Artist description This Sacramento California Pop/Punk/Rock band has had success with it's singles "Bouncing Off The Walls", "Crush", and "4 AM".

Music Style Pop/Punk/Rock

Similar Artists Blink 182, New Found Glory, Fenix TX, All American Rejects, Sum 41, Simple Plan

Artist History This is what I've always wanted to do... write and play music in a band with my friends," says Doug, excitedly. ”When I was a kid, I was forced to take piano lessons and do the whole 'recital' thing. Back then I hated practicing, getting dressed up in a suit and performing classical music. I just wanted to hang out and skate with my friends and listen to music that I was into. I was about thirteen when my parents finally gave up on the piano thing and I picked up guitar. I played it all the time, started writing songs, and I was always asking my friends to start a band. I even bought a really crappy drum kit for my best friend and he learned to play, just so I would stop bugging him. We had about six songs of our own, plus some covers, that we would play at all these community centers and skate parks... pretty much anywhere that would let us play. My buddy and I moved to Northern Cal for college, but playing was much more important then classes,” he laughs. ”Willknots had played a couple shows in Sacramento, and the local music scene was really cool, so I decided to move there. Our band is really lucky because the local scene and Sacramento radio is very supportive. Anyway, we recorded an EP and put it out ourselves. We sold it at shows and the local indie record stores took it on. We sold out of all 1,500 copies we made. We were playing a lot of shows in N. California and people were showing up. The station in Modesto, B93, saw what was happening and asked us to play their 1999 Summer Fest concert with The Flys and Better Than Ezra along with a bunch of other national acts.” Later that same year Sacramento's alternative station KWOD added ”Crush” into full time rotation and Live 105 played it on their Local Lounge show. KWOD played "Crush" and it consistently made their daily Top 5 requests. B93 also asked Willknots back for the 2000 Summer Fest.�In 2001, Willknots recorded another EP, which again received airplay on KWOD, Live 105 and B93. KWOD invited Willknots to play their Really Big Show 4 in September of 2001 with Blink-182, Sum-41, New Found Glory and other major label bands. "We couldn't believe what was happening. We were on stage at AutoWest Amphitheater in front of a thousands of people, playing with bands we looked up to."Despite all their success, things were changing in the band, and they needed another guitar player. "Shawn had seen Willknots play a couple of times, heard our songs on the radio, and a friend of his told him that we were looking for a second guitarist. He gave me a call and we talked about what we both wanted to do with music and what he liked about the band. He learned acouple of the songs and came down to rehearse. We rocked out for a couple hours, and that was it," says Doug. "It was a perfect fit right from the start." Shawn remembers, ”We were in the same scene and I was in another band and that was not doing much. I liked Willknots music. They had a lot of kids coming to their shows and had put out a CD and I really wanted to be part of what they were doing." Doug chimes in, "Shawn totally brought a ton of energy to the music, to the songwriting and to the show. His playing just worked with my lyrics.The songs got better, the live show was taken up another level and the fans seemed to be into it even more.” Willknots audience was growing fast. ”We played The Warped Tour's Sacramento shows in 2000 and 2001 and in San Francisco in 2002. We were a band that had started for fun, to piss off our parents and cause we loved to play. There is nothing that matches the intensity of a live show with the crowd singing along to your songs.” Doug says. ”Our drummer had some issues. We knew that we were going to have to get someone new." Doug said. "Shawn and I were in Guitar Center one day picking up some gear and heard this guy wailing away on the drums. Shawn looked at me and said, that's what we're missing! He walked right up to him (Kyle) and gave him our old CD and said ”Check this out and call us if you're interested”... we got a call in less than an hour. With Kyle on drums and Jeff on bass we knew we had the right band chemistry and talent to go forward.” Willknots recorded another new batch of songs in late July of 2002. KWOD added ”Bouncing Off The Walls” in September of 2002. In the always tough superstar-filled fourth quarter, ”Bouncing...” exploded on the air with Top 5 requests for five weeks and ten weeks of airplay. Live 105's Aaron Axelson battled ”Bouncing Off The Walls” on his Sound Check show, where it beat the best bands San Francisco had to offer for three weeks in a row. ”It's a little weird now because so much of our music is about escaping responsibility, not growing up and now people are talking to us about the band's ”career.” I guess playing in a band really has a way of prolonging being a kid. Everyone wants to hold onto the raw, unfiltered emotions we all have but most of the time we end up holding them back. We want to make people feel those emotions! Feel something! We are just going to keep doing what we do. We write songs about things we experienced, like girls driving you crazy, about how fucked up things can get. Our music explores everything from hooking up to getting your emotions stomped on, from pulling stupid stunts to the serious shit we all go through. As far as we're concerned, sometimes it's OK to get a little nutty and say fuck it. Now we just want to go out and play our music, experience new stuff. We just re-recorded ”Crush” cause we wanted to try something different. We want to make some people laugh, piss some people off and hopefully never grow up. I think we'll show you can be successful and not take things too seriously”

Group Members Douglas Deibel - Vocals/Guitar Shawn Richardson - Lead Guitar/Vocals Kyle Peasely - Drums Jeff McEntire - Bass

Albums 2001 EP "Hook Line and Sink Her" (1,500+ copies Sold), 2002 4 Song Demo (4,000 copies sold), 2003 "Before It Shatters" June Release Date

Press Reviews RADIO "I was pleasantly surprised with the run Wilknots had on my Sunday night new music show Soundcheck... a Sacramento band winning three weeks in a row on the local music challenge -going head-to-head with the best of the SF/Bay Area local music scene, is truly impressive!" …Aaron Axelsen, MD, LIVE 105 (San Francisco) "It is safe to say this song (Bouncing Off The Walls) has been one of our biggest phone records of 2002. It has consistently been in our nightly "Really Big Countdown" (at or near #1 for weeks!)We started the song out mainly after 3pm, but with the overwhelming response, we have opened it up to all dayparts." …Ron Bunce, PD, KWOD 106.5 (Sacramento) "We've been working a relationship with these guys for a few years now... without a doubt one of the 2 or 3 local bands on deck as the next to break out of Sac. …Boomer, MD, KWOD (Sacramento) "... great response at our Summer Fest 1999 (sold out 10,000+), with their autograph line lasting over 1 1/2 hrs... so many requests, we had them back the next year!" …Donna Miller, MD, B93.1 FM (Top 40 Modesto, CA) "I know they have had the biggest buzz for local bands in the past year" …Curtis Johnson, OM, KRXQ, 98 Rock (Sacramento) PRESS "Willknots are a great band, we featured them multiple times including a cover story... they rocked our Summer Sammies concert series 3 years as well... the attention they are getting is long over due!" Jerry Perry - Alive & Kicking Magazine (Sacramento) "Solid pop-punk. This band gets it." …Mike Savage, Director of A&R, A&R Netwrok - Network Magazine Group "The buzz around this band has become intense… emerged as one of the bands to watch for..." …Colin Kutch, Zero Magazine (San Francisco) LIVE " I've never seen a band that blows the competion away and packs my club the way these guys do, someone is going to wake up tomorrow and wish they signed them first!." …Mark Earl, Owner, Boardwalk (Orangevale, CA) "Willknots rocked Seattle Music Festival... crowd loved their energetic performance... great live show..." …Dave Wall, Seattle Music Festival Coordinator (2002) " Created quite a buzz within the local music scene ... sure to create a stir within the industry." …Crystal Resendez, Store Manager, Virgin Megastore (Sacramento) "Willknots are one of our best selling local artists, at all 4 of our locations... kids are constantly coming in and asking about them... huge Sacramento buzz..." …Mary Gebhardt, Dimple Records, Consignment Manager (Sacramento)

Location Sacramento, CA - USA

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