Biography

AGAINST ALL WILL
GIVES ‘A RHYME & REASON’ TO ROCK FANS

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The All-Star Band Featuring
Former Members of Puddle of Mudd,
Soulfly, Seven Story Drop And Dead Kennedys
Tears It Up Tunefully On Their
Debut EP ‘A Rhyme & Reason’

Rockers Against All Will (AAW) play hard, yet never lose sight of stirring up conflicting emotions, channeled through bracing riffs and complex, beat-anchored rhythms within their latest EP A Rhyme & Reason.

Based in Los Angeles, AAW is a rising force in rock complete with all-star musicians, including former Puddle of Mudd guitarist Jimmy Allen, drummer Steve Wilson of the Dead Kennedys, bassist Cello Dias from Soulfly and singer Jeff Current, formerly of Seven Story Drop. CWG Magazine described it, “If the band’s lineup doesn’t scream the holy grail of rock, then surely their sound will make you a believer.”

Allen formed AAW nearly three years ago, however, his resume includes co-founding Puddle of Mudd and co-writing the band’s biggest hits “Blurry,” “She Hates Me” and “Drift And Die.”

“Having that kind of success with Puddle and then not being in a band humbled me in a way. I needed to take a long break. The whole thing was kind of a rebirth.  I have always been doing lot of writing with other people,” Allen says. “As the songs began to take shape, I started putting this band together. We played with a ton of musicians in L.A. – drummers, bass players and singers. Through this network of musicians, including bands we’ve been friends with and toured with for a long time, we got a lot of referrals – ‘try this guy out, check out this guy.’  It was very helpful.”

The members of AAW had crossed paths over the years in the Hollywood music scene and knew each other by reputation.

“When we arrived at the line-up now, it just jelled, each of the guys really bringing their own thing to the table; some people just play what they’re given, but these guys each add their own little thing,” Allen says.

AAW released two singles, “You Can’t Change Me” (2007) and “Tomorrow & Today” (2008) gaining momentum culminating in the current band lineup and their 2009 debut album A Rhyme & Reason. The band’s most recent singles, “All About You“ remixed by Jeff Tomei (Matchbox 20, Smashing Pumpkins, Jerry Cantrell) and this past summer’s smash hit “The Drug I Need,” both garnered rock radio attention.

“With us the songs come first,” Allen says.  It’s about writing songs that have a lot of hooks and so on, but also depth and a perspective.  People kind of look at a song as a whole about one person or thing, when it actually may be about different situations we went through. “All About You,” is about when we first started we were thinking we were rock stars dating actresses, partying, hanging out in Hollywood, burning through enough money to be stupid, Looking back, it’s what were we thinking, dating actresses who then were of course lying to ten other guys and it was like, ‘you’re dating her, too?’

Reviewer Nadia Guardado of Hollywood Music Magazine called A Rhyme & Reason, “One of the most enjoyable and simple yet complex albums I’ve heard in a long time. Original from the first chord, to the last.”

Crafting music in the studio is an essential part of the AAW equation. A Rhyme & Reason was recording at KoЯn Studios Hollywood, a location that the band found inspiring and unique.

“Recording at Korn Studios was a very cool experience.  We are all huge fans of Korn and creating our tones in this special space, seeing their seven string guitars and the bagpipes, was a real trip.”

But the real environment that AAW thrives on is delivering the goods live.

“We’re all veterans playing on the road and we want people to get their money’s worth,” Allen says.

The group has played various-size venues, ranging from over-heated packed clubs to larger audiences, each time emerging triumphantly, including L.A. shows at famous landmark venues such as The Viper Room,  The Roxy and House of Blues.”

“We’ve played some theater gigs – I really love playing old theaters – and also some outdoor kind of stuff and small clubs, too.” Allen says.  “But with this band, the way we’re trying to go with the sound, the bigger the venue, the better.”

AAW records for Subsonic Industries, an independent label created by Allen and the band’s manager, music industry veteran Sam Kaiser.  Future plans include signing other artists and recently, AAW and Subsonic Industries enjoyed two of the top charting Active Rock independent label singles in Mediabase rankings, an impressive achievement for a relatively new record company.

And then there’s the ever growing “AAW Army” of loyal fans registering all over the county and around the world, linked through the band’s website along with their myspace and Facebook pages as well. December will see an exciting giveaway of an ESP guitar and a Baby Taylor acoustic guitar to one lucky AAW fan. Details on the drawing can be found on the official Against All Will website.