Moth is a U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band from Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

 formed in 1989. The band has released five albums including a major label release on Virgin Records

Virgin Records

Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...

. They have done live performances on The Late Late Show

The Late Late Show

The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...

, AOL

AOL

AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...

, and Mancow's Morning Madhouse

Mancow's Morning Madhouse

Mancow’s Morning Madhouse is an American radio show hosted by Erich “Mancow” Muller. The show is broadcast to a number of markets of mainly FM radio stations throughout the United States....

, numerous national tours and a UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 tour. They have received critical acclaim from Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

, Blender

Blender (magazine)

Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....

, Spin

Spin (magazine)

Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...

, Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

, Alternative Press, Transworld

Transworld

Trans World or Transworld may refer to:* Trans World , business simulation* Transworld , a publishing company in the United Kingdom-Companies:* Trans World Airlines...

, Stuff

Stuff (magazine)

Stuff is a men's magazine featuring reviews of consumer electronics, and other articles of interest to a predominantly male audience.- UK edition :...

, CMJ

College Music Journal

College Music Journal, commonly known as CMJ, is a music events/publishing company which hosts an annual festival in New York City, the CMJ Music Marathon, as well as a weekly magazine of and for the music industry and college radio stations in the United States and Canada. It publishes top 30...

, Guitar World

Guitar World

Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...

, The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, and Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

.

Formation and early years (1989-1999)

Stenz grew up in Westwood

Westwood, Ohio

Westwood is an urban-suburban neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio.Westwood is Cincinnati's largest neighborhood, and the population of 35,730 makes it the most populous within Hamilton County . It is located north of Price Hill, west of Fairmount, and southwest of Mount Airy.- Prehistory :Traces of...

 after moving from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 when he was 11 years old. At 15 he was a fledgling songwriter who didn't want to sing. He was the reluctant frontman and only ended up singing because no one else would. Stenz attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts

School for Creative and Performing Arts

The School for Creative and Performing Arts is a magnet arts school in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, and part of the Cincinnati Public Schools...

, until he convinced his parents he should just do music. He formed the band in 1989 with bassist Jason Hounshell and drummer Kevin Coleman. They called themselves "Bug" for awhile, after the album by Dinosaur Jr., whom they admired greatly. In 1991, they recorded their first album.

In October 1992, they began working with James Sfarnas and his label Holographic Records. Under Holographic they re-released their self recorded 1st album Moth. That release was well received with indie press and college radio throughout the U.S. Following that release, Holographic took the band back in the studio to record "Deeper Green" and "Skinny Flesh" with producer Bill Halverson and was released nationally as a 45 single in 1993. The single received rave reviews and lots of airplay on college radio and enabled the band to tour for the first time.

Shortly after, Moth began recording songs for their second album 'Big League Fantasy Camp'. The album was released in 1996 after sitting on a shelf for nearly 2 years while Moth toured heavily on their own dime. All songs were recorded at Findlay Street Recording Studios (except "Deeper Green" and "All") and engineered by Jim Sfarnas, Charles Iliff, Paul Bellows and Moth. "Deeper Green" was recorded and engineered by Bill Gwynne at Group Effort Studios and produced by Bill Halverson. The album was mixed at Quadrafix studios in Hollywood, CA by James Sfarnas, and financed by Holographic Records.

Provisions, Fiction and Gear (2000-2002)

-Brad Stenz

While playing with Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...

, Tommy Stinson

Tommy Stinson

Thomas "Tommy" Eugene Stinson is an American musician best known for his work as the bassist for The Replacements and Guns N' Roses as well as the post-Replacements groups Bash & Pop, where he performed guitar duties, and Perfect...

 found out that GnR producer Sean Beavan

Sean Beavan

Sean Beavan is a musician, record producer, and audio engineer best known for his work with Guns N Roses, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, God Lives Underwater, and Slayer...

 was producing for Moth. Tommy showed interest in the project, and he and Josh Freese

Josh Freese

Josh Freese is an American session drummer and songwriter. He is a permanent member of A Perfect Circle, The Vandals, and Devo, having formerly played drums for Nine Inch Nails from late 2005 until late 2008, and for Guns N' Roses from mid-1998 to 2001. Freese has appeared on close to 300 records....

 joined to play bass and drums with the band. After recording the album, Stinson and Freese were replaced by Theodore Liscinski and Adam Willard. Provisions, Fiction and Gear was recorded at Alpha Studios and released on April 9, 2002. "I See Sound" was released as the first single and was featured on Project Gotham Racing 2

Project Gotham Racing 2

Project Gotham Racing 2 is a racing game for the Xbox, developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft. PGR2 is the sequel to the highly successful Project Gotham Racing. It is the second title in the Project Gotham Racing series.As in PGR, the route to advancement in PGR2 differs from...

.

But when EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

/Virgin decided to drop pop diva Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...

, the resulting financial fallout from her hefty signing and $28 million dollar "severance" forced EMI to completely restructure. The company began letting go of employees and, according to Gayol, "everyone but the multi-platinum artists and artists who sold gold." Provisions, Fiction and Gear had just been released, selling only 10,000 to 15,000 units.

Drop Deaf (2003-2004)

After the break with Virgin, and with two of their band members in Los Angeles, Stenz and guitarist Bob Gayol wanted to keep their music going and enlisted a new rhythm section - a two- or three-month process. The band was rounded out with Bill Buzick on bass and Kevin Hogle on drums, and they began to play live shows to test the new sound. Things went smoothly as the band began to record the new album and establish its own label, Vital Records America.

The label was more about distribution than entrepreneurship. "I really didn't care one way or another whether there was a proper label on the record, but there's been discussion about doing distribution across the pond, and the (distribution) company in England only works with labels, so we had to put it on there", Stenz explained.

Initial tracking took place at local studio, Group Effort, with longtime band ally, Jeff Monroe, while the remainder of the tracks were recorded at Stenz's home-based Studio Red. Stenz assumed responsibility for Drop Deaf

Drop Deaf

Drop Deaf is the fourth album by the American alternative rock band MOTH. It was self-produced, and independently released in 2004.-Track listing:# Constantly On – 2:55# Drop Deaf – 2:44# I Want It All – 2:43# Normal – 3:54# Immune to Gravity – 2:40...

s production chores and confesses it was "extremely stressful."

Drop Deaf was distributed through a few online outlets and the band’s website. Despite its limited release, it found some airplay courtesy of ex-Sex Pistol Steve Jones

Steve Jones (musician)

Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols.-Childhood:...

 during his “Jonesy’s Jukebox” show in Los Angeles’ Indie 103.1 radio show. The band toured the UK supported by UK band Tortilla Army

Tortilla Army

Tortilla Army is a British grunge metal band that was formed by singer/guitarist Jim Noble and bassist Sy Morton in Whitstable, Kent in 1998. Tortilla Army went through a succession of members until establishing the four current members, being mainstays Jim Noble and Sy Morton...

 to promote the album and headlined the Create Music Festival in Ashford

Ashford, Kent

Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...

, Kent, UK.

Immune to Gravity and break-up (2005-2007)

Brad's friendship with former A&R exec Todd Sullivan became the catalyst for the next chapter of Moth's lifespan. Brad continued to send songs to Sullivan after the band's departure from Virgin and in spring of 2004, Sullivan headed out to Cincinnati for a look at the new Moth lineup with Kevin Hogle on drums, Eli White on bass, and Eric Diedrichs on guitar. Liking what he witnessed at a downtown festival, Sullivan asked Moth to be the first band signed to his new label, Hey Domingo!.

In 2005, they won the live act of the year at the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards and were the featured artist on MySpace

MySpace

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....

 in November. Immune to Gravity

Immune to Gravity

Immune to Gravity is the fifth album by the American alternative rock band MOTH.-Track listing:# Helpless – 2:55# Revolution – 2:50# Girl on Girl – 2:18# Sticks and Stones – 3:09# Perfect – 3:07# Supermodel – 2:59# Immune to Gravity – 2:37...

 was recorded at The Mouse House in Altadena, California

Altadena, California

Altadena is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately from the downtown Los Angeles Civic Center, and directly north of the city of Pasadena, California...

 and released nationally on March 26, 2006. The song "Perfect" features backing vocals from Inara George

Inara George

Inara Maryland George is a Los Angeles, California-based singer-songwriter, one half of The Bird and the Bee, a member of the band Merrick, with Bryony Atkinson, and a member of the trio The Living Sisters, with Eleni Mandell and Becky Stark...

. "Are You Really For Real?" was recorded during the Immune to Gravity sessions, but was cut from the album.

On June 13, 2006, Stenz created a secret MySpace page under the fictitious band name "Martian Teardrops", uploading several demos for the next album. It contained songs such as "Moth to a Flame" and "Poor Pilot" which became standards in their live set.

In September 2006, Moth performed from the balcony of the Contemporary Arts Center

Contemporary Arts Center

The Contemporary Arts Center is a pioneering contemporary art museum located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The CAC is a non-collecting museum that focuses on new developments in painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, performance art and new media...

 for the MidPoint Music Festival

MidPoint Music Festival

MidPoint Music Festival launched in 2002 in Cincinnati, Ohio, as an independent music festival and industry conference. The annual three-day event occurs each Septemberin the city's downtown and historic Over-the-Rhine entertainment district...

. On October 3, 2006, Stenz announced the new album was expected to be released around spring of 2007. Bassist Eli White left the band to return to college and was replaced by Ryan Malott, lead singer of 500 Miles to Memphis. Stenz ceased working on the new album and went to college to become a pharmacist and Kevin Hogle joined 500 Miles to Memphis.

Post break-up (2008-present)

In August 2008, Stenz became the bassist for Cari Clara and The Turnbull AC's.

On October 18, 2008, Moth played at the American Sign Museum

American Sign Museum

The American Sign Museum in Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, Ohio, preserves, archives, and displays a collection of signs. The museum also displays the equipment utilized in the design and manufacture of signs. Tod Swormstedt began working on the museum in 1999...

 with Eli White on bass.

In March 2009, Stenz formed a cover band with Scott Cunningham, Mike Landis, and Brett Davis called Cover Model.http://www.myspace.com/covermodelbooking

, Stenz hasn't written any new material. 500 Miles to Memphis are touring for their new album We've Built Up to Nothing. Eric Diedrichs's band Cari Clara is working on a new album.

Band members

Moth lineups
(only official members listed)

(1989–1994)	Brad Stenz - vocals 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... , 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... Jason Hounshell - bass Bass guitar The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... Kevin Coleman - drums 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 ....
(1994–1997)	Brad Stenz - vocals, guitar Bob Gayol - guitar Mike Lamping - bass Kevin Coleman - drums 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 ....
(1997–1998)	Brad Stenz - vocals, guitar Bob Gayol - guitar Mike Lamping - bass Dan Allaire - drums Zy Orange Lyn - violin
(1998–2001 studio and touring pros)	Greg Slone - drums, vocals Zach Mechlem - bass, vocals
(2001–2002)	Brad Stenz - vocals, guitar Bob Gayol - guitar Theodore Liscinski - bass Adam Willard - drums
(2003)	Brad Stenz - vocals, guitar Bob Gayol - guitar Bill Buzeck - bass Kevin Hogle - drums
(2004–2006)	Brad Stenz - vocals, guitar Eric Diedrichs - guitar Eli White - bass Kevin Hogle - drums
(2006–2007)	Brad Stenz - vocals, guitar Eric Diedrichs - guitar Ryan Malott - bass Kevin Hogle - drums

Current members

• Brad Stenz - vocals, guitar (1989–present)
• Eric Diedrichs - guitar (2004–present)
• Eli White - bass (2006–present)
• Kevin Hogle - drums (2003–present)

Past members

• Eli White - bass (2004–2006)
• Evan Brass - guitar (2004 UK tour)
• Bill Buzeck - bass (2003)
• Theodore Liscinski - bass (2001–2002)
• Atom Willard - drums (2001–2002)
• Greg Slone - drums (1998–2001)
• Zach Mechlem - bass (1998–2001)
• Zy Orange Lyn - violin (1996–1998)
• Dan Allaire - drums (1997–1998)
• Bob Gayol - guitar (1994–2003)
• Mike Lamping - bass (1994–1998)
• Kevin Coleman - drums (1989–1997)
• Jason Hounshell - bass (1989–1994)

Session musicians

• Greg Slone - drums (1998–2001)
• Zach Mechlem - bass (1998–2001)
• Tommy Stinson
  Tommy Stinson
  Thomas "Tommy" Eugene Stinson is an American musician best known for his work as the bassist for The Replacements and Guns N' Roses as well as the post-Replacements groups Bash & Pop, where he performed guitar duties, and Perfect...
  
   - bass (2000–2001)
• Josh Freese
  Josh Freese
  Josh Freese is an American session drummer and songwriter. He is a permanent member of A Perfect Circle, The Vandals, and Devo, having formerly played drums for Nine Inch Nails from late 2005 until late 2008, and for Guns N' Roses from mid-1998 to 2001. Freese has appeared on close to 300 records....
  
   - drums (2000–2001)

Studio albums

Year	Title	Label	Format	U.S. Chart Position
1991	Moth	Holographic Records	Cassette Compact Cassette The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
1996	Big League Fantasy Camp	Wonder Boy	CD Limited Availability
2002	Provisions, Fiction and Gear Provisions, Fiction and Gear Provisions, Fiction and Gear is the third album and major label debut by the American alternative rock band MOTH.-Track listing:# I See Sound – 3:10# Thinkin' Please – 3:36# Hearing Things – 3:17# Burning Down My Sanity – 4:08...	Virgin Records Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...	CD	#23 (CMJ Radio 200)
2004	Drop Deaf Drop Deaf Drop Deaf is the fourth album by the American alternative rock band MOTH. It was self-produced, and independently released in 2004.-Track listing:# Constantly On – 2:55# Drop Deaf – 2:44# I Want It All – 2:43# Normal – 3:54# Immune to Gravity – 2:40...	Vital America	CD
2006	Immune to Gravity Immune to Gravity Immune to Gravity is the fifth album by the American alternative rock band MOTH.-Track listing:# Helpless – 2:55# Revolution – 2:50# Girl on Girl – 2:18# Sticks and Stones – 3:09# Perfect – 3:07# Supermodel – 2:59# Immune to Gravity – 2:37...	Hey Domingo!	CD

EPs

Year	Title	Label	Format	U.S. Chart Position
2001	Like a Butterfly 'cept Different Like a Butterfly 'cept Different Like a butterfly 'cept Different is an EP by the American alternative rock band MOTH.-Track listing:CD One# I See Sound – 3:10# Hearing Things – 3:17# Cocaine Star – 2:39# Burning Down My Sanity – 4:08CD Two# Stuff – 3:29...	Virgin Records	CD	#12 (CMJ Radio 200)

Splits

Year	Title	Label	Format	Songs
1995	The Lunar Chronicles Vol. 1	Wonder Boy	7"	"Waste the Day" and "Kill to Help"

Compilation appearances

Year	Title	Song
1995	Deary Me Records: Cincinnati Music Vol. 1	"Ride"
1996	Deary Me Records: Cincinnati Music Vol. 2	"Psychomotor"
1997	Deary Me Records: Cincinnati Music Vol. 3	"Choker"
2004	Midpoint Music Festival Compilation	"Constantly On"
2006	Emily the Strange: Strange Music for Strange People Vol. 1	"Revolution"
2006	Marlboro Compilation: Uncover the Rock	"Sticks and Stones"
2007	Backwash Sessions: 3.15.07 The Return!	"Sticks and Stones"

Music videos

Year	Title	Album	Other information
2002	"I See Sound"	Provisions, Fiction and Gear	Directed by Mike Piscitelli and filmed in Hollywood.
2002	"Hearing Things"	Provisions, Fiction and Gear	Shot for 16x9 & Virgin Records at Power Play's Studio A.
2006	"Revolution"	Immune to Gravity	Directed by Paul Grundy and filmed at Jillian's Jillian's Jillian's is a restaurant and entertainment chain with locations in the United States. Jillian's locations as of December 2009 include the original location in Boston, MA as well as Albany, NY; Charlotte, NC; Columbia, SC; Cleveland Heights, OH; Indianapolis, IN; Manchester, NH; Norfolk, VA; San...  in Covington, Kentucky Covington, Kentucky -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile... .

Video releases

Year	Title	Label	Format	Content
2002	Moth	Virgin Records	DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....	Live performances and "I See Sound" music video.