Design the Skyline
Encyclopedia
Design the Skyline is an American experimental metal band from Corpus Christi, Texas
. Formed in 2007, the group was originally known as Extra Large Kids during high school and recorded demo songs while playing in their local area under this name. In 2011, the band gained international attention after being signed to Victory Records
with their song "Surrounded by Silence" and its accompanying video which was negatively received to the point of the band gaining considerable exposure.
The negative reaction was generally due to the song's key structure and sound changes, along with the band members' appearance which was dubbed as "ridiculous" and "scene as fuck." by reviewers. The band's later released debut full-length album, Nevaeh
, subsequently featured a completely different sound to that of "Surrounded by Silence", but was still met with generally poor reviews.
, the band released a demo album
titled Galactical Celebration during the same year of their formation. By the next year, the band released a song titled "Terror at the Tea Party" and it went along with their setlist while playing in their local areas. Drummer, John Martian explained that there was "no real meaning" behind the name Extra Large Kids other than just it being "[us] kids living extra large".
In 2010 the band changed their name to Design the Skyline, referencing a theory created by vocalist Daniel Garza; "It means make your own limits. Don't be afraid to be who you are and don't let anyone try to change who you are." Keyboardist, James "Keebler" Lemos joined around the time of their name change, followed by bassist, Ethan White's joining in 2011, replacing the group's former bassist, Christopher Chapa whom left in April of 2010. During March of 2011, Design the Skyline recorded the video for their single, "Surrounded by Silence" with local production team, Red Island Productions. The setting of the video consisted of the band playing on a set that rendered a forest. Other scenes in the video include the band playing in a cave with prop snow falling down on the members, which was designed from potato flakes and small pieces of cotton. The video's production was completed by May and the band uploaded it onto YouTube
that month. After its release, New York-based band The Bunny the Bear
took notice of it online and showcased it to Victory, which lead to the signing
of Design the Skyline. When the news broke out that Design the Skyline were signed to Victory, criticism for the band was then met at extremely high levels from several locations around the world, with even a lot of the criticism even directed at Victory for signing the band. The band's Facebook
profile was also spammed by users giving insults and some even giving death threat
s. By the end of July, the "Surrounded by Silence" music video garnered more than half of a million views and the group released a song from their upcoming album as a single, titled "Break Free from Your Life". The song was met with a much better response than "Surrounded by Silence", although some critics still panned the band for miscellaneous reasons.
When asked if all the negative acclaim the band encountered with the song and music video for "Surrounded by Silence" hindered or bothered the members, their response was; "At first it did not anymore, people don’t seem to realize that the Surrounded By Silence song was just a demo song and not every band sounds their best on their first demo, you know, and its crazy how much it blew us up!" A music video, at this point, was confirmed to be in the works for "Break Free from Your Life" and the band's debut full-length album Nevaeh
was released on August 16, 2011. Before its release, discussion and reports of the album held claims for it to feature a completely different sound than what the greatly negative-received "Surrounded by Silence" song displayed. The band cited The Doors
and Led Zeppelin
as some of the influences for its sound and structure.
On August 15 (one day before the release of Nevaeh), 16 year-old bassist, Ethan White was fired from the band. The members has stated the reason for it was due to him missing many practice dates and not being well-associated enough, although White created false reasons for the situation, such as it being because of his age. The music video for "Break Free from Your Life" was released on August 30, White is included in its filming. Very soon after White's departure, 20-year old Dean Ramirez, whom was the guitarist of a local Texas metalcore group named Azurah, was announced as the new bassist for Design the Skyline and played in the Nevaeh release show. The following months afterward had the band prepare for their first ever tour, which will begin in December with Northridge-based band, Lions!Tigers!Bears!.
Former members
Singles
Demos
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
. Formed in 2007, the group was originally known as Extra Large Kids during high school and recorded demo songs while playing in their local area under this name. In 2011, the band gained international attention after being signed to Victory Records
Victory Records
Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It is a privately held corporation. It also operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several smaller independent record labels....
with their song "Surrounded by Silence" and its accompanying video which was negatively received to the point of the band gaining considerable exposure.
The negative reaction was generally due to the song's key structure and sound changes, along with the band members' appearance which was dubbed as "ridiculous" and "scene as fuck." by reviewers. The band's later released debut full-length album, Nevaeh
Nevaeh (album)
Nevaeh is the debut album by Design the Skyline, it was released on August 16, 2011 through Victory Records.-Background:The band had ideas to start work on a debut album after changing their name from Extra Large Kids to Design the Skyline...
, subsequently featured a completely different sound to that of "Surrounded by Silence", but was still met with generally poor reviews.
History
Design the Skyline was founded during 2007, originally known as Extra Large Kids, and played throughout high school. While gaining some significant attention through MyspaceMyspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
, the band released a demo album
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
titled Galactical Celebration during the same year of their formation. By the next year, the band released a song titled "Terror at the Tea Party" and it went along with their setlist while playing in their local areas. Drummer, John Martian explained that there was "no real meaning" behind the name Extra Large Kids other than just it being "[us] kids living extra large".
In 2010 the band changed their name to Design the Skyline, referencing a theory created by vocalist Daniel Garza; "It means make your own limits. Don't be afraid to be who you are and don't let anyone try to change who you are." Keyboardist, James "Keebler" Lemos joined around the time of their name change, followed by bassist, Ethan White's joining in 2011, replacing the group's former bassist, Christopher Chapa whom left in April of 2010. During March of 2011, Design the Skyline recorded the video for their single, "Surrounded by Silence" with local production team, Red Island Productions. The setting of the video consisted of the band playing on a set that rendered a forest. Other scenes in the video include the band playing in a cave with prop snow falling down on the members, which was designed from potato flakes and small pieces of cotton. The video's production was completed by May and the band uploaded it onto YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
that month. After its release, New York-based band The Bunny the Bear
The Bunny the Bear
The Bunny the Bear is an American post-hardcore band from Buffalo, New York. Formed in 2008 by Matthew Tybor, also referred to as "The Bunny" hence the rabbit mask and persona he incorporates in the group. Tybor was immediately joined by Chris Hutka, known as "The Bear" whom likewise, wears a bear...
took notice of it online and showcased it to Victory, which lead to the signing
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
of Design the Skyline. When the news broke out that Design the Skyline were signed to Victory, criticism for the band was then met at extremely high levels from several locations around the world, with even a lot of the criticism even directed at Victory for signing the band. The band's Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
profile was also spammed by users giving insults and some even giving death threat
Death threat
A death threat is a threat of death, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or groups of people. These threats are usually designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behavior, thus a death threat is a form of coercion...
s. By the end of July, the "Surrounded by Silence" music video garnered more than half of a million views and the group released a song from their upcoming album as a single, titled "Break Free from Your Life". The song was met with a much better response than "Surrounded by Silence", although some critics still panned the band for miscellaneous reasons.
When asked if all the negative acclaim the band encountered with the song and music video for "Surrounded by Silence" hindered or bothered the members, their response was; "At first it did not anymore, people don’t seem to realize that the Surrounded By Silence song was just a demo song and not every band sounds their best on their first demo, you know, and its crazy how much it blew us up!" A music video, at this point, was confirmed to be in the works for "Break Free from Your Life" and the band's debut full-length album Nevaeh
Nevaeh (album)
Nevaeh is the debut album by Design the Skyline, it was released on August 16, 2011 through Victory Records.-Background:The band had ideas to start work on a debut album after changing their name from Extra Large Kids to Design the Skyline...
was released on August 16, 2011. Before its release, discussion and reports of the album held claims for it to feature a completely different sound than what the greatly negative-received "Surrounded by Silence" song displayed. The band cited The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
and Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
as some of the influences for its sound and structure.
On August 15 (one day before the release of Nevaeh), 16 year-old bassist, Ethan White was fired from the band. The members has stated the reason for it was due to him missing many practice dates and not being well-associated enough, although White created false reasons for the situation, such as it being because of his age. The music video for "Break Free from Your Life" was released on August 30, White is included in its filming. Very soon after White's departure, 20-year old Dean Ramirez, whom was the guitarist of a local Texas metalcore group named Azurah, was announced as the new bassist for Design the Skyline and played in the Nevaeh release show. The following months afterward had the band prepare for their first ever tour, which will begin in December with Northridge-based band, Lions!Tigers!Bears!.
Band members
Current members- Eric Azure - vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
(since 2007) - Matt Ryan - lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, programmingProgramming (music)Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...
(since 2007) - John Martian - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(since 2007) - Julian "Julian Reckless" Ibanez - rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
(since 2007) - Daniel "Dani Doom" Garza - vocals (since 2008)
- James "Keebler" Lemos - keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, programming (since 2010) - Dean Ramirez - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(since 2011)
Former members
- Christopher Chapa - bass guitar (2010)
- Ethan White - bass guitar (2011)
Discography
Albums- NevaehNevaeh (album)Nevaeh is the debut album by Design the Skyline, it was released on August 16, 2011 through Victory Records.-Background:The band had ideas to start work on a debut album after changing their name from Extra Large Kids to Design the Skyline...
(2011, VictoryVictory RecordsVictory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It is a privately held corporation. It also operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several smaller independent record labels....
)
Singles
- "Surrounded by Silence" (2011, self-released)
- "Break Free from Your Life" (2011, Victory)
- "Cybernetic Strawflower" (2011, Victory)
Demos
- Galactical Celebration (2007, self-released)