The Start the 1234 mp3 - 3.6 mb THIS IS THE START. Los Angeles based quartet theSTART combine synth laden post-punk and danceable rock inside powerful, pop song structures and they do it unlike anyone you've seen before. It began in 1998 when L.A. native and musician Aimee Echo (vocals) met then rock drummer, Jamie Miller (guitar, synths). Exhausted by the nu-metal rage they'd seen rising around them, Echo and Miller decided the time had come to form their own band. TheSTART experienced an uncomfortable birth with the untimely death of Echo’s father and their first record label closing its doors. Regardless, theSTART released an electrifying and lush debut album, SHAKEDOWN! which was named #7 in the TOP 25 BEST RECORDS of 2001 in Alternative Press' Year End Critic's Poll alongside bands such as Radiohead, Tool, and Bjork. In a year known mostly for the testosterone oozing from the airwaves, their single "Gorgeous" charted high on CMJ and MTV2. Fate struck twice and theSTART’s second label closed its doors as well. Refusing to allow fate to determine their future, the band struck out on the road and toured with a vengeance. Tours with Weezer, Incubus, A.F.I., Hot Water Music, Alkaline Trio, The Used, Finch, Tsunami Bomb and the Vans Warped Tour would keep them out for all of 2002 and most of 2003, all self-funded. theSTART also funded their own EP and solidified their line-up adding Erick Sanger (Kissing Chaos, Sparta) on bass and Billy Brimblecom Jr. (The Creature Comforts, Stick) on drums. The band's emotional and bombastic live shows earned them a loyal and rabid worldwide fan base and gained Echo her reputation as a true front-woman, her raucous antics and unique vocal style earning her comparisons to Siouxsie Sioux, Dale Bozzio, and Perry Farrell. The music of theSTART is a wall of forward thinking sound, based on their passions of the past. "We are definitely influenced by the sounds and attitudes of what we grew up on, from the Beatles to Bauhaus, the Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sonic Youth, punk rock to new wave to art rock and right on throughÉ” says Miller, adding "I think we're similar in sensibility, but I wouldn't say we're retro. We're music from the future." TheSTART released their EP, Death Via Satellite, December 9th on Nitro Records. As for what's next, the band are heading into the studio to record their second full length, to be released May 2004.   Official theSTART website: www.thisistheSTART.com www.nitrorecords.com