Biographies
The Dallas-based six-man group (Austin Bello, bass; Kyle Burns, drums; Jonathan Cook, vocals; Kent Garrison, keyboards; Marc Stewart, guitar and Caleb Turman, guitar) was formed in 2006. Since releasing their first full length album over a year ago, the six man band has been touring the U.S. successfully and building a fan base from the grass roots up. The past year has been a thrilling whirlwind for the band. They could be seen on the cover of Alternative Press and performing on Conan O�Brien�s late night talk show. They have toured Europe and performed in Japan and even re-recorded their hit single �Whoa-Oh (Me VS. Everyone) with Disney star, Selena Gomez. FTSK is going to make this next year even more memorable. In a forward thinking move, the band is forgoing the traditional road to making records. Instead of making a full album follow up to Underdog Alma Mater, the band will be releasing a series of 7 track albums� of new material. The first of these is titled The Weekend: Friday and will be released on November 17th with the other two The Weekend, Saturday and The Weekend, Sunday coming in 2010.
Dallas, TX-based Forever the Sickest Kids got an unexpected break early on when, only a few days after forming and with zero songs to their name, lead singer Jonathan Cook inadvertently spent several hundred dollars for front-page song placement on the popular music website PureVolume, forcing the band to hurriedly pound out a track so as not to waste the money it didn't even have. The local bands Ben Bradley and the Flipside had stalled out near the end of 2006, and various members from each group had only just formed Forever the Sickest Kids together, but they took on the challenge and quickly got to work. The emo-power-pop-rock song "Hey Brittney" resulted in just two days time and wound up garnering considerable attention for the very green band, which was rounded out by Austin Bello (bass, vocals), Caleb Turman (guitar/vocals), Kent Garrison (keyboards), and stepbrothers Kyle Burns (drums) and Marc Stewart (guitar). So lucky were Forever the Sickest Kids that several major labels soon came knocking, and the band ultimately scored a deal with Universal Motown. The five-song EP Television Off, Party On appeared in 2007 -- recorded within four months of being a band -- and nationwide touring followed its release, including three weeks on a Warped Tour side stage. Their fan base and song arsenal slowly expanded, and Forever the Sickest Kids had themselves a full-length album, Underdog Alma Mater, less than a year later, which was released in late April 2008. Time was spent surrounding the release on the road with an Alternative Press magazine-sponsored tour that featured other bands like All Time Low, the Rocket Summer, and the Matches. After extensive touring, the band decided to release a series of three EPs. The first in the series, The Weekend: Friday, was released in November of 2009.
"To me when you are not an artist, and do not think like an artist you try to get a set formula or equation to everything. You need a 6+4+3 = 13, or ..Golden Arches.. = Mc Donalds, type answer for what everything means. If you break down and try to figure out what our name means, by breaking each word down and trying to get a meaning, then putting all the individual meanings together and saying that is what are name means you are more wrong than a wild guesser. Our name has no formula, no equation and only has a meaning when all four words are together in the sequence we chose, it is not a coincidence that all 6 of us went through a major change of direction within four days of The Flipside breaking up, it was an ordained timing. Our name when put together represents what we are creating with the combination of members in the group, mindsets, goals, and passions of those members, songs we are writing and the songs we have written. Our songs in FTSK, unlike in past bands are not afraid of four things, we are not afraid to be specific in our lyrics and leave little to be skewed or misinterpreted. Also, we are not afraid to take risks and put things in our material that others would shun, or leave out. Next, we write each song individually from other song..s feels, sounds, or genre, so as to not put a fence around what the next song must stay within. Lastly, we are not afraid to put only one, two, three, four, or five of our six members on stage during a song if that is all that songs takes, or needs, to be delivered, and shared...which leads me to say we do not merely perform songs, we share and deliver them), then that is what we will use. Sharing is one thing FTSK stands on, and humility is another. We have three vocalists who will all powerfully take the lead, and just as easily humbly sit back down on their knees not singing at all in some parts and watch the other ones sing it out loud, or sing backup melody runs, octaves, or the high mid or low harmonies. Our firm belief is that no matter how bad things are, how downtrodden you have been or currently are, you can talk yourself in a positive way and jump on board with forever the sickest kids now you are one of us and have no less than six guys who fully believe in, support, love, and will defend you to the fullest. This alone is enough power to move a mountain, but that is not to mention that Forever The Sickest Kids are everywhere in numbers unknown. Our songs while still will sound similar in style, are all different and all individual personal, and meaningful to all six of us at the same time. Some fast some slow, some high some low, some rock some not, some happy some sad, some great some bad, but all mean something marvelous to us six. You are a part of Forever the Sickest Kids when you first believe you have power enough to do whatever you set your heart and mind to 100%. One of our members said in a meeting we had together, I do not want to anything with my music unless it is a ministry and changes people, and in that same sentence went on to say, I do not want to do anything unless everyone in it is fully in it giving 110% you are only as strong as your weakest link. Not everyone is called in the same ways, nevertheless, THIS, is no doubt how we are called. We back you, are you with us? ..If your passion is your purpose you are stuck, but if your passion is for a greater purpose then you are unstoppable... This is in no way a side project, but rather a mindset with music as the avenue."