Black Lines To Battlefields
Kaylan Cloyd - guitar Nick Radovanovich - drums Christian McAlhaney - guitar Jason Vena - vocals Ryan Zwiefelhofer - bassForging their roots in the underground Seattle rock scene, ACCEPTANCE has made waves not only by delivering a truly loaded live show but through an intrinsic spark and creative sincerity that radiates from the music itself."A lot of bands challenge their audience and that9s always a good thing but what9s more important for us is to use our music to challenge ourselves and put our true character to the test -- to say what we think and be who we really are," vocalist Jason Vena says. "We do hope this inspires our friends and fans of the band to do the same." Growing up playing in local punk and hardcore bands has created a strong sense of honesty and self respect that serves as a foundation on which the ACCEPTANCE sound is built."The ideas for what we wanted to do musically were all there in our previous experiences," guitarist Kaylan Cloyd recalls. "When we came together as ACCEPTANCE we quickly began to refine those sounds which lead us to where we are today." Another big point of progress for the band is that no one is relegated to just their own instrument in the writing process."Everyone plays multiple instruments," guitarist Christian McAlhaney explains. "Nick was on guitar before switching to drums and Jason, who sings, also played bass before we got Ryan in the band. Its never felt as complete as it does now." After performing locally and releasing their debut CD through Seattle-based Rocketstar Records, ACCEPTANCE launched regional and national tours with bands like The Juliana Theory, Noise Ratchet and Further Seems Forever. The act also performed at the popular Cornerstone Festival in Illinois. The Militia Group - originally a booking agency -- approached the band and began a professional and personal relationship that continues to grow stronger every day."We are so happy to have seen ACCEPTANCE grow from this really cool hardworking bunch of kids into the professional rock machine that they have quickly become," comments Chad Pearson of The Militia Group (who eventually scrapped the booking business to focus on building the record label.) "They have been such a solid part of the Militia family that it feels totally natural for us to be releasing the EP. We believe big things are coming for these guys -- they are all such good people."When asked to sum up the bands approach, Vena explains: "Although music means the world to each member of the band, its important to us that people come away from our shows or from listening to our CD with something more than just a good song or a catchy lyric. We like knowing that we9ve made people think and feel something about themselves."