History

Hangnail was formed when Nick Radovanovic and Jacob Dosemagen, who had started a group called Say What when they were only eight years old, met up with Mike Middleton in high school. Matt Wendt joined the band later as a second guitarist, making the group a foursome.

Right after graduation in 1997, Hangnail appeared on the Cornerstone

Cornerstone Festival

Cornerstone Festival is a Christian music festival put on by Jesus People USA and held annually around the 4th of July near Bushnell, Illinois. In a given year, many artists that play at Cornerstone also play at other events such as Creation Festival and mainstream festivals and tours such as the...

 New Band Showcase stage, which enabled the band to engage in a serious career. Subsequent touring allowed the band to build up a strong fan base, and in 1999 Hangnail recorded its self-titled debut album, released on BEC Recordings

BEC Recordings

BEC Recordings is a Christian rock record label that is a subsidiary of Tooth and Nail Records. The label was formed in 1997 in partnership with the EMI Christian Music Group....

.

This release was followed up by extensive touring in 2000, and the band's second release, Facing Changes, was released in 2001 on Tooth & Nail Records

Tooth & Nail Records

Tooth & Nail Records is a record label founded by Brandon Ebel in the U.S. state of California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle, Washington, where it is situated today...

. This release was bundled with an Acoustic EP, which showcased the band's varied style. The band played at Cornerstone Festival in 2001, and began work on a third studio album. In 2003, the band finished recording the album, entitled Transparent, and announced that it would disband after playing a final show at Cornerstone. The album was released immediately following this performance after the group disbanded.

Style

Hangnail's punk-pop style combined rhythms from heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 and melodic punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 with pop music

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 flourishes. According to Allmusic, this style was mixed with "praise-oriented lyrics to come up with a unique sound that rocks wildly with metal riffs and power chords." The band's musical influences varied. According to Mike Middleton, when Hangnail first started the members liked bands such as Nirvana

Nirvana (band)

Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

, Green Day

Green Day

Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...

, and Weezer

Weezer

Weezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...

. Other early influences include Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder

Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...

, MxPx

MxPx

MxPx is a pop punk band from Bremerton, Washington with connections to the Christian punk scene. The band has recorded eight studio albums, four EPs, four compilation albums, a live album, a VHS tape, a DVD and released 20 singles....

, Pennywise

Pennywise (band)

Pennywise is a Californian punk rock band from Hermosa Beach, California, formed in 1988. The name is derived from the monster, It, from the Stephen King novel of the same title....

, and NOFX

NOFX

NOFX is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California .The band was formed in 1983 by vocalist/bassist Fat Mike and guitarist Eric Melvin. Drummer Erik Sandin joined NOFX shortly after. In 1991 El Hefe joined to play lead guitar and trumpet, rounding out the current line-up...

, though according to Middleton the band broadened its listening tastes to a wide variety of genres ranging from classical

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

 to rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

.

Discography

• Hangnail - 1999
• Facing Changes/Acoustic EP - 2001
• Transparent - 2003

Collaborative works

• Start Right Here: Remembering the Life of Keith Green - 2008

Line up

• Jacob Dosemagen - drum
  Drum kit
  A 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 ....
  
  s
• Matt Wendt - guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , vocal
  Singing
  Singing 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...
  
  s
• Mike Middleton - bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , vocal
  Singing
  Singing 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...
  
  s
• Nick Radovanovic - guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , vocal
  Singing
  Singing 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...
  
  s