TEAM RNS PRESENTS

RIPPER: Team RNS

192kbps - Alt. Rock
0hr 34min total- 49.5mb

RELEASE DATE: 2004-04-13
RIP DATE: 2004-02-22

03 So far Away                    3:26

05 Death Trend Setta              3:34
06 The Deep End                   3:23
07 No Giving Up                   3:34

10 The Unknown                    2:59

Intensity. Integrity. Independence.
These three words encapsulate the style
and stance of Crossfade--one of the most
powerful and inventive new hard rock
bands to emerge thus far in the new

Intensity defines the driving,
bottom-heavy sound and stirring melodies
of this Columbia, South Carolina,
four-piece. On the group's debut album,
Crossfade originals like "Starless,"
"Cold," and "So Far Away" combine
indelible melodic hooks with the
relentless power of the band's live
sound; their carefully crafted
arrangements lend depth and variety to
such standout tracks as the confessional
ballad "Dead Skin."

Integrity has guided Crossfade's
progress at every step of the way. To
follow their dreams, the musicians turned
their backs on the cover-band syndrome,
on parental expectations, and on the
chance for well-paying careers outside

Independence is the spirit that led
Crossfade to build and equip their own
studio; to manage themselves for a
time; and to produce and record their
debut album themselves, with
post-production by engineer/mixer Randy
Staub. (His credits include sessions
with Metallica, P.O.D., Nickelback and
3 Doors Down among others.)

Crossfade began with nothing--literally.
In the late Nineties, Ed Sloan (lead
vocals, guitar), Mitch James (bass,
vocals) and Brian Geiger (drums) formed
a band called The Nothing--a kind of
"heavy-metal Wrathchild America and
Metallica takeoff," in Geiger's words.
The Nothing worked hard to create
original material and a sound of their
own; at one point, the group relocated
to Atlanta, Georgia before returning to
their Columbia, South Carolina, home
turf. Ed began constructing a home
studio, while Brian took on management

The addition of Tony Byroads, a
vocalist and DJ who had moved to
Columbia after graduating high school
in Buffalo, New York helped to expand
the sound of the band. "Tony was a
veteran of the club circuit who could
sing any style," says Mitch James. "As
a writer, he shared our drive to create
songs that were catchy, energetic, and
still musical enough to keep from boring

With Tony on board and in recognition
of their evolving style, The Nothing
changed the group's name to Sugardaddy
Superstar and set to work on new music
in the Sugarstar Studio, which Ed Sloan
describes as "a brick garage at my house
that was made into livable space with some
added soundproofing and basic gear."

Without any formal training in
engineering, "we found ourselves
experimenting with a lot of different
techniques--not really knowing what was
right or wrong but just going for the
best sound we could get. It took about
nine or ten months to complete the
recording of the album. The ability to
record at home and on our own time was a
great asset. It gave us complete
control over our environment and
allowed us to experiment in ways that,
in a normal studio, would not have been
possible due to budget and time

Local radio stations began airing some
of these self-produced tracks, and
Sugardaddy Superstar signed up with
Taxi, the LA-based independent A&R
company. The group also came to the
attention of Chris "Hot Rod" Long, an
experienced Los Angeles promoter who had
worked with acts like Stone Temple
Pilots, Rage Against the Machine, and
Kyuss--now known as Queens of the Stone
Age. Chris flew east to catch the band's
live show; two weeks later, he signed on
as their manager.

In November 2001, Sugardaddy Superstar
was one of only three (out of 8,000
member groups and artists) to perform at
Taxi's "Road Rally." The buzz continued
to build when the group played a March
2002 showcase in Los Angeles. The band
returned to the studio to re-engineer
and remix an album they originally called
Cold. This self-released set, issued
regionally in September 2002, contained
eight of the ten songs that now
comprise Crossfade, the group's major

Earshot Records A&R man Doug Ford had
been following the band's progress for
the previous year. "As soon as Doug
heard the album," Ed Sloan recalls, "we
were flown to New York to showcase. We
played four songs for the Columbia
brass and were signed within days.
They liked our own recordings enough to
release them with only a little
touching-up from [engineer/mixer] Randy

"The story of Crossfade is still
unfolding," says Mitch James. "But since
some defining moment in our lives, we've
all known that this is what we were