The Exies
The Exies are an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1997. Their name, "The Exies", is short for "The Existentialists". Their two Virgin Records releases, Inertia (2003) and Head for the Door (2004), have sold over 400,000 copies combined.
History
The Exies formed in 1997 when singer and guitarist Scott Stevens drafted bassist Freddy Herrera and drummer Thom Sullivan to form a new group. Stevens' friend Chris Skane played guitar in an early incarnation of The Exies, but left citing other priorities. Skane was then replaced by guitarist David Walsh.
Stevens picked the name "The Exies" from a John Lennon biography, stating on Rockline (11/9/2002) that it was the only Beatles-related name left that was not taken. When the Beatles were touring around Hamburg, Germany in the 1960s, they encountered three distinct social groups among the kids: the mods, the rockers, and the art students (who referred to themselves as "the existentialists"). John Lennon coined the term "the exies" to refer to the art students.