We The Living (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = We The Living

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Img_capt = We The Living performs at Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 28, 2008.
Background = group_or_band
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Origin = Baraboo, Wisconsin, U.S.
Genre = Acoustic rock
Alternative
Indie rock
Years_active = 2006–present
Label = flagicon|United States Authentik Artists (management label)
Current_members = John Paul Roney
Benjamin Schaefer
Matthew Holmen
Jeremy “Jasper” Smith
Past_members = Stefan Benkowski
URL = http://www.wetheliving.com

We The Living is a United States alternative rock group comprising singer, songwriter and guitarist John Paul Roney, electric guitarist Matthew Holmen, bassist Jeremy “Jasper” Smith, and drummer Benjamin Schaefer. Their sound draws on several musical genres, including pop, indie rock, melodic rock, and alternative to which the band refers to as melody-driven, British influenced pop-rock. Since forming in Baraboo, Wisconsin, We The Living is now based in Los Angeles.

History

End of The Profits, Beginning of We The Living (2002- 2007)

We The Living began in April of 2007 in Madison, Wisconsin as a project of singer John Paul Roney and drummer Benjamin Schaefer after their band, The Profits, which was renowned within the Wisconsin college music scene [cite web|url=http://badgerherald.com/artsetc/2005/02/01/profits_sell_out_sho.php|title="Profits sell out show at Luther’s"|publisher=The Badger Herald|date=February 1, 2005] , disbanded. Soon after recruiting guitarist Matthew Holmen and bassist Stefan Benkowski, We The Living began to play the same venue circuits that The Profits had formerly commanded. [cite web|url=http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=6502|title="After the Profits"|publisher=The Daily Page|date=February 1, 2005]

However, the music had a very different, more grown-up sound [cite web|url=http://www.onmilwaukee.com/music/articles/wetheliving.html|title="Madison's We The Living matures in time for Summerfest show"|publisher=On Milwaukee|date=July 6, 2007] and pulled from new influences such as Coldplay, Mutemath, Radiohead, The Fray, John Mayer, and others of similar genres. They have often listed Ayn Rand and their objectivist views as a major influence to their music as well. (The name of the band actually derives from the Rand novel We The Living).

Heights of the Heavens (2007-2008)

The band was the first signing to Authentik Artists, a label with a focus on digital marketing and distribution, founded by former Warner/Capitol/Maverick A&R Scott Austin and Legendary Pictures founder Scott Mednick. Under Austin's management the band began work on their debut full-length CD.

We The Living's first album "Heights of the Heavens" was originally released on April 17, 2007. The record was mixed by Mark Needham (Fleetwod Mac, The Killers, Metro Station)and engineered by Sean Lopez of Far. It received much acclaim for its lyrically deft yet soulful sound and allowed the band to headline 180 acts during the 2007 year. These performances also included performing with Angels and Airwaves, Gym Class Heroes, Dashboard Confessional, Katy Perry, Anberlin, Ludo, We The Kings, Relient K, Jack's Mannequin, Say Anything, Hellogoodbye, Circa Survive, The Academy Is…, The Roots, Blessid Union of Souls, Sherwood, Motion City Soundtrack, and the The Color Fred. During this time the band also headlined major musical festivals around the Midwest.

In 2008 the band re-released a remastered copy of "Heights of the Heavens". The new copy also came in different packaging, which they used to launch the concept of Philo, or each person's own life philosophy, and which reflected the significance this subject has had on the band's success, fans, as well as personal lives. Alongside those changes a new band member was added, Jeremy "Jasper" Smith, to replace former bassist Stefan Benkowkski.

Soon after the re-release the band embarked on their new 2008 tour which includes about 200 planned shows at colleges, universities, and venues nationwide. [cite web|url=http://www.madisonmagazine.com/article.php?section_id=918&xstate=view_story&story_id=235916|title="Living the Dream"|publisher=Madison Magazine|date=September 2008]

Reviews, Airplay, and New Projects

On March 25, 2008 We The Living's song “Best Laid Plans” was featured on celebrity blog run by Perez Hilton featured as a band to love. In the blog Perez stated that with the quality of the melody and piano it should be the theme song to the new Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off. [cite web|url=http://perezhilton.com/2008-03-25-listen-to-this-piano-and-melody|title="Listen To This: Piano and Melody"|publisher=Perez Hilton Blog|date=March 25, 2008] After this posting, and Roney's articulate voice and provocative, intelligent lyrics, the band's music began to reach the ear's of many who were not in their immediate show area, which allowed the band to become featured artists on tastemaker sites such as Purevolume, Myspace, AOL Music, Clearchannel, iMeem, and BeBo. Receiving constant positive reviews from newspapers and other publications such as the arts section of the national satirical syndicate, The Onion and AP Magazine the band's airplay soared. Most recently, in the fall of 2008, We The Living's "Best Laid Plans" was selected by Levi's brand clothing to be a part of their nation-wide "Unbuttoned" ad campaign. The band has earned spins on over 200 A/C and college radio station as well as prominent placement on MTV, VH1, E!, G4, Oxygen, Discovery, and MTV2.

We The Living has performed at the South by Southwest Music festival in Austin, Texas, Cornestone Musical Festival, CMJ, the "World's Largest Music Festival" Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as well as Summerfest 2008 which included a headline spot on the Chipotle Rhythm Kitchen Stage. They also spent summer 2008 on the Van's Warped Tour Kevin Says Stage.

The band continues to tour nationally; however, during the summer of 2008 some time was taken off in order to begin work on their next album, "Depths of the Earth". Which also included the band's relocation to Los Angeles. [cite web|url=http://wetheliving.com/blog/?p=67|title="Depths of the Earth"|publisher=We The Living Blog June 15, 2008] On July 13, 2008 "Sound of Love", a song from the new CD, debuted live on Chicago's Fearless Radio. [cite web|url=http://www.fearlessradio.com/podcast/NMB/071208_wetheliving/071208_wetheliving.mp3|title="Sound of Love" Debuts on Fearless Radio|publisher=Fearless Radio Podcast|date=July 13, 2008] The band was most recently featured on the Perez-Levis collaboration site, in which Perez Hilton included "Best Laid Plans" on the website playlist. [cite web|url=http://www.levis.com/perez/|title=Perez Unbuttoned|publisher=Levis.com|date=September 12, 2008]

Discography

Albums

* "Heights of the Heavens (Deus ex Machina)" (2007)
* "Heights of the Heavens(Machina ex Deus)" Remastered and Rereleased (2008)
* "Depths of the Earth" (soon to be released)

References

External links

* [http://www.wetheliving.com] Official Band website
* [http://www.wetheliving.com/blog] , We The Living official Blog
* [http://wetheliving.proboards57.com/] We The Living Forum
* [http://lyricwiki.org/We_The_Living] We The Living Lyrics