Texas Is the Reason
Encyclopedia
Texas Is the Reason was an American post-hardcore
band founded by former Shelter
guitarist Norm Arenas and 108 drummer Chris Daly in 1994. They disbanded in 1997. They are seen as one of the cornerstones of the ’90s emo movement and remain very influential in modern emo.
Hare Krishna
band Shelter, formed Texas Is the Reason with friend and then fellow Hare Krishna devotee Chris Daly (drums), formerly of the band 108, which played music of a similar kind to Shelter's, some time in the early 1990s in New York City
. They both desired to leave the macho attitude and religious preaching of their former projects. With former Fountainhead
bassist Scott Winegard (bass), the three recruited one-time bassist for Buffalo's Copper
, Garrett Klahn (guitar/vocals), to round out the quartet.
The name "Texas Is the Reason" is lifted from a Misfits song, entitled "Bullet". It also makes reference to a conspiracy theory
about the assassination of John F. Kennedy
, in which the president was killed in a plot arranged by Texas Democrats in order to give Lyndon B. Johnson
control of the White House. Releasing three songs on an EP
, Texas Is the Reason became an underground smash and helped usher in an era of similarly motivated and styled emo bands. They then released a split single with The Promise Ring
through Jade Tree Records
. The following year (1995) they released another split single with Samuel through British record label Simba.
What followed was their first and only full-length album, Do You Know Who You Are?, named after the last statement John Lennon
supposedly heard. Produced by Jawbox
's J.Robbins and released on Revelation Records
, Do You Know Who You Are? brought a lot of major-label courtship to Texas Is the Reason, who were being hailed as the "next big thing" in the growing punk
explosion on MTV
. Song titles from the album, such as "The Magic Bullet Theory" and "Back and to the Left", continued the allusion to one of the Kennedy assassination theories
.
In 1997, on the eve of signing with Capitol Records
, the band flew overseas for a European tour. Ongoing intra-band tensions arising from the major label attention reached their apex. The night of the final stop of the tour in Bielefeld, Germany, Daly and Arenas agreed before the show that if the show was "awesome", it would be their last. Arenas later related, "I walked on stage and we opened with 'Antique' and when Garrett started singing, there were eight hundred Germans singing along with us. I looked at Daly and knew that this was over."
The members headed to various musical projects, with Klahn to New Rising Sons and Daly to indie outfit Jets to Brazil
. Winegard started putting out other bands' records through an imprint he co-owns called GrapeOS, while playing with other musicians in a band called the Americans. The only member to go inactive in the world of indie rock
was guitarist Norm Arenas, living in Chicago
and DJing for almost three years.
Winegard and Arenas joined Charlie Walker of Chamberlain
and Jonah Matranga of Far
and Onelinedrawing
to form the band New End Original, which lasted from 2000 to 2003. Klahn's New Rising Sons released two EPs through GrapeOS, were dropped by Virgin Records
, and then disbanded; he now plays in the band Atlantic/Pacific with John Herguth of House & Parish. Daly left the now-defunct Jets to Brazil
sometime after their 2002 release, Perfecting Loneliness.
After nine years apart, the band decided to reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of the release of Do You Know Who You Are. A single show was scheduled for New York City's Irving Plaza on November 25, 2006, but a second show was added for the following night due to an unexpectedly quick sell-out of the first show. In interviews leading up to the reunion, the band noted their long-time disappointment at not playing a final show in their home city. The band also insisted that the reunion shows were a one-time event, and that they had no plans for further shows: "While we empathize with everyone who wants to come to the show, but can't come for any reason, this will not become a tour and we are not reforming the band. That is as clear a statement as anyone can make."
Post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a genre of music that developed from hardcore punk, itself an offshoot of the broader punk rock movement. Like post-punk, post-hardcore is a term for a broad constellation of groups...
band founded by former Shelter
Shelter (band)
Shelter is a Hare Krishna hardcore punk band formed by Ray Cappo.-Brief recent history:In 2001, the band released the album The Purpose, The Passion...
guitarist Norm Arenas and 108 drummer Chris Daly in 1994. They disbanded in 1997. They are seen as one of the cornerstones of the ’90s emo movement and remain very influential in modern emo.
Biography
Norm Arenas (guitar), guitarist for the hardcoreHardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
Hare Krishna
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness , known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization. It was founded in 1966 in New York City by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada...
band Shelter, formed Texas Is the Reason with friend and then fellow Hare Krishna devotee Chris Daly (drums), formerly of the band 108, which played music of a similar kind to Shelter's, some time in the early 1990s in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. They both desired to leave the macho attitude and religious preaching of their former projects. With former Fountainhead
The Fountainhead (band)
The Fountainhead is the name Irish rock band from the 1980s. The band name refers to the novel of the same name by Ayn Rand. Their album titled Voice of Reason is named after the publication with works of Rand, which appeared posthumously....
bassist Scott Winegard (bass), the three recruited one-time bassist for Buffalo's Copper
Copper (band)
Copper was an emo or emocore band based in Buffalo, NY in the mid-1990s. They released a self-titled 7-inch in 1994 before releasing a full-length album, Drag Queen, in 1994...
, Garrett Klahn (guitar/vocals), to round out the quartet.
The name "Texas Is the Reason" is lifted from a Misfits song, entitled "Bullet". It also makes reference to a conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
about the assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, in which the president was killed in a plot arranged by Texas Democrats in order to give Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
control of the White House. Releasing three songs on an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Texas Is the Reason became an underground smash and helped usher in an era of similarly motivated and styled emo bands. They then released a split single with The Promise Ring
The Promise Ring
The Promise Ring is an American emo band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In their early years, their music was usually classified as emo, but their later albums could be described more accurately as indie pop. They split up in 2002 and temporarily reunited in 2005...
through Jade Tree Records
Jade Tree Records
Jade Tree International, Inc. was an independent record label formed by Darren Walters and Tim Owen in August 1991, out of Wilmington, Delaware....
. The following year (1995) they released another split single with Samuel through British record label Simba.
What followed was their first and only full-length album, Do You Know Who You Are?, named after the last statement John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
supposedly heard. Produced by Jawbox
Jawbox
Jawbox was an alternative rock band from Washington, D.C., U.S.. Its original members were J. Robbins , Kim Coletta and Adam Wade...
's J.Robbins and released on Revelation Records
Revelation Records
Revelation Records is an independent record label focusing originally and primarily on hardcore punk. The label is known for its role in the evolution of hardcore and metallic post-hardcore with important releases by bands such as Youth of Today, Warzone, Sick of It All, Quicksand, Side By Side,...
, Do You Know Who You Are? brought a lot of major-label courtship to Texas Is the Reason, who were being hailed as the "next big thing" in the growing punk
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...
explosion on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. Song titles from the album, such as "The Magic Bullet Theory" and "Back and to the Left", continued the allusion to one of the Kennedy assassination theories
John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories
There has long been suspicion of a government cover-up of information about the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. There are also numerous conspiracy theories regarding the assassination that arose soon after his death and continue to be promoted today...
.
In 1997, on the eve of signing with Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, the band flew overseas for a European tour. Ongoing intra-band tensions arising from the major label attention reached their apex. The night of the final stop of the tour in Bielefeld, Germany, Daly and Arenas agreed before the show that if the show was "awesome", it would be their last. Arenas later related, "I walked on stage and we opened with 'Antique' and when Garrett started singing, there were eight hundred Germans singing along with us. I looked at Daly and knew that this was over."
The members headed to various musical projects, with Klahn to New Rising Sons and Daly to indie outfit Jets to Brazil
Jets to Brazil
Jets to Brazil was an American rock band formed in 1997. It was founded by Blake Schwarzenbach, former frontman of Jawbreaker. When Schwarzenbach relocated to Brooklyn, New York, after Jawbreaker had disbanded, he reunited with friend Jeremy Chatelain and the two began working on four-track...
. Winegard started putting out other bands' records through an imprint he co-owns called GrapeOS, while playing with other musicians in a band called the Americans. The only member to go inactive in the world of indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
was guitarist Norm Arenas, living in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and DJing for almost three years.
Winegard and Arenas joined Charlie Walker of Chamberlain
Chamberlain (band)
Chamberlain is an indie rock band from Indianapolis & Bloomington, Indiana, previously having been known as Split Lip, they changed their name and their general sound away from post-hardcore punk in 1996.-History:...
and Jonah Matranga of Far
Far (band)
Far is a band from Sacramento, USA.-Releases :After a number of local releases including their first demo tape Sweat A River, Live No Lies and two independent albums Listening Game and Quick they signed to Epic/Immortal Records and released their first major record, Tin Cans With Strings To You...
and Onelinedrawing
Onelinedrawing
Onelinedrawing was the solo project of Jonah Matranga, best known as the vocalist for the indie rock band Far. It traces its origins back to 1995, when Matranga began making a series of home recordings that "weren't made with the intention of anyone hearing them." Four years worth of these...
to form the band New End Original, which lasted from 2000 to 2003. Klahn's New Rising Sons released two EPs through GrapeOS, were dropped by 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...
, and then disbanded; he now plays in the band Atlantic/Pacific with John Herguth of House & Parish. Daly left the now-defunct Jets to Brazil
Jets to Brazil
Jets to Brazil was an American rock band formed in 1997. It was founded by Blake Schwarzenbach, former frontman of Jawbreaker. When Schwarzenbach relocated to Brooklyn, New York, after Jawbreaker had disbanded, he reunited with friend Jeremy Chatelain and the two began working on four-track...
sometime after their 2002 release, Perfecting Loneliness.
After nine years apart, the band decided to reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of the release of Do You Know Who You Are. A single show was scheduled for New York City's Irving Plaza on November 25, 2006, but a second show was added for the following night due to an unexpectedly quick sell-out of the first show. In interviews leading up to the reunion, the band noted their long-time disappointment at not playing a final show in their home city. The band also insisted that the reunion shows were a one-time event, and that they had no plans for further shows: "While we empathize with everyone who wants to come to the show, but can't come for any reason, this will not become a tour and we are not reforming the band. That is as clear a statement as anyone can make."
Albums
- Do You Know Who You Are?Do You Know Who You Are?Do You Know Who You Are? was Texas Is the Reason's only full length album.-Track listing:All tracks by Texas Is the Reason# "Johnny on the Spot" – 4:15# "The Magic Bullet Theory" – 2:48# "Nickel Wound" – 4:36...
(1996) - Your Choice Live Series 037Your Choice Live Series 037Your Choice Live Series 037 is a live split album by indie/emo bands Texas Is the Reason and Samiam.It was recorded at Raucherkammer, Wiesbaden, Germany on May 28, 1996...
– Split live album with SamiamSamiam-Biography:Samiam was formed in late 1988 after the breakup of the Gilman club mainstay Isocracy. Their first show was in January 1989 with Christ on Parade. They released records through New Red Archives and Hopeless Records in the US and Burning Heart Records in Europe. In the mid-'90s, the band...
. Released in 1999 on Your Choice RecordsYour Choice RecordsYour Choice Records was a German independent record label founded in 1988 by producer Tobby Holzinger. The label specialized in independent punk music, including live releases of German and other international acts...
EPs
- Texas Is the Reason Released November 21, 1995 on Revelation RecordsRevelation RecordsRevelation Records is an independent record label focusing originally and primarily on hardcore punk. The label is known for its role in the evolution of hardcore and metallic post-hardcore with important releases by bands such as Youth of Today, Warzone, Sick of It All, Quicksand, Side By Side,...
- Split 7" with Samuel Released in 1995 on Simba Recordings and Art Monk ConstructionArt Monk ConstructionArt Monk Construction was founded by Eric Astor and Garrett Rothman in State College, Pennsylvania in 1993. When Rothman left State College to study abroad, Astor was joined in managing the label by Rich Kraemer, a childhood friend from Tempe, Arizona, and the two additionally formed Lumberjack...
- Split 7" with The Promise RingThe Promise RingThe Promise Ring is an American emo band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In their early years, their music was usually classified as emo, but their later albums could be described more accurately as indie pop. They split up in 2002 and temporarily reunited in 2005...
Released in May 1996 on Jade Tree RecordsJade Tree RecordsJade Tree International, Inc. was an independent record label formed by Darren Walters and Tim Owen in August 1991, out of Wilmington, Delaware....
as JT1024