The Summer Obsession

The Summer Obsession (TSO) are a 3-piece pop/rock band with punk, electronic, hip-hop and reggae influences. The band consists of singer and bassist Luke Walker, singer and guitarist Fin Leavell (formerly of Against All Authority), and drummer Chris Wilson (currently moonlighting in MxPx, and formerly of Good Charlotte). TSO are currently supporting their newest release Believe Nothing Explore Everything which is available as a free download by clicking here. It is an 8-song EP that was released March 31st, 2010, and was produced, recorded and mixed by the band. The band has profiles on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, MySpace and more. Their official contact e-mail is thesummerobsession@yahoo.com. The band is working with manager Steve Tramposch (former The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus manager with big credits including exec A&R positions at Virgin and Elektra), president of LaunchPad ADLS. The band was formed in Jacksonville Beach, FL by Leavell and Walker in June 2004 and had their first release Two Types Of People in July '04 as a free download on their website. Their song 8 AM was featured on the 2004 MySpace.com Warped Tour Compilation CD that was given out during that year's Warped Tour. The duo also did a DIY music video for 8 AM and put it up online. They spent all of their time promoting the band, and also did another DIY music video for the song Down For Whatever which also went up on their website. Leavell and Walker were notorious for filming 10-minute 'episodes' documenting their playfulness and creativity. The videos ranged from visiting a dinosaur theme park to changing the letters on church signs, in a strong Christian community. They joined the 2004 Warped Tour that summer, driving from Jacksonville to Indianapolis, but had to leave due to their stage being cancelled. They did the next logical thing in their minds, they packed up their jeep and drove to Los Angeles, CA. TSO was one of the first bands that took advantage of the opportunity MySpace.com offered to reach new people. They became personal friends with owners Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, and were put on the front page of MySpace for months. TSO had also made friends with Brett Woitunski, one of the owners of PureVolume.com. The band was on the front of the website several times. They appeared on DJ Rossstar's Punk Rock Show, a live Internet radio show, with new recruit Alex Lewis (formerly of Yellowcard) on bass. Lewis did not last and Walker chose bass instead. Leavell was on guitar, so they got their buddy Ryland Steen, of Audiovent, to play drums. The band spent time in Los Angeles and Jacksonville writing, recording and practicing. On November 16th, 2004 the band was contacted by Michael Howe, then of Virgin Records, and A&R of The Rolling Stones. He wanted to sign the band. Steen had to leave the band due to a prior commitment to join Reel Big Fish, and left with the blessing of Leavell and Walker. The duo returned to Jacksonville to look for some new members. They spent some more time writing and had their friend Mark McHone (formerly of Separation Is Natural) come in on bass. They tried out Jon Wilkes, of The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, on drums, but decided it was best to remain friends instead of band mates. They tried out another individual who fit for the group - Christopher 'Panama' Brown (formerly of Evergreen Terrace). At this time TSO had Walker on keyboards and vocals, Leavell on guitar and vocals, McHone on bass and Brown on drums. A lot of shows were played in the U.S., including one at The Playboy Mansion in May 2005 (Leavell & Walker are both video game characters in Playboy's official video game Playboy: The Mansion). The band split with McHone and Brown, and went back to being a duo. That summer TSO began recording at Pulse Recording in Silverlake, CA and Conway Recording with producer Josh Abraham (Weezer, Slayer, Pink, Billy Idol, 30 Seconds to Mars, Alkaline Trio, Sugar Ray, Courtney Love, Linkin Park) and drummer Josh Freese (Devo, Nine Inch Nails, Sting, A Perfect Circle, The Vandals, Weezer, Guns N' Roses, The Offspring, Suicidal Tendencies). While recording the band met Beck and many other artists. Freese was in the band officially, even doing the very first MySpace Interview with the band, until he was called upon by Sting to play drums. In November TSO tried out drummer Drew Steen, younger brother of former TSO drummer Ryland Steen. They remained friends but the pairing did not stick. Leavell had a friend in Phoenix, AZ that knew of a drummer she met on The Used's tour named Chris Wilson. Leavell contacted Wilson and sent him the album. Wilson was interested, so the band drove to Salt Lake City, UT and the trio was born. They started rehearsals in November 2005 with Walker on bass, Leavell on guitar and Wilson on drums. In December 2005 their new song Melt The Sugar was featured on MySpace Records Vol. 1 alongside bands Weezer, Fall Out Boy, The All-American Rejects, Dashboard Confessional, Say Anything, The Click Five, Against Me!, and others. They performed at the MySpace Records CD release party at The Key Club in West Hollywood, CA with The Plain White T's. The album was completed in early 2006 and was titled This Is Where You Belong. The band toured heavily in the southeastern United States in January and February. They did another DIY music video, this time with help from friend Rob Roy filming, at the Seawalk Hotel in Jacksonville Beach, FL for the new album version of Death Said. It went online with much success, and in March TSO did a national tour with their friends The Click Five. The band played with Story of the Year, He Is Legend, Saosin and did a stint with I Am the Avalanche. 25,000 copies of a TSO EP which featured the songs Death Said, Melt The Sugar and Disappear were given out for free internationally via their website, their own marketing and their street team members. For the next two years the band would have a bass player in Chris 'Christ' Miller (now of HILLvalley with Ryan DePaulo, formerly of Matchbook Romance), and would see Walker go back to keyboards. TSO did a nation-wide radio tour visiting radio station staff and playing acoustic for them. TSO had a video shot for them by Chris Bentley of Full Sail Recording in Orlando, FL for their song Bored. The video also did very well on the Internet. Death Said and Disappear were featured on the soundtrack to the book series Maximum Ride. A video was shot in Venice Beach, CA - the first 'big budget' video the band has gotten to do - for their single Do You Remember. Do You Remember was released July 27th, 2006 and received fair airplay in the U.S. The band toured the U.S. heavily that year on the 2006 Warped Tour, and separately with bands Cartel, Hit the Lights, Over It, Houston Calls, Permanent Me, Monty Are I, Love Arcade and more before releasing This Is Where You Belong on August 29th, 2006. A series of episodes were filmed called Mouth Is For Potty which documented the band's adventures that summer; they included TSO finding an abandoned nuclear fallout shelter and 'finding themselves' in a river. In September they appeared on Cartoon Network, performing Melt The Sugar and Disappear live. The band did a nation-wide mall tour with Mya, and also appeared on DJ Rossstar's Punk Rock Radio Show again. TSO performed with Grand Funk Railroad in Orlando, FL and they also performed at the Teen Vogue U.S. Surf Open in Huntington Beach, CA alongside Teddy Geiger, hosted by Lauren Conrad, of MTV's The Hills. They appeared on FOX News in Jacksonville, FL twice - once performing the song Obsession and another performing Do You Remember. In December, due to great import demand, EMI Japan released a Japanese edition of the CD This Is Where You Belong which included the bonus track Driven By Desire and the video for Do You Remember. Most of the songs on the album were featured on MTV's semi-reality show Laguna Beach that year, including Over My Head and 8 AM. Where You Belong was also featured on an NBC dating show in early 2007. In January 2007 the band cut ties with Virgin due to miscommunication about the future direction of the band. The band wanted to release Melt The Sugar as their first single, Virgin wanted Do You Remember. The two groups obviously disagreed and the band released a limited EP called We're Not Virgins Anymore that they recorded in Phoenix, AZ with Ralph Patlan (Third Eye Blind, Megadeth, G-Unit, Primus, Jamie Foxx, Dick Dale, INXS, American Hi-Fi). Also in January TSO performed at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT with The Bouncing Souls. The band toured with Against All Authority and Whole Wheat Bread. Leavell left the band briefly - jamming with the band Maxeen for the spring of 2007, putting Walker on guitar and seeing the band touring in Japan. The band played with Jimmy Eat World, NOFX, New Found Glory, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and more, and went on to tour with Boys Like Girls too. Shortly after this the band went on hiatus. Walker released a solo CD under the name Blue Eyed Suicide. Walker and Wilson moved to Los Angeles; Walker started producing and Wilson began touring with his friends in MxPx and Mest. Leavell moved to Chicago, IL and played with Goodbye Satellite for a few months before returning home to Jacksonville, FL and starting Separation Is Natural (SIN). Miller quietly exited the band-on-hiatus, while Leavell made his way back into the band and disbanded SIN. With Leavell back on guitar, Walker back on bass, Wilson on drums and additional guitarist CJ Randolph (formerly of El Pus and Whole Wheat Bread), the band recorded a secret album in 2008 that has yet to be released. They did release a single called We Are All Telepathic that summer, hinting that the band would stay together. Randolph was only with the band during the recording of the secret album. Walker continued producing and Wilson continued touring with MxPx and Mest. Leavell went back to Jacksonville again to attend College for a year and to start a band called The Students. Wilson was recording and playing with Christian TV, former singer of Love Arcade, with The Used's guitarist Quinn Allman. In 2009 Leavell disbanded The Students and returned to Los Angeles to play with Wilson and Walker. By 2009 Walker (under his producer name Gods Paparazzi) had already produced and written songs for Good Charlotte, Deftones, G. Love, Alkaline Trio, Sugar Ray, The White Tie Affair, Breathe Carolina, Filter, Forever the Sickest Kids, Jeffree Star, Christian TV, Rob Roy, From First to Last, Millionaires, Collie Buddz and many more. The band regrouped in the summer of 2009 and started recording at Pulse Recording in Silverlake, CA and Mad Dog Studios in Burbank, CA. In August 2009 TSO announced they were officially back together, with a new release coming in early 2010. 3 new webisodes were released on their YouTube profile (at www.youtube.com/TSOheadquarters) documenting the recording process. The antics are what you'd expect from TSO. In January 2010 TSO came back to DJ Rossstar's Punk Rock Show, now a live video show, to unveil 4 new songs to their fans: 2 Days, Feeling Out Inside, Supernova & Flamingo. In February a new episode was released on their YouTube Profile that documented their return to Jacksonville, FL in December 2009. The group had photoshoots for the upcoming releases and played a homecoming show at Jack Rabbits. March 31st, 2010 saw the aforementioned release in the form of their Believe Nothing Explore Everything EP which is available for free download, along with most of their music, on their website at www.summerobsession.com. It was announced that there would be a vinyl version of the EP available, as well as a Japanese-import through Bullion Records which features extra tracks. No touring plans have been announced although the band is currently living in Los Angeles, CA and playing shows locally there. It has been hinted that a few Japanese appearances this year could be possible.