Flotsam & Jetsam

Flotsam and Jetsam is a thrash metal band that formed in Phoenix, Arizona in 1983. History 1981-1986: The Beginning The band's original name was Paradox, until 1982 when bassist Jason Newsted joined, as did Kelly Smith and two other guitarists. The band's name was then changed to Dredlox. Later Mark Vasquez and Kevin Horton joined the band and changed the name to Dogz. Jason Newsted had come to Phoenix with his band Gangster from Detroit on their way to California, but Gangster broke up while in Phoenix. Kelly saw 'AK' (Eric A. Knudtsen) singing "The Goodbye Girl" at his high school talent show. One summer they were in the same summer school class and Kelly asked Knudtsen to join the band provisionally in 1983. Due to the provisional nature of his membership, the band referred to Knudtsen as "the 2 weeker." Ed Carlson, who left a local rival band called "Exodus" (no association to the California Bay Area thrash metal band of the same name), also joined in 1983. The band renamed itself 'Flotsam And Jetsam' after a name of a chapter of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Two Towers. The band made its live debuts in local clubs which would allow them eventually to play with bands such as Megadeth, Armored Saint, Alcatraz, Malice, Exciter, Mercyful Fate, Riot, Autograph. Flotsam And Jetsam released two demo tapes in 1985, Iron Tears and Metal Shock. They created their own video "Hammerhead" from the Metal Shock demo: "We taped it in Jason and Ed's apartment living room. From there we made a live video from the infamous Bootlegger in Phoenix. Those combined with the demos enable us to get on Metal Massacre 7, the precursor for the acclaimed release of Doomsday for the Deceiver. 'Doomsday' debuted on July 19, 1986." 1986-1988: Doomsday for the Deceiver After they contributed to the Speed Metal Hell II and Metal Massacre VII compilations, they got a deal with Metal Blade Records. Then they released their first album Doomsday for the Deceiver, which was produced by Brian Slagel. Bassist Jason Newsted, who was also the band's main lyric writer on their first album, left the band soon after to join Metallica, replacing their late bassist Cliff Burton. Flotsam and Jetsam had asked another local bassist Phil Rind of Sacred Reich to fill in Jason's place for a short time. They then hired Michael Spencer from the Sacramento band "Sentinel Beast". The band signed with Metallica's label Elektra Records before touring Europe with Megadeth in 1987. 1988-1992: No Place for Disgrace and When the Storm Comes Down Michael Spencer lost his position to Troy Gregory in 1988, and in the same year the band's second album No Place for Disgrace was released. It includes a cover of Elton John's hit Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting. The band opened for King Diamond in America. Also toured with Megadeth, Testament and Sanctuary (band) in Europe on the "So Far, So Good. So What" tour. Fifteen months later, they got a deal with MCA and began to work on their third album When the Storm Comes Down, which was released in 1990. The band expected to gain recognition with this album, but it suffered from a poor production and a weaker songwriting as compared to their first two albums.[citation needed] 1992-1995: Cuatro Troy Gregory left the band shortly after for Prong and the band had to find a new bassist once again, eventually hiring Jason Ward to fill the role. Cuatro saw the band change their style mixing thrash metal with grunge sound. The album was rather successful, nevertheless. Flotsam And Jetsam made some efforts concerning the promotion: four singles were released and a video was shot for the songs Swatting at Flies and Wading Through the Darkness. 1995-1999: Drift and High Their fifth album Drift was released in 1995, with three singles released off of the record. A long break followed the release of the album. They returned to their former label Metal Blade Records as they had been dropped again due to the failure of support from MCA and the interest in Metal at that level was weakened by Seattle grunge. Their 1997 album High featured the cover song Fork Boy, which was a dedication to Jeff Ward, Jason's brother who he lost at the beginning of the Cuatro Tour. Former drummer of such bands as NIN, Ministry, Revolting Cocks and of course Lard, the originator of Fork Boy. High, made a good impression on fans but did not match their early work. Mike Gilbert and Kelly Smith left the band after High and were replaced by guitarist Mark Simpson and drummer Craig Nielsen. 1999-2004: Unnatural Selection and My God Unnatural Selection was released in 1999 and Mark T. Simpson left the band soon after. He joined the band again in 2000 to record a new album, My God, considered as their most aggressive work. At that time Eric A. Knudtsen had founded a country band, the A.K. Corral. He then left the band, demotivated after spending fifteen years waiting for success. Though Flotsam and Jetsam did not disband, there was a long break at that time. They found a new singer in James Rivera who took over vocal duties live. Later the band felt that no one other than Eric A. Knudtsen could be their singer and Rivera left the band soon after. 2004-present: Live In Phoenix and Dreams of Death The live DVD Live in Phoenix was released in 2004, containing thirteen songs with Knudtsen. Not long after, he joined the band again officially and they planned a come-back album. The lyrics for the album were mostly inspired by Knudtsen's nightmares. This resulted into a concept album entitled Dreams of Death like track 2 of No Place for Disgrace. The album was released on the Crash Music label. The live DVD Live in Japan was released in February 2006. Doomsday for the Deceiver was re-released in November 2006, including their two demos, to celebrate the album's twentieth anniversary. In 2008, they were signed to former Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch's record label, Driven Music Group. In 2008, they released the live album and DVD, Once in a Deathtime. The release of Flotsam and Jetsam's new record The Cold is scheduled in the first quarter 2009. Members Current members * Eric A. ('AK') Knudtsen - vocals (1983 - present) * Ed Carlson - guitar (1983 -present) * Jason Ward - Bass (1990 -present) * Mark Simpson - guitar (1999 -present) * Craig Nielsen - drums (1999 -present) Former members * Jason Newsted - bass (1983 - 1986) * Phil Rind - bass (1986 briefly) * Kelly David-Smith - drums (1983 - 1999) * Michael Gilbert - guitar (1983 - 1999) * Michael Spencer - bass (1987 Briefly) * Troy Gregory - Bass (1986 - 1990) * James Rivera - vocals (tour only)(2001)