PANIC!

PANIC! is a Birdie-winning American rock band that formed in Franklin, Tennessee in 2004 consisting of Ashley Perry (lead vocals), Ryan Ross Hernandez (lead guitar/vocals), Gabriel Hunter (rhythm guitar), Joey Fallon (drums), and Josh Fallon (guitar). The group released their debut album I Rather Die Than Have Another Broken Heart! in 2005, second album, We Are the Directors of This Dramatic Love Story in 2006, which was certified platinum in the US and gold in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand. Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner, which was certified diamond worldwide and platinum in all seven major regions. Broken Down on Memory Lane, PANIC!'s fourth album, will be released on November 3rd, 2009.
==2002–2005: Formation and I Rather Die Than Have Another Broken Heart!==
In 2002, at the age of 13, vocalist Ashley Perry moved from her hometown Meridian, Mississippi to Franklin, Tennessee where she met brothers Josh and Joey Fallon while she was attending a private school. Shortly after arriving, she began taking vocal lessons with Brett Manning. However, prior to forming PANIC!, Perry and Ryan Ross Hernandez, along with friend Kim Read, took part in a pop/rock cover band called Crashing Waves, while the Fallon brothers had practiced together after school. The other members of what was soon to be PANIC! had been "edgy about the whole female thing" of having Perry as a vocalist, but, because they were really good friends, she started writing for them, along with Hernandez and it eventually worked out. The band was officially formed by Ryan Ross Hernandez (lead vocals/guitar), Joey Fallon (drums), Nick Asher (bass guitar), Gabriel Hunter (lead guitar) and Ashley Perry (lead vocals) in 2004, with the later addition of Perry's neighbor Anilet Lowell (rhythm guitar). According to Hernandez, the name "PANIC!" came from the obsession he had at the time for Panic! at the Disco. At very early shows the band played under the name, "Secret Lovers". The band's first song written together was "Lying Is the Most Fun" (A Whore Can Have), which was later used on their debut album. Over the following years, PANIC! performed at venues outside the greater Nashville area, including the concert festivals Bamboozle and Warped Tour. After a smaller private performance at a warehouse, the band was signed to KillthePoison in the Summer of 2005.
PANIC! traveled back to Orlando, Florida, but shortly after arriving, the whole band had to return home, citing personal reasons for doing so due to the pressure the mostly teenage band, at the time, faced to record. The members of PANIC! continued with the album at home, writing "Falling Down Is How the Young Learn to Regain Themselves" about the sudden departure, and later deciding to base I Rather Die Than Have Another Broken Heart! around the concept. During that summer, PANIC! was featured on the Shira Girl stage of the 2005 Warped Tour. I Rather Die Than Have Another Broken Heart! was released on July 24, 2005, and reached #89 on the United States Charts. PANIC! released "Lying Is the Most Fun" as its first single, with a video directed by Matt Lenski, but the song had failed to place on the charts. The video featured the band performing in a warehouse, eventually getting sprayed with water sprinklers as the storyline of the life of a socially outcast boy, and his feelings for a neighborhood girl. In August, "Falling Down Is How the Young Learn to Regain Themselves" was released as the second single, the video was directed by Andy Soup. The video for "Falling Down Is How the Young Learn to Regain Themselves" showcased PANIC! in another performance, this time the band members are in a desert-mud based set where people are digging in mud pits. The band are playing in a ditch where others are watching them. The third single, "Something Tells Me Your a Whore", was released with limited airtime, with the video directed by Alan Ferguson, features the band members acting as a team of vampire hunters trying to fend off a gang of vampires attacking their town. It ends with a climactic showdown between the band and the vampires, resulting in Asher being arrested and his subsequent realization that all the police officers are also vampires. Many of its scenes are parodies from various horror films.
In January 2006, the band took part in the Chilly Winter Go West tour. In spring of 2006, PANIC! was an opening act for larger bands. They toured the United Kingdom from October 5 to October 15, 2006, where they ended in London at The Mean Fiddler. The band then covered Foo Fighters' "My Hero" for a 3-track EP released later that winter. During the summer of 2006, PANIC! played a portion of Warped Tour, primarily on the Volcom and Hurley Stages, and their first night on the Main Stage was at a date in their hometown of Nashville. PANIC!'s first United States headlining tour began on August 2, 2006 to a sold-out audience with the final show in Nashville. That year they were voted "Best New Artist", by the International Music Awards.
In 2007, PANIC! was named by American-based magazine Alternative Press as one of ten bands to watch out for in their "New Noise 2007" feature. In January, the band played an acoustic set for the grand opening of a Warped Tour exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the dress Perry wore in the video for "Something Tells Me Your a Whore" was also put on display in the exhibit.
==2006: We Are the Directors of This Dramatic Love Story==
On February, 2006, a more mainstream/radio-friendly sound would emerge on the band's third record, as well as a lot of familiar tracks from the earlier days of the band. Poppy/teenage themed anthem "Headaches and Bad Luck" was chosen as the debut release and received notable media attention and scored the bands first 100 US charted song. The album debuted at number 20 in the US and number 24 in the UK.
The album spawned top-100 chart singles "The Sounds of This Small Town Make My Ears Hurt" and "We Found the Cure to Growing Older", still a strong live favorite and during the album's cycle they decided to close there shows with the latter. "The Darkest Days are Ahead of Us" was the final single from the album. The single peaked at #2 in the US charts, becoming the band's first Top 20 hit and to date there highest charted song. The album shifted a 2 million copies across US, Canada, Europe, and UK, and reached Platinum status in the US and Gold in the UK.
==2007–2008: Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner and other projects==
PANIC! began recording their third album, Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner in January 2007, ending production in April without the guitar of Anilet Lowell (who left the band early in 2007 after getting married); without Lowell, Hernandez was required to play rhythm guitar. Josh Fallon, who had been in the band with his brother and Perry before the two met Hernandez, Josh joined as a replacement for Lowell. After being courted by producers Neal Benson, PANIC! opted to record Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner with California producer Rob Carling, releasing the album on June 12, 2007. Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner entered the United States charts at number 1, the UK charts at number 1, and sold over 200,000 copies its first week in the world that week. The name Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner had been chosen because the band admitted that they watched the movie Dirty Dancing around 10 times during the recording process, and it was a word that "summed it all up". The first single from the album, released June 21, 2007, "I Liked You a Whole Lot Better Before You Became a Fucking MySpace Whore", is, according to Hernandez, "more honest than anything I've ever written, and the guys matched that emotion musically." Although the album was a huge success the first single barely reached the top 100 in the US.
Summer of 2007 saw PANIC! participating on their third Warped Tour and posting journals of their experiences on yourhereblog for MTV. In June they were declared by Rolling Stone as "Ones to Watch". PANIC! made their live television debut on Fuse Networks daily show, The Sauce. The second single from Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner, "We Can Fake It for the Airwaves, Force Our Smiles, Baby, Half Dead", was released on July 30, 2007, and its video is currently only available online. The video, features an angry mob appearing and blaming the band for changing (a reference to the band's changing genre from a more punk rock sound to a more pop rock/pop-punk sound as stated on many blogs and fan sites on the web) and they start throwing objects at the band and harassing them. In August 2007, PANIC! had been featured in television spots on MTV, performing acoustic versions of their songs or acting in short accompaniments to MTV program commercials. As "MTV Artists of the Week", the band filmed the faux camping themed spots in Queens, New York. MTV.com also has a collection of short videos with the band to promote Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner as well. For weeks in August 2007, the "Force Our Smiles, Baby, Half-Dead" video was the number one streamed video at MTV.com. On October 8, Paramore played "Force Our Smiles, Baby, Half-Dead" live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
On October 11, 2007, the music video for "Nobody Wants to Hear You Sing About Tragedy" debuted on the United States television as the next single from Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner. The video for "Nobody Wants to Hear You Sing About Tragedy" featured the band playing a performance in a barren desert, being spied upon, and later destroying their equipment. The single was officially released in the United States on November 19 and made available in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2007. The group performed live, acoustic style on a radio tour between October and November, 2007. On December 31, 2007, PANIC! performed on the ABC New Years Eve program which ran from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
PANIC! was featured on the cover of February 2008 issue of Alternative Press magazine and voted "Best Band Of 2007" by the readers. The band won their second Birdie for "Best Single" for "MySpace Whore". Early 2008 saw PANIC! touring the United Kingdom, supporting their album Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner. In early April 2008, the band began a tour in Europe, however on April 21, 2008, the band announced that they had canceled the last 15 shows due to personal issues. Perry wrote on the band's web site that "the break will give that band 'a chance to get away and work out our personal issues'". MTV.com reported that fans of PANIC! were speculating about the future of the band and reported rumors of trouble had begun earlier in the month when Gabriel Hunter and Josh Fallon expressed their anger against the media's focus on Perry and Hernandez. The band, however, returned to their hometown to record the music video for the fourth single "The Only Way I Know How to Feel", which was then released on March 24, 2008.
On MTV's TRL, May 7, 2008, lead vocalists Ashley Perry and Ryan Ross Hernandez said that the band was working on a new album and that it would hopefully be released by next summer. Ashley says she and the band have been practicing the new songs during the sound checks on tour. In an Alternative Press cover story, Joey Fallon speculated on a forthcoming album, saying that it would sound like bands Mew, Thrice, and Arcade Fire. Which he later admitted in latter interviews that it was a joke.
On July 18, after four months without any major tours PANIC! announced on their website that they will be going on tour again, the tour being named "Curing the Growing Older Disease, One City at a Time", starting August 25 and ending October 1. On this tour, the band performed part of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and My Freaky Valentine's "Comebacks Aren't Your Thing". On September 2 PANIC! released a collaboration hoodie along with Hurley Clothing based on the album Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner. All proceeds went to the Love146 foundation.
PANIC released their final single from Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner with, "I'm the First Kid to Write of Hearts, Lies, and Friends and I am Sorry My Conscience Called in Sick Again". The video, features backstage footage and live performances.
==Broken Down on Memory Lane, touring and other projects==
In January 2009, Ryan Ross Hernandez spoke about the band's upcoming third studio album. Talking to Kerrang!, Hernandez said: "We're gonna try to [record] it in Nashville. I think writing the album there will inspire us, and then if we record there too it'll be a lot easier since we can sleep in our beds at night rather than in hotels like the other 300 days out of the year! We're probably going to self-produce the album, but we aren't sure yet. We did "Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner" with [producer] Rob Carling, which was a good experience, but we're looking around and don't want to make any decisions until we have a lot of songs and we know what we're looking for. We really enjoy our live sound and we want a producer who can really capture that."[37]
In the Summer of 2009, it was announced that PANIC! will be the special guest with Final Heaven, This Comatose, Moronic Changeling, and Billy Madison at the Casting Thin Shadows final World Tour, starting in August 2009 in arenas across the US and Europe.
PANIC! wrote and complete their newest record 'Broken Down on Memory Lane' in June 2009. The first single off 'Broken Down on Memory Lane' is titled 'Disloyal Order of the Ignorant' and was released September 8th, 2009. The official music video for "Disloyal Order of the Ignorant" aired on all MTV platforms, networks, and websites on September 10, 2009. PANIC! have announced on their official site that they will be hitting on a world tour this fall/winter. The European leg of the tour started on October, 10 2009 in Finland and the United States leg will begin on November 3, 2009(The day of 'Broken Down on Memory Lane' release) and ends December 21st in their home town.
In August 2009, PANIC! announced that they would release a collaboration album with 8 different musicians would feature on a compilation album titled "Solid Gold Uncertainly", the follow marking their final material under the pop/punk genre. Some artist on the album include Jakey Comatose and Gemma Ferns. The album is currently scheduled to be released on October 16th worldwide. PANIC! has expressed interest in recorded a unplugged performance and webcast it live through their website. 'Broken Down on Memory Lane' will be released on November 3rd, 2009. On October 12th, guitarist/vocalist Ryan Ross Hernandez had to stop singing during the encore and continue playing guitar with Ashley singing on their second show of the 2 More Miracles to Be a Saint tour due to hoarseness. Management for the band have confirmed that no tour dates will be postponed, that Ashley Perry would take over all duties at singing. Due to Ryan Ross Hernandez becoming infected with laryngitis.
==Musical style and influences==
PANIC!'s music has generally been regarded as "emo", "pop punk", and "alternative rock". Justin Tuck had written after an interview with Perry and Hernandez, "The band isn't just a short pop-punk girl with red hair and a spunky attitude. Their music is like them, it's aged differently. It's sped up, and slowed down. It's emo without being whiney, or bratty. Almost a very literal anti-Avril Lavigne." Alternative Press magazine had commented that the band was "young sounding", while consistently being "honest." PANIC!'s first album "I Rather Die Than Have Another Broken Heart!" had an arguably more "formulaic pop-punk" sound that was "delivered particularly well" and the combination of the two had created a "refined rock infused pop/punk album." The band's second release, We Are the Directors of This Dramatic Love Story was said to explore a 'diverse range of styles," however, not straying far from "their signature sound." The band's latest effort Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner was considered their first 'real' pop-punk record, not attempting to make mix with different elements outside the genre.
Alternative Press and various other reviewers have noted that the band's stage performances have helped boost them to larger fame. Alternative Press states that Perry "has more charisma than singers twice her age, and her band aren't far behind in their chops, either." Bandmate Ryan Ross Hernandez has always praised Perry' voice in almost all his interviews, calling her "The great orange/red/blond hope" (color depends on her current hair style at the time). Due to the female fronted aspect of the band, PANIC! has gained comparisons to Kelly Clarkson and the aforementioned Avril Lavigne, to which one reviewer said was "sorely unfounded." Male vocalist, Ryan Ross Hernandez has been known to try and experiment with his voice 'nonstop' live and in-studio. Reviewer Jonathan Bradley noted that "PANIC! attacks its music with infectious enthusiasm." However, he also explained that "there isn't a whole lot of difference between Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner and the songs from Kelly Clarkson or Avril Lavigne." A reviewer at NME had likened PANIC!'s sound to that of "No Doubt (stripped of all the ska bollocks)" and "Kelly Clarkson's wildest dreams." Perry has gone on to comment about the female aspect of the band saying that PANIC! is not "this girl-fronted band" and it makes "music for people to enjoy music, not so people can talk about my sexuality."
PANIC! has expressed that each member have their own appreciation for different bands. Going as far as saying that they have very few bands in common that all six members listen to. Hernandez has said in interviews that he 'hates' such bands as, Blink-182, New Found Glory, and Jimmy Eat World. All to which every other member have expressed influence to. Ashley Perry citing her personal influences as Robert Smith of The Cure and Etta James. Williams explained that bands such as U2, "who are massive, and do whatever they want, write whatever they want and they stand for something," Jimmy Eat World, "who I don’t think ever disappoint their fans," and No Doubt, who "have done amazing things," act as a pattern for the path in which PANIC! would like to take their career.
In an interview with the BBC, Gabriel Hunter stated about the band's Christian beliefs "Our faith is very important to us. It's obviously going to come out in our music because if someone believes something, then their worldview is going to come out in anything they do. But we're not out here to preach to kids, we're out here because we love music."
==Band members==
 * Ashley Perry – A native of Meridian, Mississippi, born on December 27, 1988 (age 20), is the band's lead singer.
 * Ryan Ross Hernandez - Born in Miami, Florida, on April 12, 1987 (age 22), is the band's lead/rhythm guitarist and occasional vocalist with Ashley.
 * Josh Fallon – Plays third guitar. He was born in Voorhees, New Jersey on September 29, 1987 (age 22). He is the older Fallon brother. On September 7, 2009 he was officially announced as a official member of the band.
 * Gabriel Hunter - Plays rhythm/leadguitar. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 27, 1984 (age 25). He is the oldest member of the band.
 * Joey Fallon – Plays drums and percussion and is the younger of the two Fallon brothers. He was born June 4, 1990 (age 19) in Voorhees, New Jersey.
 * Nick Asher – Plays bass guitar and was born February 8, 1985 (age 24) in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
==Discography==
===Albums===
Year	Title 	Type 	Chart positions (US)
2005	I Rather Die Than Have Another Broken Heart! 	Studio	89
2006	We are the Directors of This Dramatic Love Story	Studio	20
2007	Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner 	Studio	1
==Awards==
===Awards===
*2008: IMAs - Best New Artist
*2008: IMAs - Best Single (I Liked You A Lot Better Before You Became A Fucking MySpace Whore)
*2009: IMAs - Most Attractive Female (Anilet Lowell)
*2009: IMAs - Best Band
*2009: IMAs - Most Attractive Male (Ryan Ross Hernandez)
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Category:Pop-Rock
Category:Alternative Rock
Category:American artists