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WHERE U CAN FIND PANIC! AT THE DISCO STUFF:
PANIC! AT THE DISCO BIO #1
Panic!
At the Disco Biography:
Some bands spend their whole careers just hoping to produce an album as complex, cohesive and
creative as A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. Not Panic! At The Disco: They managed to get it right on the first try.
Before
you grab a cold washcloth, let's diagnose what caused A Fever. It all started in the suburbs of Las Vegas when 12-year-old
Ryan Ross asked his parents for a guitar for Christmas. Not to be outdone, neighborhood
pal Spencer Smith begged his parents for a drum set so the duo could start jamming. "Really, from that first year [playing
instruments], all we really did was cover Blink 182 songs," remembers Spencer, laughing. The band eventually matured,
moved on from all the small things and recruited classmates Brent Wilson and Brendon Urie on bass and vocals, respectively.
With
the final lineup now in place, the newly christened Panic! At The Disco (from a line in the Name Taken song "Panic") started practicing in Spencer's grandmother's
living room and began crafting the songs that would eventually make their way onto A Fever You
Can't Sweat Out. With their flair for experimental instrumentation and intimately observant lyrics, it wasn't long before
the band sparked the interest of Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, who brought the band to Decaydance/Fueled
By Ramen, a label with a green thumb for new talent. "We really clicked with [Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen] and they understood
what we wanted to do as a band," Ryan explains. "They gave us a lot of freedom to do what would make us happy with our music."
Soon after signing, things got serious and started
moving forward at a rapid pace. Spencer and Brent finished high school through distance education; Brendon was taking classes
during the day, practicing at night and barely scraping by his senior year; and Ryan decided to leave college at the end of his freshman year, causing a huge rift between
him and his family. "When I told my dad I wanted to drop out and write music, he definitely flipped out. It was a battle between
me being happy and doing what would make him happy." So minus the blessing of one father, the four friends packed up, left
home for the first time and headed east to College Park, Maryland, to record their debut album with famed producer Matt Squire
(Thrice, Northstar, The Receiving End Of Sirens).
"We didn't want to write a record that had 11
of the same songs on it," explains Ryan. In order to make sure that didn't happen, the band came up with the concept to divide
the album in two halves: the first being futuristic, complete with drum machines and synthesizers, and the second being nostalgic, complete
with Vaudevillian piano and accordion. "It was too extremes of influence being put next to each other: the most electronic
music we have on the record and the most old, out-of-style music we have on the record." The band took pointers from some
of their biggest—although not overt—influences: Third Eye Blind's melodic song structures (on "But It's Better When We
Do"), Queen's theatric instrumentation (on "Build God, Then We'll
Talk") and Counting Crows' vivid and narrative lyrics (on "There's A Good Reason
These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet"). "You wouldn't hear our record and say, 'Hmmm, these
guys are influenced by Fleetwood Mac or Counting Crows, 'but those are our favorite bands,"
insists Spencer.
It's this split-brain approach to songwriting that has resonated with listeners young and old. The
band has scored big with PureVolume (continually being on the site's Top 10 Signed Bands chart) and MySpace (reaching #1 on
the indie charts), and when they returned to Las Vegas after recording, they played a hometown show (actually, the band's
first live concert ever) and over two hundred people showed up. The boys' parents, especially Ryan's father, realized the
band was more than just a fleeting hobby and eventually became card-carrying members of Panic! At The Disco's fan club.
Warning:
Panic! At The Disco is not a trend. Prepare accordingly.
Above bio courtesy of Fueled By Ramen
Just
barely out of high school, pop-punk outfit Panic! at the Disco burst out of suburban Las Vegas in 2005 with their full-length
debut, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. Taking their name from a line in Name Taken's "Panic," the group materialized when friends Spencer Smith (drums) and Ryan Ross (guitar) grew tired of covering blink-182 tunes together and thus recruited classmates Brendon Urie (guitar/vocals) and Brent Wilson (bass) to complete the quartet. Crafting pop-influenced
songs with theatrical touches, quirky techno beats, and perceptive lyrics, Panic! at the Disco posted some demos online and
soon caught the attention of Decaydance, the Fueled by Ramen imprint headed by Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz. Even though the band had yet to play a live show, they
subsequently became the first band signed to the label. With their record issued in September 2005, the guys hit the road
that fall on the successful Nintendo Fusion Tour alongside Fall Out Boy, Motion City Soundtrack, Boys Night Out, and the Starting Line. As their single "I Write Sins
Not Tragedies" found its way into TRL hearts (and the Top 40) by the early months of 2006, the band kept the momentum going
on the road with the Academy Is..., Acceptance, and Hellogoodbye. Proving to be a popular lineup, the tour consistently
sold out venues across the country. Wilson was fired from the group mid-year; Panic! pressed on with
their friend Jon filling in for a full summer of headlining dates around the country that culminated with appearances in Chicago
at Lollapalooza and overseas at the U.K.'s Reading and Leeds festivals. Corey Apar, All Music Guide
Group Members:
Spencer Smith
Brent Wilson
Ryan Ross
Brendon Urie
[More >>]
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Influenced By:
Queen
Counting Crows
Third Eye Blind
Sunny Day Real Estate
Jimmy Eat World
[More >>]
BIO #2
In most cases when a kid gets a musical instrument as a gift
it is only a matter of time before it’s stowed in the far reaches of the closet. Still, there times when the youngster
finds a new passion. Such was the case for Ryan Ross. The 12 year old Vegas resident asked his parents for a guitar as a Christmas
present. Down the street, Ross’ friend Spencer Smith worked on his mom and dad for a drum kit. The pair got their Christmas
wishes fulfilled and were soon jamming and learning Blink 182 songs. It wasn’t long before they recruited classmates,
bassist Brent Wilson and vocalist/guitarist Brendan Urie. Urie, raised a Mormon, fell in love with his parent’s Classic
Rock albums, including a fair dose of Queen.
Lifting their name from a line in Name Taken’s song "Panic" ("panic
at the disco, sat back and took it so slow") the group began practicing in Smith’s grandmother’s living room.
Having
written three songs, Panic! at the Disco recorded two of them and sent the demos to Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz who decided
to sign them to his relatively new Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen label. This forced some serious decisions. To spend the time
required for a band, Wilson and Smith used distance learning to complete high school. Urie took classes during the day, practicing
at night. He barely made it through his senior year. The older Ross told his parents he was going to drop out of college after
his freshman year. To say that didn’t go over very well would be an understatement. With education issues either resolved
or decided, the group headed to College Park, Maryland, to record their debut album, "A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out,"
with producer Matt Squire. When they returned to Vegas they played their first live concert. From there, Panic! at the Disco
toured with the Fall Out Boy.
BIO #3
Panic! At the Disco is a Las Vegas, nevada pop band whose 2005 debut album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out made the Billboard 200 album chart, selling more than 929,228 copies as of July 23, 2006.
The band was formed
in Las Vegas by schoolmates Ryan Ross on guitar and Spencer Smith on drums. They recruited fellow schoolmates Brent Wilson
on bass and Brendon Urie on vocals. Their name was taken from a line in the song Name Taken – Panic, in turn a reference to a song of the same name by The Smiths.
In order to get their music heard, the band posted a
comment on Pete Wentz's (of Fall Out Boy) livejournal linking him to their purevolume site. Pete Wentz drove out to Las Vegas, as he was so impressed
by what he heard, in order to meet and hear them. He then brought them to the attention of Fueled by Ramen Records, who signed
them while they were still in high school to Wentz's imprint label Decaydance. They recorded their album in Bethesda, Maryland
with producer Matt Squire, who had earlier produced Thrice, The Receiving End of Sirens, and Northstar.
The band attracted considerable publicity in the leadup
to the release of the album with Spin magazine naming them as their band of the day in early October 2005. The band has also
increased in popularity due to their online presence with PureVolume having them consistently in their Top 10 signed band
list and reaching #1 on the MySpace chart.
When their first album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005) was released,
it debuted at #112 on the Billboard 200 album charts, at #6 on the Billboard independent chart and at #1 on the Billboard
heatseeker chart, with nearly 10,000 in first week sales. The band started their first North American tour, supporting Acceptance and other acts in September 2005, as well as label mates The Academy Is... in the United Kingdom in January 2006.
Panic! at the Disco was featured on MTV's
TRL along with The Academy Is... on 2006-01-17, where they premiered their music video for
Panic! At the Disco – I Write Sins Not Tragedies. The video has an eerie circus wedding theme. It recently debuted
at #10 on the TRL countdown, catapulting the album to the top of the Billboard independent chart and to #39 on the Billboard
200 in February 2006.
Panic! At The Disco have recently split up with bassist Brent Wilson and replaced him with Jon
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