Four Year Strong

Biography :

Four Year Strong is an American pop punk/melodic hardcore band from Worcester, Massachusetts, formed in 2001. The group consists of vocalists and guitarists Dan O'Connor and Alan Day, bassist Joe Weiss, and drummer Jackson Massucco. They have released four studio albums; the latest, In Some Way, Shape or Form, was released on November 8, 2011.


History :

* Formation and It's Our Time (2001–2006)

This band was formed in Worcester, Massachusetts in 2001 by current members Dan O'Connor, Alan Day, Joe Weiss, and Jake Massucco as well as former member Josh Lyford. Dan O'Connor, Alan Day and Jake Massucco all attended Doherty Memorial High School in Worcester and met through mutual friends. They released their first studio album, It's Our Time, not long after their formation. The record's run was limited to 400 copies, with varying color CDs. The first 200 were light blue, with subsequent versions in yellow, red, and green. The band briefly released a demo in 2006, which contained early versions of their songs from Rise or Die Trying

* Rise or Die Trying, Explains It All (2006–2009)

The band's 2007 release Rise or Die Trying with I Surrender Records peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart in its debut week. On the back of their increasing popularity, the band was signed to Decaydance Records in February 2008.

On July 21, 2009, Four Year Strong released an album of covers from the 1990s, titled Explains It All. The album features guest appearances from Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die, Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes, and JR and Buddy of Less Than Jake. The band explained their reasoning behind the album in a MySpace blog, saying "It's what we grew up listening to. Everyone has those songs that instantly transport you back to when you were younger. Whether we were in our bedrooms playing air guitar, or riding in the car to little league practice, or it was just that song that was all over the radio during that awesome summer at the Cape. These songs have impacted us in some way and we want to share that feeling with you."

* Enemy of the World (2010–2011)

The band's third full-length album, Enemy of the World, was released on March 9, 2010 on Universal Motown Records. The band released the album's first single, "It Must Really Suck to Be Four Year Strong Right Now", on December 21, 2009. The name of the song is a reference to the final sentence of a review in Alternative Press in which the magazine praised Set Your Goals' new album while remarking on the future of Four Year Strong and how their record would compare. The vinyl record was made available to pre-order on March 2, 2010. The album sold 12,400 copies in its first week, debuting at number 47 on the Billboard 200. Four Year Strong has accompanied Set Your Goals in an Asian tour, but both canceled touring in Indonesia.

* Josh Lyford's departure, In Some Way, Shape or Form, and Future Plans (2011–present)

On April 3, 2011, it was announced that Josh Lyford would be leaving the band. Initially, it was implied that Lyford had chosen to leave in order to focus on his side project, Foxfires. However, it was later confirmed by both Lyford and Alan Day, that the band had elected to remove synthesizers from their sound leaving no room for Lyford to continue.

On April 13, 2011, in an interview with Alternative Press, the band revealed that they had been in the middle of recording their fourth studio album with producer David Bendeth in New Jersey's House of Loud. The band is set to return to the studio, without Josh Lyford, to finish the album in June, after they finish touring with Rise Against. Vocalist Alan Day has also revealed that the new songs the band had written were very diverse, and that the new material is different than anything the band has ever written. While touring with Rise Against, they have been playing a newly recorded, yet unreleased, song called "Falling on You".

On August 18, 2011, the band released "Stuck in the Middle", a new song from the upcoming album. The band announced that the new album will be titled In Some Way, Shape, or Form, and would be released on November 8, 2011. On September 8, 2011, the band released another song from the album, titled "Falling on You". The first official single from the album, "Just Drive", was released on September 27, 2011. During the Fall 2011 AP Tour, the band played another new unreleased song which will be released on the upcoming album. The band dedicated it to fans who have been there "from the very beginning, and will be there till the very end"; a video of the song has been leaked on YouTube. It is called "Fairweather Fan".

In an interview, it was revealed that Four Year Strong would be playing the Warped Tour 2012.

As of May 15, 2012, Four Year Strong departed ways with their label Universal Motown/Universal Republic. Regardless of the departure of the label, the band is still active as they played at the 2012 Warped Tour, and they performed with Blink-182 on their U.K. and Ireland tour.

As of 2013, rumors have speculated if Four Year Strong has broken up. Dan O'Connor had been married to his wife for almost two years, and Alan Day started his side project The Here And Now, an alternative/blues group who released an EP of music this year. When interviewed by PropertyOfZach, Day mentioned that the band isn't breaking up but rather taking time off. Going further, he said, "This is the first time in five years or more that we’ve taken more than three weeks off on tour...We’re definitely not breaking up. It seems like a lot of people are saying that, but I don’t know why they’re saying that. Just because we haven’t come through your city three times this year doesn’t mean we’re broken up."


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Dan O'Connor - Lead Vocal, Guitars
* Alan Day - Lead Vocal, Guitars
* Jake Massucco - Bass, Backing Vocal
* Joe Weiss - Drums

Former Member :

* Josh Lyford - Keyboards


Discography :

* Four Years Strong - It's Our Time
* Four Years Strong - Rise or Die Trying
* Four Years Strong - Enemy of the World
* Four Years Strong - In Some Way, Shape or Form


Source : Wikipedia