock, Arkansas, US
Genres Heavy metal, alternative metal
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Instruments Guitar, vocals, mandolin
Years active 1994–present
Labels Wind-up, Universal Republic,[1] Rogue Records America[2]
Associated acts Mourningside, Machina, Evanescence, We Are the Fallen
Website John LeCompt Twitter

John Charles LeCompt (born March 10, 1973) is an American musician who has been part of the Little Rock heavy metal music scene since the mid-1990s. He has been associated with a number of bands, ranging from the unknown and unsigned to multi-platinum sellers, most notably the alternative metal band Evanescence. One of his main collaborators is long-time friend Rocky Gray, who is often John's bandmate in various group projects. They both are now members of the rock bands We Are the Fallen and Machina.[3]

Personal life

LeCompt was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is married to Shelly LeCompt and has two children, Bethanie and J.C.

Band projects

Mindrage

His first commercial endeavor was the Christian metal band Mindrage, in which he performed as both lead vocalist and lead guitarist. Enlisted for the project was Nick Williams on bass and Chad Wilburn on drums. Mindrage signed to Bulletproof Records and in June 1998 recorded the studio album Sown in Weakness, Raised in Power, consisting of eleven tracks. Their second album was a split EP with band Nailed Promise featuring four tracks released on Pluto Records. For this album, Justin Carder replaced Wilburn on drums.

Kill System

LeCompt later joined with then-Living Sacrifice guitarist Rocky Gray to form what would be known as Kill System, alongside Chad Moore (Soul Embraced) on bass, and Lance Garvin (also of Living Sacrifice) on drums. While the project never obtained an official distribution deal and despite LeCompt's history of a heavier music style, Kill System evolved into something more melodic and became a favorite among fans.

Soul Embraced

LeCompt eventually joined back up with Rocky Gray to collaborate with Gray's band Soul Embraced. LeCompt played guitar during many of the band's live shows, and was the featured vocalist on the track "Seems Like Forever".

Evanescence

Main article: Evanescence

After being signed by label Wind-up Records in 2002, LeCompt was hired by local Little Rock band Evanescence as guitarist for tour events, along with Rocky Gray as drummer and Will Boyd on bass. With few exceptions, LeCompt has also filled the duet role for the song "Bring Me to Life" while on tour. His writing credits for Evanescence includes one track from their 2003 debut album Fallen titled "Taking Over Me", and another on the album The Open Door, "All That I'm Living For". LeCompt is also credited with programming for "All That I'm Living For" and "Call Me When You're Sober" on The Open Door.

Even before becoming a part of Evanescence, LeCompt had some association with the co-founders of the band. He is mentioned in the booklet for their demo release, Origin, where he is thanked as "the sexiest man alive" by Amy Lee and Ben Moody.

On May 4, 2007, LeCompt was fired from Evanescence by lead singer Amy Lee. Reasons for this are yet to be confirmed. He was replaced by Dark New Day guitarist Troy McLawhorn, who played with Evanescence on tour until December 2007.[4]

Mourningside

During part of Evanescence's creative hiatus after Fallen, LeCompt created what would later be known as Mourningside, where he performed guitar and background vocals. Other members include Jack Wiese (Brookroyal) on lead vocals, Rocky Gray on drums, Jeff Bowie (Soul Embraced) on bass and Devin Castle (The Vail) on guitar. They have since played shows in St. Louis, Missouri as well as in Little Rock, gaining not only a local fanbase, but worldwide through Evanescence. Similar to Kill System, Mourningside has yet to gain an official distribution deal, but has released a seven track EP. Their debut song, entitled "Painting the Eyes", was featured on a multi-band promotional CD distributed at Dirty Elf Fest 2005 in St. Louis.

Machina

In 2005, LeCompt began collaborating with Future Leaders of the World lead singer Phil Tayler. After reforming the band with Jack Wiese on guitars, Thad Ables on bass and Rocky Gray on drums, they started Machina (pronounced "mah-shee-nah") as a new band. Machina released an EP in 2007 and has been touring extensively throughout the U.S.

In 2012, Machina has signed to Rogue Records America and released their debut album "To Live and Die in the Garden of Eden" on October 9 which is available in both digitally and physically on iTunes and CMDistro.com. In the end of the same year, Machina has toured at 16 places in US for 3 weeks, been filmed by the reality TV show "The Making of Rockstars", produced and directed by David DeLay. The filming continues through the tour in 2013, which is expected to be aired in the late same year.

Music videos "Crown" "Tranquility"

We Are the Fallen

Main article: We Are the Fallen

John LeCompt is a co-creator, co-writer and member of We Are the Fallen. All members came together as one unit to create and write music for the band. The members of the band include American Idol 7 finalist Carly Smithson as the lead singer, former Evanescence members Ben Moody and Rocky Gray, and Moody's friend Marty O'Brien.[3] We Are the Fallen made their first public appearance together for a press conference at SIR in Los Angeles, CA, on June 22, 2009. The band performed two tracks which included their first single, "Bury Me Alive", and "Going Under", originally performed by Evanescence. The band's debut album, Tear the World Down, was released on May 11, 2010 in the U.S.[5] and on May 10, 2010 in the UK.[6] The album peaked at #33 on the Billboard 200.

Discography

Mindrage

Studio album

EP/Split

Compilation

Soul Embrace

Main article: Soul Embraced

Featured Vocalist

Evanescence

Machina

Main article: Machina (band)

EP

Studio albums

We Are the Fallen

Main article: We Are the Fallen

Hardware

LeCompt uses a variety of guitars, both electric and acoustic. For electric, he uses a number of ESP models, including the F-300FM, EC-1000, Viper-301, Viper Custom, Grynch, PC-1V PW, SC608B, H-301 and H-307. His acoustic guitars include the Yamaha CPX900 and LJX6C models. For amplification, he stated that he uses a Mesa Stiletto Deuce.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Universal Republic Records Signs New Rock Band We Are the Fallen". Reuters. October 28, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Former EVANESCENCE Members Sign MACHINA Deal With ROGUE RECORDS". Blabbermouth. September 12, 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Carly Smithson to join forces with ex-Evanescence musicians to become the Fallen". LA Times. June 18, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Korn, Evanescence Backing Musicians Vow To Carry On With Dark New Day". Blabbermouth.net. May 19, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
  5. ↑ "We Are the Fallen's Debut Album 'Tear the World Down' In-Stores on May 11th". Marketwire. March 1, 2010. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
  6. ↑ "We Are The Fallen get set for debut album". Kerrang!. March 2, 2010. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
  7. ↑ LeCompt, John (October 3, 2006). "Evanescence To Appear on Late Night With Conan O'Brien". EvBoard.com. Retrieved 2007-04-03.

Further reading

External links