Saosin

Saosin

Saosin is an alternative rock band from Newport Beach, California formed during the summer of 2003 and partly consists of former members of the band Open Hand.

Origin of name

Former singer Anthony Green had initially suggested the name Saosin for the band.

It’s pronounced SAY-OCEAN, and it’s a Chinese proverb from the 15th and 16th centuries. It means “small heart”. Fathers used to marry off their youngest sons for money and used to tell them that they weren’t marrying for love, that their wife doesn’t matter. She could die at anytime so don’t get attached. They had to love with caution and raise their sons to be cold and unfeeling as well. I found it in the 8th grade and loved it, I used to name all my old bands that and write songs about it.

— Anthony Green

Beginnings - Translating The Name

Saosin started off as the brainchild of two musicians; Justin Shekoski, a former guitarist in As Hope Dies, and Beau Burchell. They planned to be called "The Gift", but there was another band by that name. They recorded an instrumental demo, with Justin and Beau, and MIDI drums. The first song on this demo was called You're No Angel and had Beau Burchell on vocals. They were trying to find a vocalist and they asked Keith Goodwin from the band Days Away. He said, "I know this guy Anthony". They sent him 2 instrumentals and he recorded vocals over them. The two songs became known as Seven Years and Translating the Name, the first two tracks on the Translating the Name EP. Anthony flew in from Philadelphia and stayed for five days, and recorded the vocals to the EP in about 4 nights.

Drummer Pat McGrath was brought in to do drumming for the Translating the Name EP. Saosin had been trying hard to get Alex to join the band, but he was in Open Hand, and was touring with them. They picked up McGrath who was a studio drummer. According to Burchell, the Translating the Name EP was 3/4 of McGrath's ability. "There were certain passages where we were like, 'Dude, play something else no one is going to be able to play.' And he would do it, and we were shitting ourselves. He was there doing the most insane rolls, all while doing stick twirls, all like it was nothing, and we were shitting our pants." When Beau met Pat, they handed him the Open Hand CD and told him that was the drummer they wanted to have in the band. Beau asked Pat if he could stylize the drumming to make it sound like Alex’s sort of style.

Departure of Anthony Green

Translating the Name, started off as an instant success, especially through online sources such as Myspace and Flickr. The band was actually approached by numerous record companies before playing their first show due to the soaring popularity of the EP. However, the band's vocalist Anthony Green left after the release of their first EP and later formed the band Circa Survive. Anthony was very homesick and said he was missing his family. He says he felt bad for leaving his friends in a tough situation without a singer, but he "would have gone crazy had he stayed any longer." A public, nationwide audition then took place. Beau Burchell has stated in interviews that, "The main things that we are looking for now, is someone that does not do drugs, someone who can actually sing live, and someone who is good looking and fun to get along with. Oh, and they have to have a really dry sense of humor, because the rest of us do." After the public audition process and several guest vocalists on demos, Cove Reber, previously the vocalist of the bands Mormon In The Middle and Stamp Out Detroit, was announced as their new permanent lead singer.

Cove sent in his demo tape, which was an acoustic demo with "Mookie's Last Christmas". The demo has since leaked onto the internet. It is widely speculated to have included a few songs from Translating the Name. When Beau first heard the demo, he thought it was Anthony pulling a trick on them.

Bassist Zach Kennedy also parted from the band early on, leaving because of personal issues and to focus on his art career. He later went on to play bass in Ashlee Simpson's band. He was replaced in Saosin with Chris Sorenson.

Full-Length Debut - Saosin

During 2005, the band toured the United States in the Warped Tour. A video to the song "Bury Your Head" recorded during their tours has also been released. The band is currently signed to Capitol Records, and released their full-length debut album on September 26,2006 which sold over 35,000 copies in its first week. The record saw a change to a softer tone as the band tried to distance themselves from other artists of the same genre.

Saosin Tour Cycle

Saosin toured on International Taste of Chaos Tour. They also toured the United States with Bleeding Through and Senses Fail.

In early May 2007 Saosin headed to Australia to perform in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. The band was supported by A Static Lullaby and other Australian local bands. In the summer of 2007, they were part of the Projekt Revolution tour, headlined by Linkin Park. Other appearances include Placebo and My Chemical Romance.

In late 2007 they headlined a tour with Alexisonfire, Envy on the Coast, and Norma Jean.

Come Close Live DVD

Chris Sorenson, bassist of Saosin, confirmed that a live show would be released in 2008. The disk set will consist of hi-definition concert footage and audio from their November 3rd show at The Theater of Living Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The release date is set for March 11, 2008. It will also contain various live songs on a CD.

Saosin 2008 Tour

Saosin confirmed that they would tour from January 21st to February 8 with Armor For Sleep, Meriwether, and The Bled; from February 9 to February 16 Fear Before The March of Flames would join the tour. Chris Sorenson stated on a blog on Saosin's Myspace page that the band hopes to start pre-production on the follow-up to their 2006 album after the completion of the tour.

Saosin performed in Singapore on the 7th March 2008 as the opening performance for Incubus, on their Light Grenades Tour

Discography

Albums

Date of Release	Title	Label	US Billboard Peak
June 17, 2003	Translating the Name EP	Death Do Us Part
September 6, 2005	Saosin EP	Capitol
September 26, 2006	Saosin	Capitol	#22
March 11, 2008	Come Close	Capitol

• Note: When pre-ordered, Translating the Name came with an Acoustic bonus disc.
• Note: The Saosin EP is sometimes referred to as the "Warped Tour EP" or the "Black EP". It was not intended to be an official release, but was intended to be a free sampler that would be distributed during the Warped Tour. Capitol Records, the band's label, did not allow it and instead released it as an EP.

Singles

Year	Title	Chart Positions			Album
		US Hot 100	US Modern Rock	US Mainstream Rock
2003	"Seven Years"				Translating the Name
2003	"3rd Measurement in C"				Translating the Name
2006	"Bury Your Head"				Saosin
2006	"Voices"		#25		Saosin
2007	"You're Not Alone"				Saosin
2007	"It's Far Better to Learn"				Saosin

Demos

Saosin has released many instrumental and individual demos, but no official demo tapes. A detailed list can be found here.

Compilation tracks

• A Santa Cause: It's a Punk Rock Christmas (2003) – "Mookie's Last Christmas" with Anthony Green on Vocals
• Music on the Brain Volume 1 (2004) – "I Can Tell There Was An Accident Here Earlier" with Cove Reber on Vocals
• The Mission Family Spring Sampler 05 (2005) – "Penelope (Acoustic)" (Pinback Cover) with Cove Reber on Vocals
• Atticus... Dragging the Lake Volume 3 (2005) – "Bury Your Head" with Cove Reber on Vocals
• Take Action! Volume 5 (2006) – "Sleepers" Demo
• The Best of Taste of Chaos (2006) – "I Wanna Hear Another Fast Song (Live)" (UK Edition Only)
• 2007 KROQ New ROQ (2006) – "Voices"
• The Best of Taste of Chaos Two (2007) – "Follow and Feel"
• Burnout Dominator (2007) - "Collapse"
• Chew It Out!: Stride Gum CD Sampler (2007) – "Sleepers (Live)"
• Saw IV: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2007) – "Collapse"
• Burnout Paradise (2008) - "Collapse"

Unreleased tracks

• "Mookie's Last Christmas" (Acoustic) with Cove Reber on Vocals
• "I Can Tell There Was An Accident Here (Demo)" with Anthony Green on Vocals
• "I Can Tell There Was An Accident Here Earlier (Demo)" with Cove Reber on Vocals
• "Uphill Battle" with Cove Reber on Vocals

Music videos

• "Seven Years" (2003) from Translating the Name
• "3rd Measurement in C" (2003) from Translating the Name
• "Bury Your Head" (2005) from Saosin EP
• "Voices" (Live Water Street Music Hall - Rochester, NY) (2006) from Saosin
• "Voices" (2007) from Saosin
• "You're Not Alone" (2007) from Saosin

Others

• "Penelope" (Acoustic) (Pinback cover) (2005)
• "Time After Time" (Acoustic) (Cyndi Lauper cover) (2007) - Sessions@AOL

External links

• Saosin's official website
• Saosin's official MySpace page
• Recent Live Photos
• Synthesis.net July, 2007 Podcast Interview with Anthony Green formerly of Saosin
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