Epicenter Twenty Ten Artist Spotlights: ADTR, B.o.B., New Politics, The Knux And The Black Pacific

We’ve squeezed together some bios, videos and info on some of the bands and artists that you may or may not have heard of that will be performing at Epicenter Twenty Ten, including A Day To Remember, B.o.B., New Politics, The Knux and The Black Pacific. Get familiar with all of these guys, they will for sure impress you come September.

Click more to see the artists spotlights.

A Day To Remember

While the music industry scrambles to discover the next big thing, A DAY TO REMEMBER has been becoming it, showing that with the right amount of hard work, strong songs, an unfaltering self-belief, and that indefinable spark of something really special, anything is possible.

Rising from the punk rock hotbed of Florida in 2003, Josh Woodard (bass), Alex Shellnutt (drums), Neil Westfall (guitar), Jeremy McKinnon (vocals) and Tom Denney (guitar) formed A DAY TO REMEMBER, crafting a blend of the music they loved into a niche of their own. Their sound combined the punk-pop of BLINK-182 and NEW FOUND GLORY with brutal hardcore beatdowns, sending shudders through the underground. Their debut on Indianola Records sold 8,000 copies with little promotion, and attracted the attention of Victory Records, who signed them in 2006. Their infectious, explosive energy of their live shows helped them organically grow a fanbase that multiplied each time they played.

With the release of their breakthrough album For Those Who Have Heart, A DAY TO REMEMBER went global. In the two short years after its release in early 2007, the band grew from a small band with a dedicated local fan-base into a worldwide phenomenon, gaining the respect and adoration from their peers as much as their fans. This is no overnight success – the band has worked hard to win over every fan they make. But the ‘perfect storm’ of their dedication, rapidly-spreading buzz and undeniable musical abilities have made this young band one of the most talked about bands in rock, gaining themselves a coveted slot in Alternative Press’ Most Anticipated Albums 2009 issue.

Selling out tours worldwide, their lyrics “Mark my words: we’re taking over the world” became a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the band hit the road with bands they grew up listening to like New Found Glory and Silverstein, and had a full summer on the Vans Warped Tour. Embraced by the media, A DAY TO REMEMBER made it on to “Ones To Watch” lists internationally, picking up a Kerrang! Award nomination for Best International Newcomer; the video for their rocked-up cover of Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” unshakable from music television over summer 2008.

Their new album Homesick sees them using their ascension as a springboard, ready to launch them into the big time. In an industry where you have to evolve to stay ahead, A DAY TO REMEMBER is standing defiant, leading the genre-straddling pack in a battle cry, ready for the fight of their lives. Grab your friends, “disrespect your surroundings”, and watch A DAY TO REMEMBER set the world alight. The mainstream won’t know what hit it.

-Bio courtesy of Victory Records

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B.o.B.

B.o.B.

In spite of the plethora of rap artists constantly emerging from Atlanta in the late 2000s, B.o.B, who was only 17 when he signed his first major-label record deal, was still unique. His borderline eccentricity and artistic mind, belied by his music’s conventional Dirty South appeal, raised his stock above the many copycat Southern up-and-comers and, of course, welcomed comparisons to OutKast and, specifically, their offbeat half, André 3000.

Although he grew up on the east side of Atlanta in Decatur, Bobby Ray Simmons was born in North Carolina on November 15, 1988. Creating music became an early hobby for the young talent, who played trumpet and other instruments throughout grade school. By the time he was in high school, he already had management and had formed a production duo called the Klinic. At age 15, he even successfully sold a beat of his own to Slip-N-Slide recording artist Citty. When his partner left for college, however, B.o.B decided to take the solo artist path and subsequently recorded the hazy, spoken word-like ode to marijuana “Cloud 9.”

In 2006, B.o.B’s manager helped sneak him into Club Crucial (owned by Atlanta rap star T.I.), since he was underage, and the teenaged MC wowed the audience with his self-produced ode. A part of that impressed crowd, producer and industry veteran TJ Chapman agreed to co-manage B.o.B, which only a month later led to B.o.B’s signing with Atlantic and subsidiary imprint Rebel Rock, run by Florida producer Jim Jonsin (Lil Wayne, Trick Daddy, Jamie Foxx).

His first single for Atlantic, Haterz Everywhere (2007), showed lots of promise, reaching the Top Five of Billboard’s Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop singles chart. Before long, several outlets and publications, including XXL, Spin, and MTV, took notice of the Atlanta rapper, running “Artist to Watch” features and tagging him as the next Atlanta rap artist to blow up nationally. B.o.B’s second single, “Grip Your Body,” guested by British soul siren Amy Winehouse, also fared well.

He kicked off 2010 with a series of singles, including “Airplanes” with special guest Hayley Williams of Paramore. The track landed on his debut album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray, released that same year.

-Bio courtesy of AOL Music

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New Politics

New Politics

New Politics have a motto: “F**k It.” It’s kind of a crass, apathetic motto. But for the Copenhagen band it doesn’t mean giving up. It means taking chances—something they do with reckless abandon. For instance, when the band was on the verge of signing with RCA in November, they realized “If we’re going to become insanely famous in the U.S. we might want to actually live there.” So the three musicians packed up their instruments and recording gear, said “F**k it” and moved into a loft in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Here’s another example: David and Soren had been writing songs together for over three years when they realized that they had unintentionally started a band. The pair had experimented with every imaginable style of music and suddenly recognized that the combination of their musical sensibilities, as witnessed on the 300 songs they’d penned together, created something new and interesting. Plus, the rambunctious, beat-driven nature of the songs offered Soren a chance to “freak out and go crazy” onstage while David showcased his impressive break-dancing moves.

So the guys uttered their ubiquitous motto and haphazardly sent two songs— “Stress” and “Make Money” into the Danish National Radio P3’s cleverly-titled Karriere Kanonen (“Career Cannon”) competition in early 2009. And somehow, out of the 973 bands that entered, New Politics were one of 42 selected to perform. Except, they weren’t even really a band.

David and Soren called Poul, another lifelong musician about to call it quits. In fact, the call came just a month after Poul had decided to give up music in favor of learning to be a professional bricklayer. But Poul too said “F**k it” and the threesome rehearsed a few times, decided against adding a bassist, and played a raucous first show that left the judges both bewildered and amazed. The band, defying all possible odds, made it to the next round and in April were one of four bands to win the Karriere Kanonen, which unfortunately turned out not to be a real cannon.

The win landed them a slot playing Denmark’s Spot Festival that May, where the threesome played a show so wild Poul and Soren left the stage covered in blood and Poul nearly beheaded a fan with a thrown drumstick. Record labels in Denmark were into this sort of thing and began to flock around New Politics, fielding offers. But the band, like the pilgrims, had dreams of America, and a one-take video for the band’s impassioned rock song “Yeah Yeah Yeah,” which aptly conveys their fervor for performing, convinced quickly American record labels to come knocking.

New Politics, who signed with RCA in November, are not done blowing off convention and expectation. They are currently writing their debut album, most of which is demoed in a really professional looking makeshift recording space in Soren’s bedroom. The trick, as the band will tell you, is not to spend too much time worrying about the technical aspects of the music. Just play it with energy and passion, say “F**k it” and everything else will take care of itself eventually.

“It’s not that much about technique or skill, but that’s over-shined by the truth in some way,” David says. “I think people are ready for that. People are fed up with what’s going on in the world. There’s no real answers. There’s nothing solid. There’s no foundation. We feel like that as well. That’s why we write the lyrics that we do. You can almost laugh at life. We’re like ‘F**k it.’ We are aggressive in our approach and we’re going to throw it in peoples’ faces. We’re politics. I think our music allows people to let something out. It’s a wake-up call.”

-Bio courtesy of New Politics

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The Knux

The Knux are composed of brothers Kentrell ”Krispy” Lindsey and Alvin “Joey Le’Strat” Lindsey. They were born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, but were displaced due to Hurricane Katrina, after which the brothers moved to Los Angeles, California.

The group’s name is short for The Knuckle Heads. Their song “Bang! Bang!” was featured in the promo for Season 5 of Entourage. Additionally, their song “Cappucino” was featured in the film Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.

The Knux are well known for their intense live shows, & in 2009 they were invited to perform at almost every major music festival in North America . They have also toured with a slew of diverse artist spanning various genres including Common, Q-Tip, Nas, The Roots, Shwayze, Lupe Fiasco, DJ AM and Travis Barker, among other renowned artists.

-Bio courtesy of Wikipedia

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The Black Pacific

The Black Pacific

In August of 2009, Pennywise frontman Jim Lindberg revealed that he would be leaving the band after 20 years.

“After 20 years, nine albums and thousands of shows around the world, my time in Pennywise has come to an end. Being the singer for this band has been an amazing experience, and along the way we made some of the best fans anyone could ask for. There are few things that made me more proud than seeing people at our shows singing our songs, and it’s your support and encouragement that’s kept me going this long. would sincerely like to thank everyone who helped us along the way and wish everyone in the Pennywise family the best of luck and continued success. Yours truly, Jim.”

Jim announced recently that he was forming the band The Black Pacific. Not much info has been released on these guys, but they expect to have some new music around Epicenter time.

Check out new music from The Black Pacific here.