Self Against City was a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

from

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

best known for their single "The Process." They formed in 2004 and were the first band to sign to

Rushmore Records Rushmore Records was formerly a subsidiary of Drive-Thru Records. As of September, 2006, Rushmore became an imprint label due to the project being largely unsuccessful. History In 2002, two years before the label's official establishment, Rushmo ...

. The five-piece band made an EP (2005's ''Take It How You Want It''), as well as a full-length album ''Telling Secrets to Strangers'' (2007).

History

Self Against City formed in April 2004 in Sacramento, California, when vocalist Jonathan Michael, guitarists Jack Matranga and Jeff LaTour, bassist Patrick O'Connor and drummer Chris Trombley decided to record songs together. The

quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

pooled their cash and recorded three songs at Fat Cat Studios in Sacramento, California. The songs were uploaded to their

PureVolume PureVolume (formerly Unborn Media) was a website for uploading and streaming of music files, the first independently run of its type. PureVolume was created by Unborn Media, Inc; Mitchell Pavao; Brett Woitunski; and Nate Hudson, all from the Univer ...

profile, a link to which was forwarded to

Drive-Thru Records Drive-Thru Records was a California-based independent record label owned by siblings Richard and Stefanie Reines. The label was partially responsible for popularizing the pop-punk/emo merger sound of the early to mid-2000s. After facing financi ...

owner Richard Reines by a fan of the band. He soon approached the band and asked for more material. Upon hearing the songs, Reines invited the band to play a showcase in Los Angeles for him and Drive-Thru co-owner Stefanie Reines. That same night over dinner, the two offered the band a record deal. On November 6, 2004, Self Against City officially became the first band to sign to Rushmore Records, only a few months after their formation. Their first act as a signed band was to record a cover of

Darlene Love Darlene Wright (born July 26, 1941), also known by the stage name Darlene Love, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She was the lead singer of the girl group the Blossoms and also a solo recording artist. She began singing as a ch ...

's "Alone on Christmas" for the Drive-Thru Christmas compilation '' Happy Holidays from Drive-Thru Records'' and a sixth song for their debut EP, advance copies of which had been given out at a show at the Boardwalk in

Orangevale, California Orangevale is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. The population was 35,569 at the 2020 census, up from 33,960 at the 2010 census. It is located approxima ...

on October 28, 2004. ''Take It How You Want It'' finally hit music store shelves on April 5, 2005, while the band embarked on their first nationwide co-headlining tour with

Houston Calls Houston Calls was an American rock band, based in Rockaway, New Jersey, United States. They formed in 2003 and were signed to Rushmore Records (a subsidiary of Drive-Thru Records). On June 9, 2009, they announced their official breakup.http: ...

the same month. They hit a total of 32 cities across 18 states. Upon returning home in July, LaTour left the band. Though initially the band made efforts to replace LaTour – Blake Abbey of the

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band Abagnale sporadically filled in as a rhythm guitarist – they soon decided to continue on as a four-piece and began writing songs for their first full-length record. Two days before the band left for recording in March 2006, LaTour decided to rejoin. Self Against City began recording their full-length album ''Telling Secrets to Strangers'' in April 2006 with producers Steve Haigler and Mike Watts in

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. According to Jack Matranga, the album was written as an upbeat pop-rock album. After two weeks of tracking and one week of mixing the album was completed. In June 2006, a month after returning home from recording, O'Connor and Trombley left the band. Drummer Justin Barnes (formerly of Simplistic) officially joined the band in August 2006, two days before the band left for tour with

and

Quietdrive Quietdrive is an alternative rock band based in Hopkins, Minnesota, USA, that was formed in 2002. Quietdrive released their first album, '' When All That's Left Is You'', on May 30, 2006, on Epic Records. In April 2008, Quietdrive left Epic Recor ...

, while Hunter MacDonald (whom the band met while on tour with

JamisonParker JamisonParker was an American emo duo in the early to mid-2000s, consisting of singer/guitarist Jamison Covington and guitarist/bassist/drummer Parker Case. While active, they released an EP titled ''Notes & Photographs'' (2003) and an album t ...

temporarily filled in on bass. Towards the end of the year, in search of a new permanent bassist, the group once again recruited fellow vocalist/bassist Blake Abbey in December 2006. In January 2007 Self Against City hit the road with

Boys Like Girls Boys Like Girls (stylized in all caps since 2023) is an American rock band formed in Andover, Massachusetts, in 2005. The group gained mainstream recognition with their self-titled debut album (2006), which went on to sell over 700,000 albu ...

and We The Kings on a nationwide tour across America. Later that year the "SAC Pack" went out on the road with Valencia and Forever the Sickest Kids.

Original members

*Patrick O'Connor – bass *Chris Trombley – drums *Jeff LaTour – rhythm guitar *Jonathan Michael – vocals *Jack Matranga – guitar

Discography

Albums

* ''Telling Secrets to Strangers'' (2007)

EPs

* ''Take It How You Want It'' (2005)

Singles/Videos

From ''Take It How You Want It'': * "The Process (Tonight)" (2005) From ''Telling Secrets to Strangers'': * "

Becoming a Monster Becoming may refer to: Philosophy and religion * Becoming (philosophy), the dynamic aspect of being, in philosophical ontology * Bhava, or Becoming, a concept in Buddhism Arts and entertainment Books * ''Becoming'' (book), a 2018 autobiography ...

" (2007)

Non-album tracks

*"Alone on Christmas" – released on '' Happy Holidays from Drive-Thru Records'' (2004)

Demos

*"RUAH" (2008) *"Satellites" (2008) *"Gold" (2008) *"Band on the Run" (2008) *"Kiss And Run" (2005) *"Held Hostage with an Unloaded Weapon" (2003) *"Echo Off The Headstone" (2008)

References

{{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from California Musical groups from Sacramento, California Drive-Thru Records artists