Eleventyseven

Eleventyseven
Eleventyseven performing a free concert at Lakeside Christian Camp in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Background information
Origin	Laurens, South Carolina, US
Genres	Christian rock,[1] synthpop,[2] pop punk[2]
Years active	2002–2014
Labels	Flicker, Sony Japan
Associated acts	The Jellyrox
Website	www.eleventyseven.com
Members	Matt Langston Davey Davenport Jonathan Stephens Caleb Satterfield

Eleventyseven (stylized eleventyseven) was an American Christian punk band from Greenville, South Carolina which was formed in 2002.^[3] They chose the name "Eleventyseven" because "it's the one that looked cool the next morning".^[4] The band was originally signed to Flicker Records and released two albums with the label that charted on Christian music charts. After an independent streak, the band signed on to Sony Japan before returning to an independent status a year later. In their late years, they continued to tour, self produce and release music independently until disbanding in September 2014.^[5][6]

Biography

Lead singer Matt Langston performing at ShoutFest 2007.

Early years (2002-2009)

Group members Matt Langston and Caleb Satterfield first played together in a church group from Greenville, South Carolina.^[7] After adding drummer Johnathan Stephens, the band began by playing shows in their hometown when they were in high school. They self-released a full-length album and several EPs,^[8] which caught the attention of Flicker Records, a Sony/BMG subsidiary distributed through Provident Label Group.^[9]

Their major-label debut, And the Land of Fake Believe, was released on May 16, 2006 to mixed reviews.^{[10][11][12][13]} Following the release of the album, the group appeared at ShoutFest '06,^[14] gained exposure on MTVU^[15] and had success at Christian rock radio with the single "MySpace"; their profile on said website became very popular as a result. Their single "More Than A Revolution" reached the Top 5 in ChristianRock.Net's weekly Top 30,^[16] and No. 28 in their annual Top 100,^[17] as well as topping the Radio & Records Christian Rock charts.^[12][18]

After an appearance on The Logan Show on November 25, 2006, the group announced plans to tour the US in the early months of 2007.^[19][20] Galactic Conquest, their second album under Flicker, was released on September 4, 2007.^[21][22] The album peaked at No. 40 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart.^[23] The song "Love In Your Arms" was released as the band's first single for the record, making it as high as the No. 6 spot in ChristianRock.Net's weekly Top 30.^[24] The second song "It's Beautiful" also hit the Top 15, charting at No. 13 on the October 6, 2007 R&R chart.^[25] In 2009, the band independently released their third album, Adventures in Eville.

In October 2009, Eleventyseven released a Halloween-based single entitled "Flashlight (The Cullen Song)".^[26] The song was themed as a satirical parody based on the 2008 film Twilight, and more specifically, the main character of Edward Cullen. The single was eventually pulled from iTunes but is still available to be listened to on the band's official YouTube channel.^[26]

In mid-2010, bassist Caleb Satterfield decided to leave the band to focus on his marriage.^[27][28] He was replaced by Davey Davenport, who had filled in as lead guitar for a time in 2009 after lead singer Matt Langston had an thumb crushing accident.^[27][28][29]

Eleventyseven released their first EP, entitled Quota, on April 1, 2011, followed by the album Sugarfist, their fourth studio album, on October 26, 2011 under Sony Japan. The album contained five out of the six tracks from the Quota EP plus six new original tracks. The Japanese edition of Sugarfist contained all six songs from Quota EP plus three more bonus tracks as well, making it in its entirety, a sixteen-track album.

EP string (2012-2013)

In mid-2012, the band segued from their normal sound and composed a folk EP, Attack of the Mountain Medley. The release dealt with subjects from Morminism to a humorous view of bumpkin trailer parks. Later that year, they returned to their usual synth-punk sound with the Christmas EP, Regifted, which was released November 2012. Eleventyseven also participated in Geki Fest 11 (Japan) with The Cab and The Summer Set.

In mid-2013, lead singer Matt Langston began to tweet about a new Eleventyseven EP that was planned to come out in the near future.^[30] Langston revealed the album cover and release date via Instagram on August 28. The EP was set for release on September 10, 2013.^[31] The next day, Matt Langston proceeded to post the first song off the EP, an electronic cover of the hymn "Turn Your Eyes," on Eleventyseven's SoundCloud account.^[32] The band proceeded to rename the posted hymn, "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus". Through the release of the song, Langston also revealed the EP was officially to be called Good Spells. On September 1, Matt Langston posted on his Jellyrox blog about why the EP was being created.^[33] The band proceeded to release a second hymn, "Come Thou Fount," on September 3.^[34] This release was followed five days later by a third hymn entitled "Tis So Sweet (To Trust In Jesus)".^[35] On the 10th, as expected, the EP debuted on iTunes.^[36] Later, the same day of the release, Matt Langston posted a "press release" of sorts on his Tumblr blog.^[37] The post dealt with the new EP, as well as the band's role in Christian music in general.

Disbandment

On September 26, 2014, after a few years of EP releases and no touring, Eleventyseven officially disbanded.^[6] Lead singer Matt Langston wrote a farewell statement on the band's official Facebook page stating where all the members were at this time and what they are planning to be working on in the near future.^[5]

At this time, Matt Langston plans to fully invest in his solo career as The Jellyrox.^[5][38] Bassist Davey Davenport has started a new band entitled the Revelry.^[5][39] Finally, drummer Johnathan Stephens has started a family.^[40]

On September 30, 2014, The North Face's Korean branch released a video entitled "Never Stop Exploring".^[41] The promotional featured "Don't Want to Fall" by Eleventyseven.

Musical and lyrical themes

The group has garnered comparisons to groups such as Motion City Soundtrack and The Faint. They make frequent references to recent popular culture, such as Conan O'Brien^[42] and Star Wars. Their music and lyrics have stylistic similarities to third-wave emo popular in the 2000s. They are commonly coupled with other Christian punk artists from their genre, such as Relient K, Stellar Kart, Hawk Nelson, and Philmont.

The band has sought to infuse the music with hope rather than maintain the themes of sadness and grief common to this music.^[43] Lead singer Matt Langston has said, "You get tired of being yelled at, hearing the same parallels drawn in every song... Knives. Night. Pain. Winter. We have been put here to enjoy the blessings in life, not cry about the curse of our self-inflicted pain. We want to push people past their feelings, passions, and experiences...past their circumstances to see the big picture of God's creation. We want people to feel what He has done for us and wear a smile when they leave our concerts."^[43]

Members

• Matt Langston - lead vocals, guitar, keyboard, synths/programming (2002–2014)
• Jonathan Stephens - drums, backing vocals (2002–2014)
• Davey Davenport - bass, keyboard, backing vocals (2010–2014)
• Caleb Satterfield - bass, backing vocals (2002–2010)

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Music videos

Other projects

The Jellyrox

Lead singer Matt Langston has also formed an electropop solo project called The Jellyrox.^[38] The act first appeared in the form of remixes for several Eleventyseven songs, beginning with "Evil Genius (The Jellyrox remix)," which was released as part of Eleventyseven's 2009 album, Adventures in Eville. The project has currently released one full-length album (Heta Himlen), two EPs (The Jellyrox EP and Embellish), and a few singles.^[44]

Best Friend Fight

Langston also teamed up with Rob Johnson of The Switch Kids to form a small side-project called Best Friend Fight which officially released one song, "Walking Dead Apocalypse." The single also had a music video which was published via YouTube on August 29, 2010.^[45] A song called "Fancy" was also released^[46] as well as a leaked song entitled "Time Machine."^[47]

References

External links

• Official website