The Starting Line

The Starting Line is an American pop punk band based from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that formed in 1999.In 1999, the band that would become The Starting Line was initiated in Churchville, Pennsylvania via an e-mail from guitarist Matt Watts to vocalist/bassist Kenny Vasoli. It asked if the then fourteen-year-old Vasoli, who was at that time in a band called Smash Adams, was interested in "Jamming and shit", as the message title read. Only a few weeks later, Vasoli found himself rehearsing with his future bandmates Watts, guitarist Mike Golla and drummer Tom Gryskewicz. That year, Smash Adams released a tape, Batteries Not Included. It had 7 songs, of which only 4 were mastered. One song from that tape was incorporated into another bands work, 5 Days Ahead. They used a Smash Adams song, Kathleen, in an intro that was set inside of a car with two people talking. It was playing faintly in the background. Soon, the band started touring under the name Sunday Drive, selling out home-made merchandise and a self-recorded demo cassette titled Four Songs. Their first official release was a three-way split with The Jimmy Tuesday Band and The Commercials contributing three songs each, released on KickStart Audio in 2000.

Sunday Drive was soon approached by We the People Records and asked to produce a recording session (the infamous We the People Records Sessions). Set for a release in December 2000, the twelve songs were initially planned to become the band's debut full-length With Hopes of Starting Over on We the People Records, but they ended up serving only as demos for tracks on future releases, as the band signed with Drive-Thru Records in April 2001.[1] On Drive-Thru, they soon released their debut EP With Hopes of Starting Over. They later found out, the name Sunday Drive was already taken by a Christian rock band, so they changed their band name to The Starting Line. The band has said there is no significance behind the name, it was the only name they all could agree upon.[2]

On July 16, 2002, almost exactly one year after the release of their EP, the full-length Say It Like You Mean It followed. The songs ranged from energetic and fast-paced to melancholy and calm, dealing with performing on stage ("Given the Chance"- "I can't wait to hit the stage/and say hello/To Jersey!"), vacation ("Left Coast Envy"- "Vacation's everything we need!/Can I sell this sunrise/In return for a sunset?") and getting even with Vasoli's ex-girlfriend Karina ("Up & Go", "Hello Houston", "Cheek to Cheek", among others). The hit single "Best of Me" and its two music videos, as well as the second single "Leaving", received heavy radio and TV airplay, securing The Starting Line a spot on the Warped Tour. A clip of "Up & Go" was played during an episode of the short-lived television series from Fox, John Doe! The episode aired December 13, 2002, and was entitled 'The Mourner.' "Up & Go" was also included in the full-length trailer for the movie She's The Man, which starred Amanda Bynes.

Due to their desire to put out new material, the band decided to release an all-unplugged EP, recorded in three sessions over the following year. The first three songs ("Make Yourself at Home", "Selective", and "Playing Favorites") (recorded in The Prize Fight's Bob Jones' bedroom in August 2002), the second session ("The Nightlife" and n acoustic version of "Best of Me") (recorded in Vasoli's basement in March 2003) and the last track ("Lasting Impressions") (recorded on the band's touring bus in April 2003) became The Make Yourself at Home EP, released on November 25, 2003. The CD and the DVD version issued simultaneously, featuring an acoustic set performed live at Skate & Surf 2003 in Asbury Park, New Jersey, would be their last releases put out solely on Drive-Thru Records, as The Starting Line was signed by Geffen Records soon afterwards.

Their major label debut, Based on a True Story, came out in May 2005. Lyrically, the band dissociated themselves from the post-relationship formula that was predominant on their previous records. The otherwise very positive and cheerful album was overshadowed by several rather angry songs, written to spite the band's record label. Songs like "Inspired by the $" featured lyrics that are unmistakably directed at Geffen: "Someone/Get to the point/Get it across!/To the boys at the top of the ladder I'm climbing up/I have my doubts". Another section of the song refers to a meeting the band had with the label's executives, where The Starting Line was asked to write more radio-friendly songs in the vein of New Found Glory's Catalyst (2004) and recreate "Best of Me" ("Just stay the same way/Do it like you did it before/Remain the same shape", followed by "If I did it again/Then Lord stop me /Then God help me now/Lord help me out").[3]There were not many happy songs, with only one real "love song", "Stay Where I can See You". The album was far more successful than the band's 2002 effort and sold 42,000 copies within its first week, as opposed to its predecessor's 11,000.[4] The release was followed by the semi-headlining Nintendo Fusion Tour with Fall Out Boy, kicking off in September 2005. The band brought with them a new addition to their live performances, keyboardist Brian Schmutz. A friend of Vasoli's, the two had short lived side-project called Statue in 2004. A few dates into the tour, The Starting Line were — at their request — released from their record deal with Geffen, and became free agents.[5] Vasoli describes their time with Geffen: " It was kind of like having a sort of hot girlfriend that never talks to you. You say, "Oh yeah, I 'm dating this supermodel, but she's been in France for three years and doesn't really call me... but she promises that when she gets back we're REALLY gonna start to get serious. It was always an imaginary relationship."[6]

In early January 2006, the band signed with Virgin Records. The band released their third full-length album "Direction" on July 31, 2007, containing the single "Island" which was written about and for Vasoli's girlfriend of the last four years, Michelle. The album had songs like "What You Want", "21", Birds" and "Direction". "Island" was the group's lone charting single, peaking at #21 on the Billboard Modern Rock charts.[2] The album peaked at #30 on the Billboard 200 chart, but fell off the chart four weeks later. To date, the band's highest ranking on the chart was #18 with their second album "Based on a True Story". The band completed the 2007 Warped Tour and began their nationwide headlining tour the following September.

On November 10, 2009, The Starting Line released their first Live CD/DVD entitled "Somebody's Gonna Miss Us." The Live CD/DVD documents the band's formation and growth through their last tour and final show at Bamboozle 2008.

Members

Kenny Vasoli
Matt Watts
Mike Golla
Tom Gryskewicz
Brian Schmutz