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Biography
Infobox musical artist |name = Alien Ant Farm|image =|background = group_or_band|origin = Moreno Valley, California , United States|genre = Alternative rock , alternative metal , post-grunge , nu metal , rap rock |years_active = 1995present|label = Universal Records|Universal |associated_acts =|website = http://www.alienantfarm.com/ alienantfarm.com|current_members = Dryden Mitchell Terry Corso Tye Zamora Mike Cosgrove|past_members = Joe Hill Alex Barreto Alien Ant Farm is an American alternative rock band that formed in Riverside, California , United States, in 1995. Their name comes from an idea original guitarist Terry Corso had about aliens and the earth: "I was daydreaming at my dull desk job with my feet up, and I thought to myself, 'Wouldn't it be cool if the human species were placed on earth and cultivated by alien intelligence? ' Maybe the aliens added us to an atmosphere that was suitable for us, and they've been watching us develop and colonize, kind of like what a kid does with an ant farm."Citation needed|date=March 2008 The band has sold over 5 million units worldwide, and has four studio albums, and eight music video s.
History
The band included Dryden Mitchell (vocalist), Terry Corso (guitarist), Tye Zamora (bassist), and Mike Cosgrove (drummer). They played their first show on Mitchell's 20th Birthday and released their $100 EP that year. In 1998 they released their Love Songs EP.
In 1999, Alien Ant Farm released their underground debut album , titled Greatest Hits (Alien Ant Farm album)|Greatest Hits . It went on to win Best Independent Album in the L.A. Music Awards that year.
In 2000, after forging a friendship with the alternative rock band Papa Roach , Alien Ant Farm signed with DreamWorks SKG for their first studio album, Anthology (Alien Ant Farm album)|Anthology .
In 2001, their cover of Michael Jackson 's song, " Smooth Criminal (Alien Ant Farm song)|Smooth Criminal ", was a #1 single in Australia and New Zealand , a #3 single in the United Kingdom|UK , and #1 on the US Modern Rock charts. The music video features numerous tributing homages to Michael Jackson and his videos, but has been considered by many as a parody to his work. Terry Corso , the band's guitarist, addressed this in an MTV interview on the set of the music video, saying, "We want to pay homage to Michael Jackson, but on our level. Obviously we're not that glitzy, so we just want to tastefully take the stuff that's cool in his videos and apply it in our own dirty little backyard way."
The song was featured on the soundtrack of the first season of WWE Tough Enough and in the movie American Pie 2 . Their following single " Movies (Alien Ant Farm song)|Movies " was a Top 5 hit in the UK and a Top 20 hit in New Zealand . The band began touring in promotion of these two singles and their album, which later went platinum.
In spring of 2002, the band contributed "Bug Bytes" to the first Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man|Spider-Man soundtrack .
In May 2002, the band was involved in a bus accident while touring in Spain . While the whole band suffered minor injuries, the driver, 26-year-old Christopher Holland, was killed, and lead singer Dryden Mitchell suffered a fractured C2 vertebra .
Alien Ant Farm soon returned to the studio to work on their next album, Truant (album)|Truant , which was released in 2003 and produced by Stone Temple Pilots ' Robert DeLeo|Robert and Dean DeLeo . The video for " These Days (Alien Ant Farm song)|These Days ", the first single from the album, was filmed on top of a nearby building during the Red Carpet at the 2003 BET Awards . "Glow" was a mainstream radio success, achieving long lasting Top 20 success in New Zealand. Two months after this album was released, however, their record label closed its doors. This hindered the album's popularity over time, but truANT as a whole was a commercial failure in the first place. Looked over by many critics, and lowly rated by those who paid attention to it, Alien Ant Farm's second album did not carry the same commercial power as their first; sprouting only a few hit singles (Formerly Mentioned).
Corona native, Ben Lacascia played the drums for Alien Ant Farm at the Corona High talent show.
In October 2003, guitarist Terry Corso split with the band citing "irreconcilable differences". Soon after, he joined Powerman 5000 for a time.
Victor Camacho (a long time friend of the band and guitar player) immediately joined the band and completed the remainder of the Truant tour until the band returned home. Joe Hill was named the new guitarist in 2005 (formerly in Spiderworks ).
In 2004, the band recorded the song "Dark in Here" for the The Punisher (2005 video game)|The Punisher video game. Unfortunately, the band was forced to wait for Geffen Records|Geffen to allow them to record another album (after Universal Music bought DreamWorks and assigned the band to its Geffen Records label).
In 2005, the band recorded with producer Jim Wirt (who recorded their independent, debut release Greatest Hits ) and planned to release the album during that summer. However, Geffen shelved the album and subsequently denied the band the rights to release it themselves. The band hit the road and made bootleg copies of the album material available to all of their fans. This unofficial release was dubbed 3rd Draft by fans.
Their song "Wish" was in the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 video game. Their song "Courage" also featured on the Shaun Palmers Pro Snowboarder and the ATV Offroad Fury 2 video games.
In 2004, the band's song "These Days" was featured on the Madden 2004 video game.
In late 2005, Geffen finally agreed to let the band release the album on another Universal label, Universal Music Enterprises (its catalogue division). On May 4, 2006, information began showing up on music store websites and release calendars about an upcoming release from the band. The band also released information about a DVD that same day. On May 30, 2006 the new album, Up in the Attic , was released digitally on iTunes and sold at various retailers. The Best Buy Edition included a bonus track, "Repeat Defender". The first single was "Forgive and Forget", the one added track to 3rd Draft .
In April 2006, bassist Tye Zamora left the band and decided to go to college. He was replaced by Alex Barreto (formerly of hardcore bands Chain of Strength , Hardstance , and Inside Out (hardcore band)|Inside Out ). On June 29, 2006, the band performed on G4 (TV channel)|G4 's Attack of the Show , and on July 18, 2006, Up In The Attic was released worldwide, along with BUSted: The Definitive DVD . Included on the DVD were music videos for "Forgive and Forget", "Around the Block", and "She's Only Evil". Notably, the three videos feature only Dryden Mitchell and Mike Cosgrove.
Since the July 2006 release of Up in the Attic , very little has happened. Their website remained unchanged from November 2006 until April 2007 when an update promoting the Alien Ant Fans website, created by a long time Polish fan, Bartek, was added.
The band released "Around the Block", the second single from Up in the Attic , on the iTunes Store in 2007.
On February 11, 2008, the band posted a statement on their website stating Terry Corso and Tye Zamora had rejoined the band. It was also revealed that the band had "unofficially broken up" in 2007 due to the fact that 2006's Up in the Attic was their least successful album.
It appeared that they had broken up again since the vocalist Dryden Mitchell has joined/formed the band Send the Sages . Also, guitarist Terry Corso and drummer Michael Cosgrove have been putting in time with their own project band Ghost In The Flesh , as has Zamora with the band eEnik . But on May 29, 2009 A.A.F.'s official website announced a show for June 17, 2009 in Kansas City, MO. Also on May 26, The band's first live album, entitled Alien Ant Farm: Live In Germany was released on iTunes, featuring the same cover as their 20th Century Masters album.
In 2009, they were announced to play Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth, UK on Saturday 1 August. http://www.alienantfarm.com/html/index.htm dead link|date=April 2012 They had also performed " Smooth Criminal " at the 2009 Vans ' Warped Tour in memory of the now late Michael Jackson, in which Alien Ant Farm had also posted several entries on their site concerning his death.
The band's MySpace profile was redesigned with a new layout, featuring a blog posting that featured the June 27th show in HD, and an announcement that new material was being worked on.
On February 9, 2010, Alien Ant Farm posted on their official website that the original line up (Dryden Mitchell, Terry Corso, Tye Zamora and Mike Cosgrove) is back together for the first time since 2003. On February 27, 2010, the Alien Ant Farm official website released the band's first "webizode" titled Bassmasters.
Alien Ant Farm recently signed with Primary Wave Management, who also has 12 Stones, Volbeat, Saving Abel, 50 Cent, CeeLo among others.
On October 18, their Myspace was updated and live videos of several new songs such as Godlike, Yellow Pages, High On The Horizon and Simpatico have been uploaded.
Smooth Criminal was re-released on iTunes as a single, and as a (7" version) with a (Die Krupps Remix) also available, and iTunes. Also, A new, remastered/re-released version of Smooth Criminal can be found on the soundrack of The Green Hornet . The new version of Smooth Criminal was released by Cleopatra Records exclusively on iTunes.
Alien Ant Farm announced the ANTicipation 2011 Tour which took place across the continental U.S.. The tour began July 9, and ended in October. They had supporting act MeTalkPretty . They also took part in the "Michael Forever Tribute Concert" which took place on October 8, 2011 in Cardiff, Wales . They announced in Mid-October that they have started writing and recording new material, and hope the new album will launch in Spring 2012.
Music videos
Alien Ant Farm typically has quirky videos, such as the Michael Jackson tributes in "Smooth Criminal", the film homages ( Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory , Edward Scissorhands , The Karate Kid (1984 film)|The Karate Kid , Ghostbusters ) in the primary version of " Movies (Alien Ant Farm song)|Movies ", and the personified appliances in "Glow". They also crashed the BET Awards , a Gay Pride parade, and a scheduled performance by Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera for their music video of "These Days".Citation needed|date=October 2010 In an interview on Vinnie Langdon 's webshow in 2010, Dryden Mitchell seemingly regretted the humorous music videos from earlier in the decade, Claiming that, "I think we got kinda coined as this funny band, even though the music wasn't really funny, but all of our videos were kind of a little more silly hearted, even if the song wasn't."
Mike Cosgrove Drum kit|drums , percussion (1995present)
Former members
Joe Hill - Lead guitars, backing vocals (20042008)
Alex Barreto bass, backing vocals (20062008)
Session musicians
Gavin Hayes slide guitar on Anthology (Alien Ant Farm album)|Anthology (2001 tracks "Stranded", "Orange Appeal")
Otmaro Ruνz piano on Truant (album)|Truant (2003)
Robert DeLeo organ, backing vocals on Truant (2003)
Lenny Castro percussion on Truant (2003)
Reiss Chunyan triangle on Truant (2003)
Larry Corbett cello on Truant (2003)
Suzie Katayama cello on Truant (2003)
Dan Smith cello on Truant (2003)
Eve Butler violin on Truant (2003)
Darius Campo violin on Truant (2003)
Joel Derouin violin on Truant (2003)
Norm Hughes violin on Truant (2003)
Mark Robertson violin on Truant (2003)
John Wittenberg violin on Truant (2003)
Andrew Scheps trumpet on Truant (2003)
Jair Neciosup backing vocals on Truant (2003)
David Campbell (American arranger/composer)|David Campbell string arrangements on Truant , Anthology (2001 "Universe" -2003)
Aaron Jackson - Violin for Truant tour (20032004)
Will Pearce - Organ for Truant tour (20032004)
Pete Darwent - Trumpet for Truant tour (20032004)
Amar Tailor - cello for Truant tour (20032004)
Yanick Vincent - Flute on Anthology (2001 - Track "Orange Appeal")
cite web|url= http://www.universalmusic.com/ |title=Home |publisher=Universal Music |date=2012-04-26 |accessdate=2012-04-30
Discography
Studio albums
Year
Album details
Peak chart positions
Certifications ( List of best selling music artists
US cite web
US Heat
UK cite web
AUS cite web
NZ cite web
FIN cite web
SWE cite web
AUT cite web
SWI cite web
1999
Greatest Hits (Alien Ant Farm album)
First studio album
Release date: 1999
Label: Chick Music Records
2001
Anthology (Alien Ant Farm album)
Second studio album
Release date: March 6, 2001
Label: DreamWorks Records
11
1
11
18
24
13
58
32
45
style="text-align:left;"
Recording Industry Association of America|US : Platinumcite web|url= http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php? table=SEARCH_RESULTS& artist=Alien%20Ant%20Farm& format=ALBUM& go=Search& perPage=50|title=RIAA - Gold & Platinum - April 9, 2010: Alien Ant Farm certified albums|publisher= Recording Industry Association of America |accessdate=2010-04-09
British Phonographic Industry|UK : Goldcite web|url= http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx|title=BPI search results|publisher= British Phonographic Industry |accessdate=2010-04-09
Canadian Recording Industry Association|CAN : Platinumcite web |url= http://www.cria.ca/gold/0102_g.php |title=Gold & Platinum Certification January 2002 |publisher= Canadian Recording Industry Association |accessdate=2010-08-19
Australian Recording Industry Association|AUS : Goldcite web|url= http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-accreditations-albums-2001.htm|title=ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2001 Albums|publisher= ARIA Charts |accessdate=2010-04-09
2003
Truant (album)
Third studio album
Release date: August 9, 2003
Label: DreamWorks Records
42
68
26
71
2006
Up in the Attic
Fourth studio album
Release date: July 18, 2006
Label: Universal Music Group
114
"" denotes releases that did not chart
Extended plays
Year
Album details
1996
Singles: $100 EP (Alien Ant Farm album)
First extended play
Release date: June 18, 1996
Label: self-released
1998
Love Songs EP
Second extended play
Release date: 1998
Label: self-released
Compilation albums
Year
Album details
2008
20th Century Masters: The Millenium Collection: The Best of Alien Ant Farm
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/alienantfarm Alien Ant Farm at Rolling Stone
http://www.alienantfans.com/ Fan Site
http://project961.com/iplaylist/artist/472200/? _show Alien Ant Farm on Demand
Alien Ant Farm Category:Alternative rock groups from California Category:American post-grunge musical groups Category:Culture of Riverside, California Category:Musical groups from Riverside County, California Category:Musical groups established in 1996
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