Wakefield (band)

Wakefield were a 4 piece rock band from Mechanicsville, Maryland. The band consists of singer Ryan Escolopio, his brother and drummer Aaron Escolopio, their cousin and bass player Mike Schoolden, and guitarist J.D. Tennyson.

Early years

Ryan, JD, and Mike formed the band with their friend Mark in 2000. In their early days, the band played clubs such as Piezano's Pizza, St. Margaret's Church, and the Crabcake Factory in Annapolis, Maryland, Wood's Holy Grounds in Severna Park, Maryland, and My Brother's Place in Waldorf, Maryland. In 2001 they supported Good Charlotte at a show sponsored by 99.1 WHFS. It took place at Arundel High School as a reward for the amount of canned food the students (headed by the Arundel Key Club) had collected for the needy in Maryland. Often plagued by comparisons to Good Charlotte's sound (and hooks) when Good Charlotte was signed in 2001 the pressure was on for Wakefield to get a deal. The final push came when Good Charlotte's original drummer Aaron Escolopio, fired from Good Charlotte to play with his brother, singer Ryan Escolopio in Wakefield. The band played their first show with Aaron on the drums at the famous club CBGB in New York on June 6, 2001. During their early years, the band toured with Catch 22 and Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

American Made

Wakefield announced on August 12, 2001, that they'd been signed to a record deal with Lava Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, headed by Jason Flom. The band recorded a full album of their current songs at the A&M studios in California, but Wakefield was dropped before the album was released. The band was then signed by Arista Records, where they would release their debut record American Made on May 6, 2003. American Made featured a combination of several new songs and older fan-favorite songs. In support of the record, Wakefield spent many months on the road, touring with The All-American Rejects, Home Grown, Riddlin kids, and Reel Big Fish.

The first single off American Made was Say You Will, a pop punk song that made it into the rotation of many rock music and Top 40 radio stations. The band also recorded a music video for the song, which received airplay mostly on MTV2 and Fuse TV. In June 2003, the video was voted as the Nickelodeon Video Pick of the Week and in Canada was featured on 'Oven Fresh'.

2005 releases

Wakefield made several appearances in pop culture following the success of American Made. Their cover of the Iggy Pop song Real Wild Child appeared on the soundtrack for Eurotrip, titled Wild One. They also did a music video to "Wild One" for the extras on Tak and the Power of Juju.

The band also made an uncredited appearance in the Olsen twins movie New York Minute. Ryan, JD, and Mike appeared as the studio band for drummer Roxy (Mary-Kate Olsen), and Aaron appeared as the band's producer. The band recorded a cover of the David Bowie song Suffragette City for the New York Minute soundtrack.

Which Side Are You On?

Wakefield released their second album, titled Which Side Are You On? through Jive Records on June 14, 2005. Their first single off the album was C'mon Baby. Also appearing on the album is the song After School Special, which was co-written with and produced by Butch Walker. The album had a number of producers and co-writers - Scott Cutler, Anne Previn, and John Fields, to name a few. The album also featured Ryan and JD's producing debut for track 7 entitled Clean 1145.

Current

On March 11, 2008, the band announced in a blog that they were recording new music, to be released by Maryland-based Indie label iBot Records. This turned out to be a lie, or they are still waiting for the "perfect time" to strike.

Bassist Mike Schoolden left the band in 2006 to join New Years Day; working on and touring for the Razor EP and album My Dear.

Wakefield are believed to have split up; their Facebook page is no longer active.

Discography

Albums

• American Made (album) (2003)
• Which Side Are You On? (2005)

External links

• Wakefield on Myspace