Crash Kings is an American rock band formed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, California in 2006. The members are vocalist–keyboardist Antonio "Tony" Beliveau, his brother, bassist Mike Beliveau, and drummer Tom Roslak. The band's debut album, ''Crash Kings'', was released May 26, 2009, on

Custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency f ...

Universal Motown Universal Motown Records was an American record label that operated as a division of Universal Motown Republic Group. It was the contemporary incarnation of the legendary Motown Records label, and the " urban" half of UMG, although there were som ...

. The first single, "

Mountain Man A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...

", came out on U.S.

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

radio stations in October and entered ''Billboard'''s

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart the following month. It reached #1 on the Billboard Alternative Radio charts in March 2010. The band is known for using analog keyboards, such as the clavinet, with distortion effects and a

whammy bar A vibrato system on a guitar is a mechanical device used to temporarily change the pitch of the strings. Instruments without a vibrato have other bridge and tailpiece systems. They add vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the strin ...

, in place of a typical lead guitar.

History

Brothers Mike and Tony Beliveau grew up in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. An encyclopedia (American Engli ...

, a suburban city north of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

. Tony started playing piano by age six, and began to write music during middle school. After high school, he briefly studied jazz piano at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal Schoo ...

before deciding to return to Boston and ultimately attend the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cou ...

, where younger brother Mike was already a student. After Berklee and relocating to Los Angeles, Tony sent Mike (who had relocated to New York) some recorded tracks he had been working on. Impressed with the tracks and Tony's singing, Mike packed up and moved to LA a week later. A few months after the band's formation, Crash Kings drew the attention of songwriter and record producer

Linda Perry Linda Perry (born April 15, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, and has since founded two record labels and composed and produced hit songs for s ...

, who met with Tony and signed the group to her label,

Custard Records Custard Records is an American record label, best known for its success with English singer-songwriter James Blunt. The label is run by former 4 Non Blondes member Linda Perry and has a partnership with Warner Music Group's Atlantic Record ...

. After the band performed for Sylvia Rhone, president of

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

, Crash Kings were directed to

Dave Sardy David Stuart Sardy (born 1967), more commonly known as D. Sardy, is an American composer, musician, songwriter, and multiple Grammy winning record producer. He came to prominence as the leader of 1990s noise rock band Barkmarket before turning ...

, who produced the band's eponymous debut album for Custard/Universal Motown. Released on May 26, 2009, it reached number 30 on ''Billboard'''s U.S.

Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

albums chart. The album's first single, "

", entered the ''Billboard''

chart in November and peaked at #1 on March 28, 2010. The band has toured with such artists as Chris Cornell,

Anberlin Anberlin is an American alternative rock band formed in Winter Haven, Florida in 2002. Since the beginning of 2007, the band consists of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, a ...

Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots (also known by the initialism STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California, that originally consisted of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals), and Eric K ...

, David Cook,

Jet Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to: Aerospace * Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines ** Jet airliner ** Jet engine ** Jet fuel * Jet Airways, an Indian airline * Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline * Journey to Enceladus a ...

, The Bravery, Mason Jennings, and Rooney. Crash Kings have since released a second album, titled ''Dark of the Daylight'', raising funds for the project via the

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, K ...

platform.

Band members

* Antonio Beliveau – lead vocals, piano, clavinet, keyboards * Mike Beliveau – bass, backing vocals * Tom Roslak – drums, percussion

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crash Kings Alternative rock groups from California American musical trios Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups established in 2006 Custard Records artists Universal Motown Records artists Republic Records artists