All (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = All
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Los Angeles, California, USA
Genre = Punk rock
Pop punk
Years_active = 1987–present
Label = Cruz, Interscope, Epitaph
URL = [http://www.allcentral.com/ Official website]
Associated_acts = Descendents, Dag Nasty, Down By Law, Black Flag, Only Crime
Current_members = Chad Price
Stephen Egerton
Karl Alvarez
Bill Stevenson
Past_members = Dave Smalley
Scott Reynolds

All is a Fort Collins, Colorado based punk rock band formed by Descendents members Bill Stevenson, Karl Alvarez, and Stephen Egerton.

History

Formation and Cruz Records Years

All formed in suburban Los Angeles in 1987 when Milo Aukerman, the lead singer of The Descendents, left to pursue a graduate degree in biochemistry, forcing the band into a hiatus. The remaining members, guitarist Stephen Egerton, bassist Karl Alvarez, and drummer Bill Stevenson decided to carry on as a band, adopting the title of the Descendents’ last studio album, "All", as their official moniker.

Enlisting former Dag Nasty and DYS singer Dave Smalley on vocal duties, All released their first two albums in 1988: "Allroy Sez" and the EP "Allroy for Prez" (both distributed by Cruz Records) to critical acclaim. In 1989, Smalley left the band, and new vocalist Scott Reynolds joined. With Reynolds, All released four more albums: 1989’s "Allroy's Revenge" (which included the single "She's My Ex"), 1990’s "Allroy Saves", 1992’s "Percolater", and the 1990 live album "Trailblazer".

The band lived in a small office complex (as referenced in the Scott Reynolds-penned song "Box"), and toured nearly nonstop. Following a brief stint in rural Brookfield, Missouri, the band eventually relocated to Fort Collins, Colorado: the centrally-located city made touring the west and east coasts of the country considerably easier. Reynolds left the band in 1993, on a quest to create the world's greatest albumFact|date=August 2008, and was replaced by vocalist Chad Price. The album "Breaking Things" was released in 1993 to generally positive reviews, and the songs "Guilty" and "Shreen" were released as singles.

Interscope/Epitaph Years

All briefly joined major label Interscope Records for 1995’s "Pummel", but disputes over marketing and promotion of the album ended their relationship quickly. The song "Million Bucks" was released as a single and a video, but the album ultimately received rather mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. All was drafted by Epitaph Records shortly after.

At this time, Milo Aukerman, now a full-time biochemist, returned to the Descendents and recorded their 1996 comeback album "Everything Sucks", also on Epitaph. Stevenson, Alvarez, and Egerton continued to tour and record with both bands, eventually releasing All's critically acclaimed 1998 album "Mass Nerder", 2000’s "Problematic", and the 2002 Descendents/All live split "Live Plus One".

According to a 2004 interview with Bill Stevenson, All is no longer under contract with Epitaph Records, and any new All material will be released on their own label, Owned & Operated Records.

Future

The band has previously talked about having two albums in the works, however there has not been any news on them in some time. One album, which was written and partially recorded in early 2002 while the band was recording The Descendents’ album "Cool To Be You", is reported to consist of all new material with the familiar All sound, while the other is planned to be much more experimental, with a heavier emphasis on instrumental compositions.

As of now, however, All is in a period of inactivity, with all the members currently working on other projects across the country. Bill Stevenson and Karl Alvarez both live in Fort Collins, Colorado; Stevenson is currently playing with Only Crime and The Lemonheads, and running his own recording studio, The Blasting Room, while Alvarez has contributed bass to The Lemonheads’ 2006 album and has toured with Gogol Bordello. Stephen Egerton currently lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with his family, running his own studio, Armstrong Records. Stephen has several music projects in the works. The first, 40Engine, is with former vocalist Scott Reynolds. Also, an instrumental band named Slorder and lastly, he is playing bass and drums with a guitarist named Jason Crowley which they have named amazingly enough, Crowley/Egerton. Chad Price is playing in the Colorado alt-country band Drag the River and tours playing bass for Rocky Votolato.

On January 26, 2008, Egerton, Stevenson, and Alvarez reunited with Scott Reynolds to play a set of All songs as an opening act for Drag the River at the Aggie in Fort Collins. In mid-April of that year, the band announced that they would be reuniting once again with Reynolds for Chicago, Illinois's 'Riot Fest' on October 12.

Relationship with The Descendents

Since Aukerman’s return to the Descendents, both bands have continued to coexist.

Although there is a definite musical similarity between the two, The Descendents have proven to be much more popular than All, much to the latter’s dismay. The band often points out that their songs are basically one in the same: often, The Descendents will record demo songs that end up as All songs, and some All songs often end up as Descendents songs. When the Descendents play live, they’ll usually include All songs in their set, and vice versa.

One notable difference in the two bands is that All's front men, specifically founder Dave Smalley and current singer Chad Price, are politically conservative, while Descendents front man Milo Aukerman is politically liberal.

Members

Current

* Bill Stevenson - drums (1987 – )
* Stephen Egerton - Guitar (1987 – )
* Karl Alvarez - Bass (1987 – )
* Chad Price - Vocals (1993 – )The band is known to switch instruments when playing live with Bill on Guitar, Chad on Bass, Stephen on Drums, with Karl singing.

Former

* Dave Smalley - Vocals (1987 – 1989)
* Scott Reynolds - Vocals (1989 – 1993)

Discography

Albums

*"Allroy Sez" (1988)
*"Allroy's Revenge" (1989)
*"Allroy Saves" (1990)
*"New Girl Old Story" – Tonyall (1991)
**All recorded an album as the backing band for Tony Lombardo, so the album was credited to Tonyall.
*"Percolater" (1992)
*"Breaking Things" (1993)
*"Pummel" (1995)
*"Mass Nerder" (1998)
*"All" (Best of album) (1999)
*"Problematic" (2000)

EPs/Singles

*"Allroy for Prez" EP (1988)
*"She's My Ex" (1989)
*"Dot" (1992)
*"Shreen" (1994)
*"Guilty" (1994)

Live

* "Trailblazer" (1989)
* "Live Plus One" (2001)

External links

* [http://www.allcentral.com/ Allcentral - The Official Website for All]
* [http://www.myspace.com/all All's Official MySpace Page]
* [http://www.drumogre.com Bill Stevenson's Official Website]
* [http://www.scottreynoldsmusic.com Scott Reynolds‘ Official Website]
* [http://www.stephenegerton.com Stephen Egerton‘s Official Website]