Mars Electric was an American rock band from

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

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 its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

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, Pennsylvania, and was a writer and photographer at ''Concert'' magazine. He went on to be a photographer for v ...

signed the band to

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

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 (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 ...

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albu ...

, 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 and ...

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 and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this ...

, 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