SAVE FERRIS

Save Ferris was a ska punk band formed circa 1995 in Orange County, California. Their name is a reference to the 1986 filmFerris Bueller's Day Off.

The band formed in 1995 after the dissolution of a number of Southern California third-wave ska bands. Los Pantelones members Brian Mashburn (guitar/vocals), Bill Uechi (bass), Eric Zamora (saxophone), and José Castellaños (trumpet) joined with Larryvocalist Monique Powell, Nuckle Brothers trombonist Brian "T-Bone Willy" Williams, and drummer Marc Harismendy to form the original Save Ferris.

Financed by Uechi and Mashburn's families, as well as Powell's sister, the band released their debut EP Introducing Save Ferris on Starpool Records in 1996. Later that year, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences gave the band a Grammy showcase award for best unsigned band, earning them a recording contract with Epic Records. The band released their debut full length for the label in 1997. It Means Everything featured several re-recorded tracks from the EP, several new songs, and a cover of Dexys Midnight Runners' "Come on Eileen," which the band released as a single. The band also released "The World is New" as a single which was featured in the film The Big Hit as well as being used in Tara Lipinski's program as a professional skater in the 1998 Skate TV Championships. The album charted on the Billboard Top 200 at number 75 that year.

The band toured extensively in support of the album, opening for bands such as Sugar Ray, The Offspring, and Reel Big Fish, and Powell also provided vocals on the Reel Big Fish song "She Has A Girlfriend Now." In April 1998, they made their television debut on HBO's music series Reverb and made an on-screen appearance in the film 10 Things I Hate About You. The album proved to be a moderate success in the United States, selling over 400,000 copies, and spawned three Top Ten hits in both Japan and Mexico.

Winter 1998 saw the departure of drummer Marc Harismendy. Evan Kilbourne joined shortly thereafter, and the band began writing their follow-up to It Means Everything. The appropriately-titled Modified was released in October 1999, approximately one year later and charted at number 136 in the Billboard top 200 that year. The album saw the band moving away from their ska-punk roots and into pop-rock territory. The band toured with fewer ska-punk and pop-punk bands as a result, opening for bands likeLit.

BANE

Bane, a hardcore punk band, began as a side project between Aaron Dalbec (then of Converge) and Damon Bellardo. Aaron approached Matt Firestone to sing and they played under the moniker of Gateway for a few shows, before Firestone departed ways to focus on other projects. Dalbec then approached Aaron Bedard (who had previously sung for the Worcester, Massachusetts hardcore band Backbone) about singing for Bane. They went into the studio in December 1995 with a few friends and released a 5 song demo. The next year saw the release of their first EP, and many shows throughout central Massachusetts. The home crowd reactions at local venues The Space, The Espresso Bar and The Palladium were positive. Spring of 1997 saw the release of the Free To Think, Free To Be EP, where 1998 saw the release of the Holding This Moment 7" and CD collection, plus their first US Tour. Like many other hardcore bands Bane are known for their promotion of tolerance and unity within the scene.

In earlier albums Bane claimed straight edge, however it was never their main lyrical focus. The current original members are straight edge; Bob Mahoney and Stu are not. They still perform early songs with straight edge references, such as "Count Me Out" which includes the lyric "Just like this X on the back of my hand, I'm not going nowhere". However the lyrics to the song "Wasted On The Young", on Bane's latest album The Note can be interpreted as criticism of people who ignorantly claim straight edge too early in their life.

BAD BRAINS

Bad Brains is an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1977. They are widely regarded as among the pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members objected to this term to describe their music. They are also an adept reggae band, while later recordings featured elements of other genres like funk, heavy metal, hip-hop and soul. Bad Brains are followers of the Rastafari movement.

Originally formed as a jazz fusion ensemble under the name Mind Power, Bad Brains developed a very fast and intense punk rock sound which came to be labeled "hardcore", and was often played faster and more emphatically than the music of many of their peers. The unique factor of the band's music was the fact that they played more complex rhythms than that of other hardcore punk bands, also adapting non-punk style guitar riffs and solos into their songs.

Bad Brains have released 8 studio albums (one of which is entirely composed of instrumental versions of their past material). The band broke up and reformed several times over the years, sometimes with different singers or drummers. The band's classic and current lineup is singerH.R. (Human Rights), guitarist Dr. Know, bassist Darryl Jenifer, and drummer Earl Hudson, H.R.'s younger brother.

INSIDE OUT

Inside Out was a hardcore punk band from Orange County, California. It was fronted by Zack de la Rocha, later of Rage Against the Machine.

Inside Out existed from August 1988 to roughly fall of 1991, releasing a single 7" EP, No Spiritual Surrender, in 1990, on Revelation Records (later converted to six song CD). They played up and down the West Coast and even toured the East Coast once before their breakup in 1991. They had written material for a second record, to be titled "Rage Against the Machine"(whence the name for de la Rocha's next band came), but the band broke up shortly after their guitarist, Vic DiCara, left the band to become a Hare Krishna monk. Inside Out performed on California radio station KXLU, showcasing a number of new songs including the song "Rage Against the Machine", which had become a staple in their recent live sets. The quality of the recording on the show, while adequate for a radio broadcast, is not on par with that of the band's EP recording. Copies of their live radio appearance and various live sets have circulated the tape trading underground and file sharing world for years as popular items. Some of their songs focus on issues in society and in the USA (Redemption, Burning Fight) and some are personal to members of the band (Sacrifice, By a Thread). Many of their songs themes are spiritual, but not necessarily religious