More Info on Texas is the ReasonSimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Texas Is the Reason| image =| caption =| image_size =| background = group_or_band| alias =| origin = New York City, New York | genre = Post-hardcore Emo | years_active = 1994–1997, 2006| label = Revelation Records Your Choice Records Jade Tree Records Art Monk Construction | associated_acts =| website =| current_members = Norm Arenas Chris Daly Scott Winegard Garret Klahn| past_members =| notable_instruments = Texas Is the Reason was an American post-hardcore and emo band founded by former Shelter (band)|Shelter guitarist Norm Arenas and 108 drummer Chris Daly in 1994. They disbanded in 1997. They are seen as one of the cornerstones of the ’90s emo movement and remain very influential in modern emo.
Biography
Norm Arenas (guitar), guitarist for the hardcore punk|hardcore International Society for Krishna Consciousness|Hare Krishna band Shelter, formed Texas Is the Reason with friend and then fellow Hare Krishna devotee Chris Daly (drums), formerly of the band 108, which played music of a similar kind to Shelter's, some time in the early 1990s in New York City .Citation |last=Strong |first=Martin |authorlink= |title=The Great Indie Discography |url= http://books.google.com/books? id=HJfGtREyuSAC& pg=RA16-PT759& dq=Texas+Is+the+Reason+Hare+Krishna |publisher= Canongate |year=2003 |pages= |isbn=1-84195-335-0 |postscript= They both desired to leave the macho attitude and religious preaching of their former projects. With former The Fountainhead (band)|Fountainhead bassist Scott Winegard (bass), the three recruited one-time bassist for Buffalo's Copper (band)|Copper , Garrett Klahn (guitar/vocals), to round out the quartet.
The name "Texas Is the Reason" is lifted from a Misfits (band)|Misfits song, entitled " Bullet (Misfits song)|Bullet ". It also makes reference to a conspiracy theory about the assassination of John F. Kennedy , in which the president was killed in a plot arranged by Texas Democrats in order to give Lyndon B. Johnson control of the White House. Releasing three songs on an Extended play|EP , Texas Is the Reason became an underground smash and helped usher in an era of similarly motivated and styled emo bands. They then released a split single with The Promise Ring through Jade Tree Records . The following year (1995) they released another split single with Samuel (band)|Samuel through British record label Simba.
What followed was their first and only full-length album, Do You Know Who You Are? , named after the last statement John Lennon supposedly heard. Produced by Jawbox 's J.Robbins and released on Revelation Records , Do You Know Who You Are? brought a lot of major-label courtship to Texas Is the Reason, who were being hailed as the "next big thing" in the growing Punk rock|punk explosion on MTV . Song titles from the album, such as "The MagicBullet Theory" and "Back and to the Left", continued the allusion to one of the John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories|Kennedy assassination theories .
In 1997, on the eve of signing with Capitol Records , the band flew overseas for a European tour. Ongoing intra-band tensions arising from the major label attention reached their apex. The night of the final stop of the tour in Bielefeld, Germany , Daly and Arenas agreed before the show that if the show was "awesome", it would be their last. Arenas later related, "I walked on stage and we opened with 'Antique' and when Garrett started singing, there were eight hundred Germans singing along with us. I looked at Daly and knew that this was over."Paul, Aubin. http://www.punknews.org/article/19888 "Interviews: Texas Is the Reason". Punknews.org. September 22, 2006.
The members headed to various musical projects, with Klahn to New Rising Sons and Daly to indie outfit Jets to Brazil . Winegard started putting out other bands' records through an imprint he co-owns called GrapeOS, while playing with other musicians in a band called the Americans (band)|Americans . The only member to go inactive in the world of indie rock was guitarist Norm Arenas, living in Chicago and DJ ing for almost three years.
Winegard and Arenas joined Charlie Walker of Chamberlain (band)|Chamberlain and Jonah Matranga of Far (band)|Far and Onelinedrawing to form the band New End Original , which lasted from 2000 to 2003. Klahn's New Rising Sons released two EPs through GrapeOS, were dropped by Virgin Records , and then disbanded; he now plays in the band Atlantic/Pacific with John Herguth of House & Parish . Daly left the now-defunct Jets to Brazil sometime after their 2002 release, Perfecting Loneliness .
After nine years apart, the band decided to reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of the release of Do You Know Who You Are . A single show was scheduled for New York City's Irving Plaza on November 25, 2006, but a second show was added for the following night due to an unexpectedly quick sell-out of the first show.Citation |last= |first= |title=Rock/Pop Listings |url= http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/24/arts/music/24pop.html? 8ur=& emc=ur& pagewanted=print |publisher= New York Times |date=2006-11-24 |accessdate=2008-11-24 |postscript= In interviews leading up to the reunion, the band noted their long-time disappointment at not playing a final show in their home city. The band also insisted that the reunion shows were a one-time event, and that they had no plans for further shows: "While we empathize with everyone who wants to come to the show, but can't come for any reason, this will not become a tour and we are not reforming the band. That is as clear a statement as anyone can make."Citation |last=Heisel |first=Scott |title=TEXAS IS THE REASON ON POSSIBLE REUNION TOUR: "NO, NO, NO." |url= http://altpress.com/news/1307.htm |publisher= Alternative Press |date=2006-09-25 |accessdate=2008-11-24 |postscript=
Discography
Albums
Do You Know Who You Are? (1996)
Your Choice Live Series 037 – Split live album with Samiam . Released in 1999 on Your Choice Records
EPs
Texas Is the Reason (EP)|Texas Is the Reason Released November 21, 1995 on Revelation Records
Texas Is the Reason Split with Sammuel|Split 7" with Samuel Released in 1995 on Simba Recordings and Art Monk Construction
Texas Is the Reason Split with The Promise Ring|Split 7" with The Promise Ring Released in May 1996 on Jade Tree Records as JT1024
Notes
reflist
External links
http://www.texasisthereason.org/ Official website
http://myspace.com/texasisthereason Texas Is the Reason on Myspace
http://www.jadetree.com/bands/artist/texas_is_the_reason Texas Is the Reason on Jade Tree Records
http://revelationrecords.com/artistsfull.php? artists_id=90 Texas Is the Reason on Revelation Records
http://www.ycr.diehl.ws/rpsamiamtexas.html Texas Is the Reason on Your Choice Records
http://www.last.fm/user/andrewbiles/journal/2006/06/5/149647/ Texas Is the Reason Detailed Discography
http://www.aversion.com/news/news_article.cfm? news_id=7365 Reunion Q& A on Aversion
http://www.scannerzine.com/normanbrannon.htm Scanner Zine interview with Norman Brannon/ Arenas
http://welcometoflavorcountry.com/2011/05/31/hey-what-happened-an-interview-with-norman-brannon-of-texas-is-the-reason/ Interview with Norman Brannon from 2011 about post-Texas is the Reason life
DEFAULTSORT:Texas Is The Reason Category:American indie rock groups Category:American emo musical groups Category:Musical groups from New York Category:Musical groups established in 1994 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1997 Category:Revelation Records artists
de:Texas is the Reason es:Texas Is the Reason fr:Texas Is the Reason it:Texas Is the Reason sv:Texas Is the Reason
