A Whirlwind Career

by Mark Weber   

ZEEBOZINE

Eight years into what has been a whirlwind career for the Orange 
County natives, Project 86 return to their roots, releasing their 
fourth studio album entitled, "Songs to Burn Your Bridges By," June 
1, 2004 on Tooth & Nail Records. The band, begun in early 1996 as 
young musicians bonding in their common musical interests and 
personal beliefs, was almost immediately a hit, garnering label 
interest not only in California, but also as far north as Seattle, 
Washington, where Tooth & Nail owner Brandon Ebel recognized and 
signed the group in 1998.

From that point, Tooth & Nail hosted Project 86's successful premiere 
self-titled album (1996), and followed it with their hit sophomore 
release, "Drawing Black Lines" (2000) which also brought attention 
from major labels such as Atlantic Records, who eventually 
licensed "Drawing Black Lines" as a joint effort with Tooth & Nail. 
Their third album, "Truthless Heroes," a darker, follow-up to their 
previous effort, came next. Though with the timing of its release, in 
2002, as record companies were struggling, and paying little 
attention to actual new artist development, Project 86 seemed far 
from a priority for Atlantic. In 2003 the band parted ways not only 
with both record labels, but with their management company as well. 

From there the band worked independently, gaining new management 
(Zambooie Artists Management), beginning their own production 
company, "Team Black Recordings," and started recording a new record 
themselves, eventually persuading Matt Hyde (Slayer, No Doubt) to 
join them in their efforts. Seeming more like an evolution 
from "Drawing Black Lines" than the ominous direction "Truthless 
Heroes" took, Ebel recognized the transformation as a welcome 
change. And from there the band and label began talks, first in 
healing their relationship and joining forces for the upcoming 
project.

"'Drawing Black Lines' has been my favorite Project 86 release, and I 
love the new direction this album is taking, as a continuation to 
that `Drawing Black Lines,'" Ebel explains, adding, "We are very 
excited to put out `Songs to Burn Your Bridges By,' and we feel 
honored that Project 86 chose us again and is trusting us with their 
future career."

Lead vocalist Andrew Schwab shares Ebel's sentiment saying, "In a 
time when the music industry is dying rapidly, Tooth and Nail is one 
of the only labels that is having any success. We were very blessed 
to mend our relationship with them and move forward to get our music 
out to the world. I feel like this move, as well as many others that 
have been happening internally in our band, is a return to our roots 
both spiritually and mentally. We talked to many labels about 
distributing our record, but Tooth & Nail was the one that offered us 
the most advantageous situation. We feel that our fans will 
appreciate the fact that both sides made huge efforts to move forward 
from the past into a successful future."

For more Project 86 news, along with upcoming tour dates, visit: 
http://www.project86.com.

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