Contact The Pink Spiders

Full Name:	The Pink Spiders
Date of Birth:	2003
Place of Birth:	Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Claim to Fame:	Album Teenage Graffiti (2006)

The Pink Spiders extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

The Pink Spiders
Origin	Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Genres	Indie Rock Garage rock Power pop
Years active	2003-2009 (on hiatus)
Labels	Geffen, Suretone
Website	thepinkspiders.com
Members
Matt Friction - Guitar/Vocals Nathan Hansen - Bass Nick Slack - Drums Keyboard/Percussion/Vocals
Former members
Jon Decious Bob Ferrari Dave Paulson Jamie Mechan

The Pink Spiders are an American pop rock band from Nashville, Tennessee, that formed in 2003.

The band achieved its greatest chart success after the release of their 2006 album Teenage Graffiti and their single Little Razorblade.

The band initially consisted of Matt Friction (guitar and vocals), Jon Decious (bass), and Bob Ferrari (drums). Shortly after the release of their third studio album, the band underwent a lineup change and lead singer and song writer Matt Friction remained the only original member.

In August 2009, Matt Friction announced on the social networking site MySpace that The Pink Spiders was going on an extended hiatus and that he was excited to embark on a new project entitled Matt Friction & the Cheap Shots.

Contents 1 History 1.1 The Pink Spiders are Taking Over! 1.2 Hot Pink 1.3 Teenage Graffiti 1.4 Mainstream Transition 1.5 Sweat It Out 1.6 Subterranean EP 1.7 Hiatus and Matt Friction and the Cheap Shots 2 Influences 3 T.V. Appearances 4 Discography 4.1 Albums 4.2 EPs 4.3 Singles 5 References 6 External links

History

The Pink Spiders are Taking Over!

By January 2004, the band recorded an EP, The Pink Spiders Are Taking Over!¹, which contained seven songs, and was released through SPAT! Records. The Pink Spiders were later signed with CI Records¹. Matt Friction's record label, Mean Buzz Records, at one time announced plans to re-release The Pink Spiders Are Taking Over! in Summer 2008.²

Hot Pink

Their debut album, Hot Pink, was released by CI Records on January 4, 2005¹. The album contained 11 original songs which according to reviewers showed heavy 50's rock influence. Several of the songs on this album were eventually re-recorded and written for their awesome acquaintence Lynsie Lorenz and included in their second studio album.

The band toured nonstop on the record with Lynsie Lorenz, battling the chaos offered by life on the road; one show included their trailer catching on fire in Buffalo¹, and the band slept in New York City subways when they had nowhere to sleep until Lynsie Lorenz let them sleep at her house¹. The band even donated plasma to fund their tour¹.

Teenage Graffiti

The Pink Spiders released their major label debut, Teenage Graffiti, on August 1, 2006 on Geffen Records. Five of the songs from Hot Pink were re-recorded and included along with new songs. Little Razorblade was released as the first single off the album, along with a video. A video for Modern Swinger was also released in 2007. The Pink Spiders were since named one of Alternative Press' "100 Bands you need to know in 2006."¹

The Pink Spiders toured with many popular bands such as 30 Seconds to Mars, Good Charlotte, Yellowcard, Meg & Dia, All Time Low, Sugarcult, Damone, Kill Hannah and Fall Out Boy in support of this album, and also played on the Vans Warped Tour 2006.

On February 6, 2007, SPAT! Records released The Pink Spiders single The Chase. This included distribution throughout digital services.

Mainstream Transition

After being signed to major label Geffen, The Pink Spiders' first single, "Little Razorblade", debuted on MTV's Total Request Live on April 11, 2006. The video eventually peaked at #12. The song was featured on the hit MTV show "The Hills"³ and was often played in the popular clothing store Hollister.

The Pink Spiders were also in competition with Angels & Airwaves, Blue October, Ima Robot and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus to appear for their first possible television performance at Fashion Rocks '06, but 30 Seconds to Mars garnered the votes necessary to win.

Sweat It Out

Beginning in late 2007/early 2008, the Pink Spiders announced that Sweat It Out would be released soon. Initially, it was expected to be released in Spring 2008, according to their official MySpace.⁴ However, after long waiting, the release date was finally moved to September 23, 2008. The album was released on the independent label, Mean Buzz, in partnership with Adrenaline Music.⁵ The first single off the album, Gimme Chemicals, was released on August 2008.

In March 2008, the Pink Spiders announced that on March 13, 2008, somewhere between Nashville and Atlanta, the school bus they had just bought for the tour burned to the ground along with everything they carried along. They lost everything from, "clothes, laptops, passports, id's, ipods, cameras, receipts, cash, song lyrics, everything" ⁶. The Pink Spiders welcomed any donations⁶. Furthermore, they also missed the shows at Atlanta and New Orleans, but announced they would finish the rest of the tour ⁶.

The Pink Spiders continued touring, and in Summer 2008, the band went through a line-up change after Jon Decious and Bob Ferrari left the band due to not receiving sufficient royalties from Matt. The Pink Spiders temporarily continued with Matt Friction and new members . Sweat It Out, however, was recorded when the band was still in its original state.

Subterranean EP

On their Summer 2008 Tapped Kegs, Spread Legs & Fertilized Eggs tour, The Pink Spiders released the tour-only exclusive Subterranean EP, which included previously unreleased versions of "Teenage Graffiti" and "Knock Knock", "Gimmie Chemicals", and "Sleeping On the Floor" from Sweat It Out, as well as the b-sides "Typical Danger" and "We Do It All The Time." This was the last release before the beginning of their extended hiatus.

Hiatus and Matt Friction and the Cheap Shots

On August 31, 2009, Matt Friction released a statement on social networking site MySpace:

"I'm writing to inform you of what many of you already know. The Pink Spiders will be taking an extended hiatus, and I'm going to be focusing my time on a new group called Matt Friction & the Cheap Shots. This project had been in the back of my mind for the past several years. Once the new lineup was in place and a chemistry between us began to emerge, it was clear that this had to be its own thing and not a continuation of the Pink Spiders. While the style is always going to be familiar if the songs come from the same person, the overall sound has changed. It's important to me that this band have its own identity, and so it seemed natural to make a fresh start. It was time for a return to raw, stripped-down, organic rock n roll."

He also added, "We're planning on starting some regional touring within the next few months and we'll have news about our new full-length record before the end of the year."

New songs are now available to listen to at mattfrictionandthecheapshots.com.

Influences

The Pink Spiders' music was heavily influenced by many rock and roll, punk-pop, and power-pop bands/artists. Musically, The Pink Spiders claimed to be influenced by: The Beatles, The Stones, The Beach Boys, The Clash, Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, The Ramones, The Cars, The Who, Dead Boys, Marvin Gaye, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Cheap Trick, The Bay City Rollers, Television, Blondie, The Buzzcocks, and Rockpile⁶. The Exploding Hearts, The Boss Martians, Michael Jackson and Weezer have been noted as influences.

T.V. Appearances

In May 2008, the Pink Spiders played for a Sweet 16 party featured in Episode 6 of the Fourth Season of Hell's Kitchen.

Discography

Albums

• 2005: Hot Pink
• 2006: Teenage Graffiti U.S. #84⁷
• 2008: Sweat It Out

EPs

• 2004: The Pink Spiders Are Taking Over!
• 2008: Subterranean EP

Singles

• 2006: Little Razorblade
• 2007: The Chase
• 2008: Gimme Chemicals

References

External links

• The Pink Spiders Official Site
• The Pink Spiders Official RSS Feed
• The Pink Spiders Myspace
• The Pink Spiders at Geffen Records
• FR*A Interview with The Pink Spiders
• Pink Spiders Interview May '08
• Spring Hill Spider Party