Randy Torres is a guitarist, drummer, keyboardist and background vocalist
from
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
.
He has previously played for the bands
Project 86, a Christian rock group, and
Crash Rickshaw. He has filled in as rhythm guitarist for the band
Demon Hunter and as keyboardist, guitarist, percussionist and background vocalist for
Anberlin on a recent tour.
[ He has worked as a producer/engineer for Aaron Sprinkle, and for the A&R division of Tooth & Nail Records. He is now a composer for film & TV. He currently is working on a project with Ryan Clark called NYVES (pronounced "knives"),][ funded through ]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 ...
.
History
Randy Torres began his musical career in 1996, when he formed Project 86, alongside vocalist Andrew Schwab, drummer Ethan Luck, and bassist Matt "Bean" Hernandez. However, Torres and Schwab quickly became the only original members, as Hernandez departed to play for Unashamed, while Luck went to play for The Dingees. The band would begin to take off after hiring Torres' longtime best friend Steven Dail and drummer Alex Albert, who had previously both been a part of Innermeans. The four recorded their debut album, which was '' self-titled'', and released it through BEC Recordings. After that album, the band signed to 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 ...
and re-released their sophomore album, '' Drawing Black Lines'', which saw high commercial success. Around this time, Torres, Dail, Schwab, and Albert would be joined by a fifth member for a brief time, with Corey Edelmann of No Innocent Victim joining the band. The band would go on a tour titled ''Kings of the Game'' tour, alongside P.O.D., hed PE, and Linkin Park.
Torres was one of the band's key songwriters, during his tenure, alongside Dail. Between the two, a majority of the song structures were created for the next several records, including '' Truthless Heroes'', '' Songs to Burn Your Bridges By'', '' ...And the Rest Will Follow'', and '' Rival Factions''. During this time, he would also work with Aaron Sprinkle, as an additional producer and engineer. However, in 2009, Torres would depart from the band, as it was no longer enjoyable. Despite this, he was credited on the band's next record, '' Picket Fence Cartel'', even though he did not record on it. Dail, however, did use material from Torres' demos, hence why he was credited. Following his tenure with the band, he continued to work with Sprinkle for a few years, as well as tour with Demon Hunter, until he became A&R at Tooth & Nail Records. During his time at the label, he signed bands such as I Am Empire
I Am Empire is an American rock band from San Jose, California. Formed in 2008, the band currently consists of Austin Lyons (lead vocals) and Joshua Case (bass and vocals). The band's first label release, ''Kings'', was released by Tooth & Nail R ...
and The Letter Black. He would then leave his position to tour with Anberlin in 2010. Once the tours finished, he reached out to a contact he had during his time with Sprinkle, who worked at Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...
. Torres would then be hired by Microsoft and began working with them on video games as a composer.
After he worked with Microsoft, he would eventually leave to get into the film industry, working on sound, with the contact who helped him at Microsoft helping him once more. While involved in the industry, he worked on films such '' Suicide Squad'', '' Dunkirk'', and a plethora of others. As a side project to his main career, Torres formed the project known as NYVES, which featured him and Ryan Clark, a longtime friend of Torres' and the lead vocalist of Demon Hunter and Training for Utopia. The project, an extreme departure from anything the two had done previously, aside from Clark's project Low & Behold. NYVES released the album, ''Anxiety'', came out in June 2015. The project also released an EP, ''Pressure EP''.
Bands
Current
* NYVES (2014–present)
* The Celebrated Heroes (solo)
Former
* Project 86 (1996-2009)
* Monstruos del mar
* Electric Legs
* Crash Rickshaw (2001–2008)
Touring
* Demon Hunter - guitar (2009)
* Anberlin - rhythm guitar, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (2010)
Session
* Capital Lights
Capital Lights was an American Christian pop rock band from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Formed in 2002 as Aftereight (stylized afterEIGHT), the band changed its name after signing to Tooth & Nail Records in 2008. The group initially disbanded in 2009, b ...
- engineering on '' This is an Outrage!'' (2008)
* Falling Up - engineering, guitars and bass on '' Captiva'' (2007)
* FM Static - guitars on '' Critically Ashamed'' (2006)
* Thousand Foot Krutch - guitars on ''Welcome to the Masquerade
''Welcome to the Masquerade'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian Christian hard rock band Thousand Foot Krutch. It was released on September 8, 2009. Trevor McNevan, the band's frontman, has stated, "Yeah, I think the new record is definitely ...
'' (2009)
Selected discography
;Project 86
* '' Project 86'' (1998)
* '' Drawing Black Lines'' (2000)
* '' Truthless Heroes'' (2002)
* '' Songs to Burn Your Bridges By'' (2004)
* '' ...And the Rest Will Follow'' (2006)
* '' Rival Factions'' (2007)
* '' The Kane Mutiny EP'' (2007)
* '' This Time of Year EP'' (2008)
* '' Picket Fence Cartel'' (2009; only writing)
;Crash Rickshaw
* '' Crash Rickshaw'' (2001)
* '' The Unknown Clarity'' (2008)
;NYVES
* ''Anxiety'' (2015)
* ''Pressure EP'' (2016)
Additional musician
* Stavesacre - ''How to Live With a Curse'' (2006; Keyboards)
* Falling Up - '' Captiva'' (2007; Bass and Guitars)
* Ruth - ''Secondhand Dreaming'' (2007; Guitars)
*Ruth - ''Anorak'' (2008; Guitars)
* Showbread - ''Nervosa
''Nervosa'' is an album by the band Showbread. It was released on May 13, 2008, simultaneously with its companion album ''Anorexia''. Nervosa second in a two-CD collection entitled Anorexia Nervosa, which is an accompaniment to the short story '' ...
'' (2008; Guitars and Keyboards)
* KJ-52 - '' Five-Two Television'' (2009; Drum Programming)
* Demon Hunter - '' The World Is a Thorn'' (2010; Backing Vocals)
* Fair - Disappearing World (2010; Guitars)
;Production
* '' Critically Ashamed'' by FM Static (2006)
* '' Captiva'' by Falling Up (2007)
* '' Anorexia'' by Showbread (2008)
* ''Welcome to the Masquerade
''Welcome to the Masquerade'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian Christian hard rock band Thousand Foot Krutch. It was released on September 8, 2009. Trevor McNevan, the band's frontman, has stated, "Yeah, I think the new record is definitely ...
'' by Thousand Foot Krutch (2009)
* '' Dark Dungeons'' (2014, soundtrack)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Randy
Living people
American punk rock guitarists
American heavy metal guitarists
American performers of Christian music
Year of birth missing (living people)
Christian metal musicians
Crash Rickshaw members
Project 86 members