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Jimmy Eat World

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Jimmy Eat World

Jimmy Eat World is an American rock band from Mesa, Arizona, formed in 1993.

History

Formation and origin of name

Jimmy Eat World, formed in Mesa, Arizona in 1993. Singer/guitarist Jim Adkins and drummer Zach Lind, who had been friends since kindergarten, joined with guitarist Tom Linton and bass player Mitch Porter to try their hand at music. In its early years, the band emulated the style of its punk-rock influences, with Linton serving as the band's primary singer. Within the span of a couple of years, the band recorded and released three singles and a full-length on local label Wooden Blue Records.

The band's name came from a crayon drawing made after an incident between Linton's younger brothers, Jim and Ed. After getting roughed up by Jim, Ed retreated to his bedroom. There, Ed drew a picture of Jim shoving the Earth into his mouth, with the picture bearing the caption "Jimmy eat world".[5]

Static Prevails

Eventually, spurred by bands such as Fugazi and Sunny Day Real Estate, the band began to experiment with a sub-genre of the hardcore punk scene called "emocore". As they began writing songs and touring in the indie scene, the band was surprised to find like-minded bands such as Christie Front Drive, Sense Field, and Seven Storey Mountain working on similar sounds.

As the band continued touring, it began to attract modest attention in the indie underground. In 1995, the band caught the ears of a talent scout at Capitol Records and was surprised to find itself being offered a deal shortly thereafter.[6] Just prior to signing with Capitol, bass player Mitch Porter parted ways with the band and was replaced by Linton's friend Rick Burch. After a brief scouting for producers, the band joined up with Drive Like Jehu drummer Mark Trombino to record its major-label debut, Static Prevails.

In the ensuing years, the band was allowed to release singles on independent labels, including split 7-inch's with Christie Front Drive, Jejune, Sense Field, and Mineral. Where most major-label bands were ostracized from the underground as "sell-outs," Jimmy Eat World found itself in a unique position as a major label band embraced by the indie community.

Clarity

In 1998, the band entered the studio (again with Mark Trombino) to record its follow-up, titled Clarity. The band delivered the completed album to the label mid-way through the year, but found itself out of favor with the new label heads at Capitol, who shelved the album to focus on more popular acts.[6] As a way to help promote what had been recorded, the band negotiated with Capitol to release a self-titled EP on indie-label Fueled by Ramen (run by labelmates Less Than Jake) containing two songs from Clarity and three b-sides. The band sent the EP to several key alternative stations, including Los Angeles' KROQ, in the hopes that they might give the songs some airplay. To its surprise, several of the stations added lead single "Lucky Denver Mint" to regular rotation. Recalled Lind in 2001, "It's sad to say, but when 'Lucky Denver Mint' got played on KROQ, it was probably the first time a lot of people at Capitol had heard us."[6] Capitol reacted to the response at radio by scheduling the full album for release in February 1999.

On the subsequent tour for Clarity, the band was surprised to find itself playing to larger and larger crowds.[7] The band found itself receiving much more attention from its label, who released a video for "Lucky Denver Mint" and featured the song on the label's soundtrack to the movie Never Been Kissed. However, the label's enthusiasm was short-lived. Plans to release "Blister" as a single were axed, and the band was dropped by the label by the end of the year. As Lind related in 2002, "I think that it was a case of us not being ready to be on a major label and them not being ready to promote us. Capitol was just sort of the wrong place at the wrong time."[8]

Despite their lack of a label, the band decided that they wanted to push into Europe. The band purchased copies of Clarity at-cost from Capitol and shipped them to stores in Europe. Upon arriving in Germany for a short European tour, the band were surprised to find a packed house waiting for them, despite not having a European label. Having already cut ties with their management, the band used the experience as motivation to start working for themselves to build an audience.[6]

Bleed American

File:BleedAmerican.gif
Bleed American original album art, before 9/11

The band decided to record its next album without the help of a label, supporting itself with touring and by compiling its previously-released singles onto a single CD, titled simply Singles, released on indie label Big Wheel Recreation. The band also took on day jobs, saving as much as they could to spend on the sessions.[9] The band worked for a third time with Trombino, who agreed to defer his expense until after the album's release in order to keep costs down.[10]

The finished album was titled Bleed American. Joining with Gersh's new management company, GAS Entertainment, the band scouted for a new label. The result was a short bidding war, with interest coming from several major labels, including, ironically, Capitol Records.[6] The band eventually signed with DreamWorks. The completed album was released in July 2001 with the title track (titled "Salt Sweat Sugar" in the UK) as the lead single. (Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the band decided to re-issue the album as Jimmy Eat World out of concern that the title Bleed American might be misinterpreted.[11])

The album's second single, "The Middle", became the band's biggest single to date, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The video for the song received significant airplay on MTV, including on Total Request Live.

Futures

After lengthy touring in support of Bleed American, the band regrouped to work on the follow-up in early 2004. Once again, the band joined up with Trombino, but the collaboration was short-lived. As the sessions began, the band began to believe that they didn't have enough material for a cohesive album. The band's desire to spend more time writing songs conflicted with Trombino's availability, as he already had other projects on his schedule.[12]

Instead, the band brought in producer Gil Norton, well-known for his work with the Pixies and the Foo Fighters. As Lind explained in 2007, "After we left the studio with Trombino, we came up with "Polaris", "Work", "Pain", [and] "23" – the songs that really gave Futures its heartbeat."[12] Futures was released in October 2004, with "Pain" serving as the lead single. (By this time, Dreamworks had been acquired by Interscope Records.)

Subsequent months saw the release of "Work" and the title-track as singles. Having already toured the U.S. alone and with Taking Back Sunday, the band signed on to tour in the summer and fall of 2005 with Green Day. In September 2005, the band released the Stay on My Side Tonight EP, containing reworked versions of demos recorded with producer Mark Trombino that were not used for the album.[12]

Chase This Light

After its tour, Jimmy Eat World headed home to Tempe and started working on material for a sixth album. The band decided to self-produce the album, enlisting Chris Testa (Dixie Chicks) and John Fields (Switchfoot, Mandy Moore) as co-producers, and Butch Vig (Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins) as executive producer. As Burch explained to the St. Petersburg Times, "[Vig's] role wasn't in the studio everyday. We would send Butch samples of what we were doing every couple of days."[13] Chase This Light was released in October 2007, with "Big Casino" as the lead single. "Always Be" was the next single off the album, released in March 2008. They are currently touring behind the album with Paramore.

Band members

Current line-up

Past members

Discography

Main article: Jimmy Eat World discography

References

  1. ^ a b Leahey, Andrew. "Biography - Jimmy Eat World". All Music Guide. Retrieved October 24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Ryan, Chris. "Jimmy Eat World: Biography : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Wood, Mikael (October 23). "Emo "Elder" Statesmen Jimmy Eat World and Thrice by Mikael Wood". The Village Voice. Retrieved October 24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ La Gorce, Tommy (August 14, 2005). "Finding Emo". The New York Times. Retrieved October 24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Blackburn, Chris (1999). "Interview: Tom Linton of Jimmy Eat World". ChrisBlackburn.com. Retrieved 2007-03-03. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help) Linton: "Actually, it's a picture that my little brother drew ... probably five years ago. My brother Jim beat up my younger brother Ed, and Jim ran into his room and locked his door, and Ed drew this picture that said "Jimmy Eat World", and it was a picture of him eating the world."
  6. ^ a b c d e Mehr, Bob. "Brave New World". Phoenix New Times. September 21 2001.
  7. ^ Blackburn, Chris. "Q: Have you seen an increase in fans this tour? Linton: Yeah, definitely. It's been really, really crazy. A lot more than we expected. Like in Austin, Texas - get up on stage and play in front of like 700 people - not even expecting it."
  8. ^ Seigel, Steven. "All You Can Eat". Tucson Weekly. February 14 2002.
  9. ^ Mehr, Bob. "In between tightly budgeted tours, Linton worked construction, while Adkins sold art supplies, Burch shipped auto parts and Lind shuttled customers at a car dealership."
  10. ^ Seigel, Steven. "Jimmy Eat World". Tucson Weekly. October 21 2004.
  11. ^ Hancock, Todd. "Jimmy Eat World's Jim and Tom Vs Todd Hancock". CFOX. October 30 2007. Adkins: "It was something that we decided around September 14 that we wanted to do. ... We wanted people to listen to the record with as unbiased a viewpoint as they can bring into it so they could make the songs what they will for themselves and we just felt like that maybe the album title would get in the way of that."
  12. ^ a b c Henderson, Steve. "Jimmy Eat World - 07.27.07". AbsolutePunk.net. August 10 2007.
  13. ^ Giambalvo, Carole. "Music: Jimmy Eat World". St. Petersburg Times. November 30 2007.
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