Usurp Synapse
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox musical artist
Usurp Synapse is a screamo band from Lafayette, Indiana. The group combines fast and frantic grindcore influenced drumming and guitar work, and raw screams.
HistoryEdit
Usurp Synapse formed in 1998 in Lafayette, Indiana.<ref name="Photos from 1999 [Archived]">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Their line up changed somewhat frequently during their initial run. Antonio Leiriao, their second vocalist, originally lived in New York<ref name="FMF"/> before he moved to Indiana in 1999 to join the group. Most of their music was released through split albums with other artists, perhaps their most famous split being their Just Do It! record with Hassan I Sabbah, which included razor blades. Unconventional marketing methods such as this was utilized by the band throughout their run.
In 2000, they toured the United States along with Jeromes Dream, who they also released a split with, and Racebannon from May to June. This would become the only major nationwide tour for the band. In 2001, they announced plans to do another tour in the United States, Europe, and Japan over the summer. They also announced plans to release a split with Pg. 99, a split with Mara'akate shaped as Indiana,<ref name="AMG">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and what would have been the band's first full-length album, which was under the working title of ATM Diatribe. That same year Mike Dixon (who previously worked in the band Rep Seki) joined Usurp Synapse as the keyboardist.
Later that same year it was announced that all plans, except for ATM Diatribe, had to be cancelled. ATM Diatribe was initially supposed to be released on compact disc and vinyl through Happy Couples Never Last, however that too was cancelled when the band broke up in the spring of 2001. The tracks from the ATM Diatribe sessions, along with the rest of the band's recorded discography, was eventually released on Disinformation Fix, a discography compilation released through Alone Records.
In 2008, the group released A Vile Contamina through their Myspace page for free. The EP included material recorded during their reformative period.
Former members of the band would later join other projects such as Fax Arcana and The Drago Miette, both of whom are now disbanded. Antonio Leirao would move on to the indie rock band Thin Fevers<ref name="MFT">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and is now a funk DJ.<ref name="FMF">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Chance now works as a session drummer in New York<ref name="Mike Dixon's blogspot page">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and was one of the many drummers who played in The Boredoms 2008 88 Boadrums event.<ref name="Rolling Stone Magazine">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Band membersEdit
- Current members
- Antonio Leiriao – vocals (1999–2001, 2023–present)
- John Scott – vocals, keyboards (1998–2001, 2004, 2023–present); bass (2023–present)
- Don Kirkland – guitars (1998–2001, 2004, 2023–present); trombone (2000)
- Travis Chance – drums, percussion (1998–2000, 2004, 2023–present); keyboards (2000)
- Former members
- Mike Dixon – guitars, bass (2000); keyboards (2001)
- Dean Duval – guitars (1998–1999)
- Brandon Harris – guitars (1999–2001)
- Dustin Redington – bass (1998–1999)
- Tony Dryer – bass (1999–2001, 2004)
- Jeremy King – drums, percussion (2000)
- Heather Rae – keyboards (2000)
- Jerry Atwood – keyboards (2000)
- Stephanie Shankel – keyboards, trombone, trumpet (2000)
- Christopher Williams – vocals (2000)
- David Britts – vocals (2000)
TimelineEdit
<timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:75 top:5 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1998 till:{{#time:m/d/Y}} TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1998 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1998 Legend = position:bottom orientation:vertical columns:4
Colors =
id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines1 value:gray(0.4) legend:EP id:Lines2 value:gray(0.7) legend:Split id:bars value:gray(0.95)
BackgroundColors = bars:bars
BarData =
bar:John text:"John Scott" bar:Antonio text:"Antonio Leiriao" bar:Dean text:"Dean Duval" bar:Brandon text:"Brandon Harris" bar:Don text:"Don Kirkland" bar:Mike text:"Mike Dixon" bar:Dustin text:"Dusting Redington" bar:Tony text:"Tony Dryer" bar:Travis text:"Travis Chance"
LineData =
at:03/04/1999 color:Lines1 layer:back at:09/01/1999 color:Lines1 layer:back at:06/01/2000 color:Lines1 layer:back
at:01/01/1999 color:Lines2 layer:back at:04/01/1999 color:Lines2 layer:back at:01/01/2000 color:Lines2 layer:back at:05/01/2000 color:Lines2 layer:back at:07/03/2000 color:Lines2 layer:back at:08/01/2000 color:Lines2 layer:back
PlotData=
width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:John from:start till:06/01/2001 color:Vocals bar:John from:01/01/2004 till:07/01/2004 color:Vocals bar:John from:08/05/2023 till:end color:Bass bar:Antonio from:01/01/1999 till:06/01/2001 color:Vocals bar:Antonio from:08/05/2023 till:end color:Vocals
bar:Brandon from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2001 color:Guitar bar:Dean from:start till:06/01/1999 color:Guitar bar:Don from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2001 color:Guitar bar:Don from:01/01/2004 till:07/01/2004 color:Guitar bar:Don from:08/05/2023 till:end color:Guitar
bar:Dustin from:start till:06/01/1999 color:Bass bar:Tony from:06/01/1999 till:06/01/2001 color:Bass bar:Tony from:01/01/2004 till:07/01/2004 color:Bass
bar:Mike from:04/01/2001 till:06/01/2001 color:Keyboards
bar:Travis from:start till:06/01/2001 color:Drums bar:Travis from:01/01/2004 till:07/01/2004 color:Drums bar:Travis from:08/05/2023 till:end color:Drums
width:3 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:John from:start till:04/01/2001 color:Keyboards bar:John from:01/01/2004 till:07/01/2004 color:Keyboards bar:John from:08/05/2023 till:end color:Vocals
</timeline>
DiscographyEdit
Split releasesEdit
| Year | Album Details | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Index For Potential Suicide/Usurp Synapse
|
1100 black copies, 200 orange copies. 100 copies had special tour edition covers, 20 came with xerox'd covers Split with Index For Potential Suicide. |
| 1999 | Index Of Isolation
|
1000 black colored copies. Split with Emotion Zero. |
| 2000 | Rep Seki/Usurp Synapse
|
1000 picture disc copies, split with Rep Seki |
| 2000 | The Chilling Tale Of Usurp Synapse, As Told By Neil Perry
|
1100 black copies, 100 copies had alternative artwork under the name Comes Around, Goes Around. Split with Neil Perry. |
| 2000 | Just Do It!
|
1000 black copies, 100 white, 5 test pressings. All white copies came with a razor blade with "have fun!" written on it, some copies also included a bandage stuck onto the front cover. Split with Hassan I Sabbah. |
| 2000 | An Aspirin, An X-Ray
|
1300 white copies, 200 black copies, 20 test pressings. 15 copies had alternative cover art. Some copies included a tour pin. Split with Jeromes Dream |
Extended playsEdit
| Year | Album Details | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | In Examination Of
|
First released in 1999 as a 6" consisting of 666 black copies. 25 copies were sold at live shows with alternative artwork. Reissued in 2000 as a 7" consisting of 200 translucent red copies which was only available through mail-order. The first 99 copies of the 6" version came with "blood pills" (pills with fake blood in them) |
| 1999 | This Endless Breath
|
1000 copies were wrapped in paper, 50 copies were tour editions that came with black covers, 50 copies came with cobra covers. All copies came with stickers. |
| 2000 | The Main Ingredient
|
Known as "the penis 7 inch" due to its packaging: The front side of the cover included a flap designed as a penis, and the back side included a hole shaped as a vagina. The 7" only included the title track on both sides, however the second side has "Tour Release of 200" etched on it, making it impossible to play. Limited to 200 pink copies. |
| 2008 | A Vile Contamina
|
Intended to be released sometime in 2004, but shelved soon after completion. It was eventually released for free download on the band's Myspace page in 2008. |
Compilation albumsEdit
| Year | Album Details | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Disinformation Fix
|
Discography compilation that included every single song Usurp Synapse recorded up to that point, including songs from the sessions for the scrapped ATM Diatribe album. |
Compilation AppearancesEdit
| Year | Album Details | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Summertime
|
"More Than Meets The Eye" |
| 2000 | HCNL Sampler V1.07.00
|
"Oh, You Are Sick" |
| 2000 | Songs Of The Dead 2: Idle Hands
|
"Brundle Fly" |
| 2000 | Antipodes
|
"Good Luck With Your Book" |
| 2001 | Relics Of Ordinary Life
|
"..." |