Mars Electric was an American rock band from

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

History

Lead singer Jacob Bunton first formed the group under the name Wish in Birmingham in 1995. They signed with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

in 1997 and recorded an album, but Atlantic dropped them before releasing any of their material.Interview with Mars Electric
. Ink 19. Accessed February 1, 2008. In 1999, legendary A&R guru

John Kalodner John David Kalodner is a retired American A&R (artists and repertoire) executive. History John David Kalodner was born in Philadelphia; he was a writer and photographer at ''Concert'' magazine. Then by 1972 he became a photographer for various re ...

signed the band to Columbia and released their debut record Beautiful Something in February 2000. The band consisted of Bunton on lead vocals, guitarist Michael Swann (later replaced by Chris Simons), Bassist Carl Ray Hopper, and drummer Matt Finn. The group toured with

Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots, commonly abbreviated as STP, is an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1989. Originally consisting of lead vocalist Scott Weiland, guitarist Dean DeLeo, bassist Robert DeLeo, and drummer :Songs ...

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sol ...

, Live, 3 Doors Down, Nickelback, Vertical Horizon, Alice Cooper and Papa Roach following the album's release. Mars Electric broke up at the end of 2000, and Bunton put together a group called Lynam, which would go on to have its own major-label contract a few years later. However, in 2003, Magnus Soderkvist of Swedish label Atenzia Records learned the group had recorded a second album which was never released, and offered to put it out on his label. The result was ''Fame Among the Vulgar'', released in May 2003.Review of ''Fame Among the Vulgar''
. Ink 19. Accessed February 1, 2008. By this time, Lynam had become Bunton's primary concern, and Simmons went on to play with

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock a ...

later in the decade.

Members

*Jacob Bunton - vocals, guitar (1995-2000) *Carl Hopper - bass (1995-2000) *Matt Finn - drums (1995-2000) *Michael Swann - guitar (1995-1997) *Chris Simmons - guitar (1997-2000) *Jesse Suttle-drums 1995

Discography

*''Beautiful Something'' (

Portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

/ Columbia, 2000) *''Fame Among the Vulgar'' (Atenzia Records, 2003)

References

{{Authority control Rock music groups from Alabama American hard rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups disestablished in 2000 Musical groups from Birmingham, Alabama Atenzia Records artists