From First to Last
From First to Last is an American post-hardcore band formed in Tampa, Florida by Matt Good, Scott Oord, and Parker Nelms in November 1999. The current line-up consists of Matt Good, Travis Richter, and Derek Bloom.
The band released their first EP, Aesthetic, in 2003, which they recorded with founding member and vocalist Phillip Reardon. Reardon left the band in 2004 due to personal and creative differences. After signing with Epitaph Records, the band recruited Sonny Moore as their new vocalist.
The band's first two albums, Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Bodycount and Heroine, were both underground successes, selling a combined total of 304,000 copies in the United States by 2008 even with a lack of radio airplay. The band cultivated a large following on MySpace during this period, with the band's songs receiving over 20 million streams on the platform by March 2008.
Following the departure of Moore in February 2007 to pursue a solo career, the band added bassist Matt Manning, and Good moved to lead vocals/guitar. After signing with Suretone Records, the band issued their third, self-titled studio album in 2008. It received mixed reviews, and despite receiving a high-profile marketing campaign from said label, the album undersold expectations. The band moved to Rise Records in 2009, and not long after, Richter left the band. Their fourth studio album, Throne to the Wolves, was released in March 2010. In July of the same year, the band took a break.
In November 2013 the band re-formed with Periphery vocalist Spencer Sotelo as the new lead vocalist, and Richter rejoined the band. They released their fifth album Dead Trees in April 2015. Sotelo departed the band in July 2016. Former vocalist Sonny Moore rejoined in January 2017. In May 2020, Matt Good admitted that while there are a few tracks that could be on a new album, he is unsure if it will ever come to fruition.
History
Formation and ''Aesthetic'' (1999–2003)
First Too Last was created in November 1999 in Tampa by Matt Good, Michael Blanchard and Scott Oord. Oord played bass, while Good took on lead vocals and also played guitar. Parker Nelms was the drummer, and held practice at his house. When the band began to travel, Nelms was replaced by Steve Pullman due to his age. This rounded out the lineup that, for the next three years, would play small shows in Florida.In 2002, Good joined the grindcore band The Color of Violence, where he met guitarist Travis Richter, and bassist Joey Antillion. Some time later, Greg Taylor joined on drums and wrote 4 songs, in which the Aesthetic Demos were created. After hearing the demos of what would become their first EP, Phillip Reardon and Derek Bloom joined the band. By the end of the year, they had changed their name to From First To Last.
In 2003, the band released their debut EP Aesthetic on Four Leaf Recordings which featured the vocals of Reardon, Good and Richter. The EP was an underground success, and during that year, the band toured heavily across the United States with bands such as Spitalfield and Alexisonfire. On September 5, 2003, From First To Last parted ways with Joey Antillion, who was subsequently replaced by Jon Weisberg for the band's remaining tour dates for that year. On November 13, 2003, the band announced that they had signed to Epitaph Records, and said they were planning on recording their debut album in January 2004.
''Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Bodycount'' (2004)
After the Aesthetic EP, the band wanted to move Matt Good to lead vocals. However, Good was reluctant to take on both lead vocal and lead guitar duties. He wanted From First to Last to have a frontman to connect with the crowd better. Using the social networking site MySpace, Good came in contact with a guitarist and singer from California, Sonny Moore. Moore flew to Valdosta, Georgia, where Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Bodycount was being recorded. He was set to be the band's rhythm guitarist. However, when the other band members heard Moore singing "Featuring Some of Your Favorite Words", they decided that he was much better suited for lead singer than guitarist.Matt Good wrote the album in two weeks. Moore came in after the music was tracked and completed the vocals. Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Bodycount was released on June 29, 2004. The album went on to sell over 100,000 copies in the United States by 2006.
From late May to mid-June 2005, From First to Last participated in the "Dead by Dawn" tour with bands Emanuel, Halifax and He Is Legend.
''Heroine'' (2006)
The band went to Radio Star Studios in Weed, California to record their second album, produced by Ross Robinson. As their previous bassist Weisberg had been formally asked to leave the band due to internal conflicts, producer Ross Robinson asked Wes Borland, the original Limp Bizkit guitarist, to play bass on the album. Borland later played several tours with the band. The album was released on March 21, 2006. It opened on the Billboard albums chart at #25, with first-week sales of over 33,000. Shortly thereafter in April, they signed to major label Capitol Records after bidding between that label and Warner Bros.From mid-March to mid-May the band toured alongside Fall Out Boy, Hawthorne Heights and The All-American Rejects for the "Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour" in support of the release of Heroine.
FFTL then did a short European Tour with various bands. The band then played several dates on the 2006 Vans Warped Tour, but were forced to drop out due to surgical removal of a nodule on Moore's vocal cords. He received his second nodule surgery in early July. Following his recovery, From First to Last went out on the "World Championship Tour" supporting Atreyu along with Every Time I Die and Chiodos. While on that tour, Moore once again had vocal cord problems and had to leave the tour. The band had planned to have guitarists Good and Richter cover Moore's vocal duties for the duration of the tour until singer of Chiodos, Craig Owens, insisted that he provide lead vocals for their sets. Atreyu eventually forced From First to Last to drop the tour. The band later explained, "Our plan to enable us to play the rest of the tour was disregarded and as our crew was setting up for the show in Worcester, MA we were informed that we were being kicked off of the tour. Understand that it was not our choice to leave this tour... we were forced to leave." Atreyu then returned a statement about the controversy concerning From First to Last's departure, saying, "They couldn't perform as FFTL and are no longer on this tour."
Moore's departure, lineup instability and self-titled album (2007–2009)
In February 2007, lead singer Sonny Moore left the band to pursue a solo career. His decision to leave was based on his urge to create his own music, and also due to the fact that singing in the band was putting immense strain on his vocal cords, resulting in serious damage which needed multiple surgeries. Moore posted new recordings on his Myspace and was part of a band called Sonny and the Blood Monkeys. Moore now writes, produces, and performs music under the alias/stage name Skrillex, winning multiple Grammy Awards for his electronic dance music and helping bring the dubstep genre to a mainstream audience.After Moore's departure, From First to Last faced a crisis. Their label, Capitol Records, had dropped them due to financial problems. Without a vocalist, label, permanent bassist, or any money, the band almost split. Matt Good decided to take on lead vocals while still providing a backup guitar role. The band also quickly picked up Matt Manning to as bassist. The band then spent their remaining money on a studio in which to continue work on their already-written third album.
The remaining members of From First to Last finished a headlining tour from July 21 through August 5 with guests Alesana, Vanna, Brighten, and Four Year Strong. Shortly before recording another album, the band played for a portion of the "Show Must Go On" tour with Hawthorne Heights, Secondhand Serenade, Powerspace, and Brighten, but later cancelled their dates on the last part of the tour to open for Deftones on a separate Canadian tour.
After completing a full mix of their new material, From First to Last was picked up by Suretone Records. Shortly after, they re-entered the studio to record their album again, this time with a professional crew and better quality. The band recorded this time in Los Angeles, with producer Josh Abraham and seasoned engineer Ryan Williams.
At midnight on November 14, 2007, they released the first single from the album, "Two as One", on their Myspace account, and they later played that song live on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. A video was made for the song "Worlds Away" which was highly publicized. Billboard premiered the album's next single "We All Turn Back to Dust" on January 23, 2008.
Suretone Records organised a large scale marketing campaign for From First to Last in order to increase the band's mainstream exposure, which included partnerships with MySpace, Hot Topic and MTV. Most notably, Suretone negotiated a publishing deal with Electronic Arts which guaranteed that From First to Last's songs would appear in the next eleven video games released by the studio, including Madden NFL 09, FIFA 09 and Need for Speed: Undercover.
Despite the album's marketing campaign, the album received mixed reviews and undersold expectations, only reaching number 81 on the Billboard 200 chart.
From First to Last began their fall headlining tour, "RATHER BE SLAYIN' N00BZ", starting November 1 with guests Blessthefall, A Skylit Drive, and Vanna. Around the middle of the tour, the guests changed to Envy on the Coast, Pierce The Veil, Four Year Strong, and Mayday Parade.
On November 29, From First to Last announced they were going to be a part of the 2008 Hot Topic "Take Action Tour". They played at the MTV Winter Valencia in Spain on March 6. On December 6, they announced they were going to be part of the 2008 Vans Warped Tour.
On May 6, 2008, From First to Last released their self-titled album, and on June 20, hit the road on the Vans Warped Tour for its entirety.
On June 28, From First to Last updated their band members section of their MySpace, making Chris Lent a full-time member.
From the end of September to October 12, From First to Last played on The Blackout's "Sleep All Day, Party All Night" tour in the UK, along with The Medic Droid and We Are The Ocean.