Chris Carrabba

Chris Carrabba
Background information
Birth name	Christopher Ender Carrabba
Born	April 10, 1975 (1975-04-10) (age 36)
Origin	West Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock, emo, acoustic
Years active	1993–present
Labels	Vagrant, Fiddler, Drive-Thru, Tooth and Nail
Associated acts	Dashboard Confessional, Further Seems Forever

Christopher Ender Carrabba^[1] (born April 10, 1975) is the lead singer and guitarist of the band Dashboard Confessional, and is the vocalist for the American emo/indie rock band Further Seems Forever.

Biography

He was born in West Hartford, Connecticut, and then moved with his family to Boca Raton, Florida, when he was 16 years old.^[2] Carrabba's parents divorced when he was three; he moved from Connecticut to Florida with his mom. He is still close to many relatives on his father's side of the family, but not to his father specifically. Carrabba studied education while at Florida Atlantic University.

As a teenager, he lived for skateboarding and punk rock, but he has always had a real passion for music. He sang in the high school choir, and when he was fifteen, his uncle gave him a guitar to which he devoted a great deal of his time. However, it was not until he graduated from high school that Chris became serious about his music. Just after graduation, Chris joined his first band, The Vacant Andys.

Chris went on to college to procure a degree in education while simultaneously playing with The Vacant Andys, and later with The Agency. For several years, Chris taught at an elementary school in South Florida and played with the group, Further Seems Forever. Dashboard Confessional was born when Chris recorded the "Drowning" EP with Fiddler Records. "I started (Dashboard) as a side project from the band I was in," says Carrabba, "I was going through something really tough at the time and since I don't write in a journal, this is what I did with it. It was a good way to get it out of my system. I never thought anyone would hear these songs, but I played some for my friends and one of them who owned a little label talked me into recording." The name Dashboard Confessional comes from the song The Sharp Hint of New Tears. The line "On the way home, this car hears my confessions," brought to mind the phrase "Dashboard Confessional."

Having received his first guitar from his uncle, Carrabba took only a mild interest in his musical talent, preferring to skateboard. He taught himself to play at the age of 15,^[3] and recorded his first solo album, The Swiss Army Romance, for the enjoyment of family and friends^{[citation needed]}

Carrabba was a special education teacher prior to his success with Dashboard Confessional, often keeping a guitar in his office to write songs during downtime.^[4]

Career

Carrabba started his career with the Vacant Andys. In 1998, while playing with the Vacant Andys, he filled in on guitar in New Found Glory, when regular guitarist Chad Gilbert was on tour with his other band, Shai Hulud. In 2001, he joined the band Further Seems Forever for their debut album The Moon is Down, before moving on to found Dashboard Confessional. In 2002, Dashboard Confessional won the MTV2 Award at MTV Music Awards for the video for "Screaming Infidelities." The video was considered the "dark horse" nominee at the time, as it was up against The Strokes, The Hives, Norah Jones, Nappy Roots, and Musiq. The video was directed by Maureen Egan and Matthew Barry. It was filmed in Los Angeles, California, on a shoestring budget.^{[citation needed]}

Reuniting with Further Seems Forever

It was announced on August 24, 2010, that Further Seems Forever would be reuniting with original vocalist Chris Carrabba with the release of a teaser video featuring rehearsal footage of the song The Moon Is Down.^[5]

Guest appearances

• Carrabba appears on the Hot Rod Circuit song "Unfaithful."
• Carrabba provides backing vocals on the Say Anything song "Retarded in Love."
• Carrabba provides backing vocals on the Twothirtyeight album Regulate the Chemicals
• Carrabba also provides backing vocals on the New Found Glory cover of the song The Promise featured on the album From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II
• Carrabba also appears in Notar's "reach"

References

1. ^ "ASCAP: Works written by Christopher Andrew Carrabba". The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. http://www.ascap.com/ace/search.cfm?requesttimeout=300&mode=results&searchstr=1595466&search_in=c&search_type=exact&search_det=t,s,w,p,b,v&results_pp=20&start=1. Retrieved 2007-10-04. 
2. ^ Mueller, Walt (2003). "Dashboard Confessional: Youth culture sings along with Chris". Center for Parent/Youth Understanding. http://cpyu.org/Page.aspx?id=77111. Retrieved 2006-06-18. 
3. ^ The Hook: Dashboard Confessional - Sympatico / MSN Video^{[dead link]}
4. ^ "People: Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional". Celebrity Q&A. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,628307,00.html. 
5. ^ "Further Seems Forever Reunites With Chris Carrabba". Buzzgrinder.com. 2010-08-24. http://www.buzzgrinder.com/2010/further-seems-forever-reunites-with-chris-carrabba/. Retrieved 2011-10-21. 

Persondata
Name	Carrabba, Chris
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Date of birth	April 10, 1975
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