Against the Current (band) explained

Against The Current
Landscape:Yes
Alias:ATC
Origin:Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.
Years Active:2011–present
Label:Fueled by Ramen
Current Members:
Past Members:
  • Jeremy Rompala
  • Joe Simmons
Module:
Embed:yes
Channel Name:againstthecurrent
Subscribers:2,180,000
Subscriber Date:February 25, 2024
Views:492,134,696
View Date:August 20, 2024

Against The Current (often abbreviated as ATC) is an American rock band from Poughkeepsie, New York, formed in 2011. As of 2023, the band consists of lead vocalist Chrissy Costanza, guitarist Dan Gow, and drummer Will Ferri. The band quickly gained a sizeable online following after posting covers of various popular songs on YouTube. They played Warped Tour in 2016.

The band's first EP, Infinity, was released in May 2014 under their own label. The band followed Infinity with their next EP, Gravity, which was released on February 17, 2015. Shortly afterward, they signed to record label Fueled by Ramen. Their debut studio album, In Our Bones was released on May 20, 2016. In 2017, the band collaborated with the popular video game League of Legends in making the song "Legends Never Die" for the 2017 League of Legends World Championship. Their second studio album, Past Lives was released on September 28, 2018. Their third EP, Fever, was released on July 23, 2021. On January 10, 2022, the single "Wildfire" was released. Later that year, the band parted ways with their records company and have been releasing occasional singles since then while continuing to tour.

History

Background and origins

Against The Current was formed in early 2011 by Dan Gow, Will Ferri, and Jeremy Rompala and was later joined by Chrissy Costanza in the summer of 2011 after being introduced to Gow, Ferri, and Rompala through a mutual friend. Joe Simmons was invited to fill in as their bass player but later joined the band after leaving his former band.[1]

Will Ferri is the younger brother of We Are the In Crowd bass player and artist manager Mike Ferri, as the bands manager Mike Ferri utilized his relationships with well known YouTube cover artists such as Kurt Hugo Schneider and Alex Goot to help the band achieve a considerable amount of fame via various covers of popular songs posted as collaborations on more established channels.

Music history

In 2014, Joe Simmons & Jeremy Rompala split with the rest of the band.

On May 27, 2014, Against The Current released their debut EP, Infinity, independently through online distribution. The Infinity EP charted at No. 28 on the Heatseekers Albums.[2] They began touring in support of the release of Infinity throughout most of 2014. After several tours, they entered the studio to record their second EP, Gravity, which was released on February 17, 2015. The EP featured six songs, and included a guest appearance from Taka of ONE OK ROCK on the song '"Dreaming Alone." A few weeks after the release of Gravity,[3] Against The Current announced that they had been signed by the label Fueled By Ramen on March 4, 2015.[4] The Gravity EP charted on four Billboard magazine charts, while it peaked on the Alternative Albums, Independent Albums, Rock Albums, and Heatseekers Albums charts, peaking at 23, 27, 36 and 4, respectively.[5]

On May 22, 2015, the band announced their first headlining tour in support of the Gravity EP, called the Gravity World Tour. The tour spanned 4 months (August 2015 to November 2015), and included stops in several continents, including North America, Asia, and Europe.[6]

On August 1, 2015, Against The Current announced that they had finished recording their first full-length album. On February 6, 2016, Against The Current announced their upcoming album's name, In Our Bones, as well as the release date, May 20, 2016.[7] Their first studio album, In Our Bones, has been called "pop-rock perfection" by Alternative Press.[8]

On September 14, 2017, Against The Current collaborated with Riot Games to create the single "Legends Never Die" for the 2017 League of Legends World Championship, published on Riot Games' YouTube channel.[9] On November 4, 2017, Against The Current performed live at the 2017 League of Legends World Championship opening and closing ceremonies.[10]

On May 11, 2018, Against The Current released two singles, "Strangers Again" and "Almost Forgot", from the album Past Lives, released on September 28, 2018. On August 17, 2018, the band released the single "Personal". The single "Voices" was released on September 14, 2018.

On October 28, 2020, Against The Current released their new song "That Won't Save Us," followed by a second single, "Weapon," on March 10, 2021. These were followed up by a third song "again & again" ft. Guardin on June 23, 2021. The bands first EP since 2015's "Gravity" called "fever" was released on July 23, 2021.

On January 10, 2022, Against the Current collaborated with League of Legends European Championship for a song called "Wildfire", with casters Vedius and Drakos as guest vocals, which is a part of a promotion for the 2022 Spring Season of its League of Legends esports regional league run.[11] In August 2022, they announced that they were no longer signed to Fueled by Ramen.[12] Since then they have released the independent singles "Blindfolded", "'Good Guy'" and "Silent Stranger", accompanied with the start of their Nightmares & Daydreams World Tour. In 2024, they also released "Barely Breathing" and "Caught It", for which they collaborated with From Ashes to New and VOILÀ respectively.[13]

Musical style

Against the Current's music is described as pop rock,[14] [15] [16] [17] pop-punk,[18] [14] [15] alternative rock,[19] [20] and synth-pop[21] [22] in publications. On their second album Past Lives, the band moves away from pop punk; in an interview with Billboard, Costanza reasons "We're all big fans of pop music; this is definitely the direction we’ve always wanted to head in. On this record, we were finally fearless and shed our skin. We wanted to create music that reflected our personalities now and also who we wanted to be."[16]

Band members

Current members

Former members

Current touring members

Former touring members

Discography

Studio albums

Title! scope="col" rowspan="2"
Album detailsPeak chart positions
US
[23]
US
Alt
[24]
US
Rock
[25]
US
Heat

[26]
CAN
[27]
JPN
[28]
UK
[29]
In Our Bones 18115202836628
Past Lives 18586
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.

Extended plays

Title! scope="col" rowspan="2"
DetailsPeak chart positions
US
Alt
US
Ind
US
Rock
US
Heat

JPN
Infinity 28
Infinity (The Acoustic Sessions)
  • Released: November 27, 2014
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download
Gravity
  • Released: February 17, 2015
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: CD, digital download
232736433
Gravity (The Acoustic Sessions, Vol. II)
  • Released: July 10, 2015
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download
Fever
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.

Singles

YearTitleAlbum
2012"Thinking"
2013"Closer, Faster"Infinity
"Guessing"
2014"Gravity"Gravity
2015"Outsiders"
"Talk"Gravity
2016"Running with the Wild Things"In Our Bones
"Runaway"
"Wasteland"
"Young & Relentless"
2017"Legends Never Die"
2018"Almost Forgot"Past Lives
"Strangers Again"
"Personal"
"Voices"
2020"That Won't Save Us"Fever
"That Won't Save Us (Acoustic)"
2021"Weapon"Fever
"Again & Again"
2022"Wildfire" (Includes LEC Version)
"Blindfolded"
2023"good guy"
"silent stranger"
2024"Barely Breathing" (feat. Against The Current)
"Caught It"

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: CHRISSY COSTANZA TALKS ABOUT AGAINST THE CURRENT! . Sweetyhigh . 2013-06-11 . 2015-08-01 . Veronica . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160818163250/https://www.sweetyhigh.com/read/chrissy-costanza . 2016-08-18 .
  2. Infinity by Against The Current. Billboard. May 7, 2016. June 14, 2014.
  3. Web site: Andy. Ritchie. Against The Current – Gravity. Rock Sound. March 13, 2015. May 7, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160406062223/http://www.rocksound.tv/reviews/read/against-the-current-gravity. April 6, 2016.
  4. Web site: AGAINST THE CURRENT JUST SIGNED TO FUELED BY RAMEN. Rocksound. 2015-03-04. 2015-08-01. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150710084520/http://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/against-the-current-just-signed-to-fueled-by-ramen. 2015-07-10.
  5. Web site: Against The Current : Awards. AllMusic. May 7, 2016.
  6. Web site: AGAINST THE CURRENT: GRAVITY WORLD TOUR. Fueled By Ramen. May 26, 2015. September 28, 2017.
  7. Web site: Against The Current Announce Debut Album, In Our Bones – Kerrang!. Kerrang!. 2016-02-13. en-US. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160214032853/http://www.kerrang.com/40304/against-the-current-announce-debut-album-in-our-bones/. 2016-02-14.
  8. Rachel. Campbell. Against the Current: In Our Bones – album review. Alternative Press. June 2016. 335. 99. 1065-1667.
  9. Web site: The 2017 League Worlds official song is here From rock band Against the Current. . James . Ford . 15 September 2017 . . https://archive.today/20170915103255/https://www.gamereactor.eu/esports/591533/The+2017+League+Worlds+official+song+is+here/ . 2017-09-15 . live . 2017-09-15 .
  10. News: The opening ceremony for the 2017 World Championship finals had a live performance and a dragon. The Rift Herald. 2017-11-05.
  11. Web site: Ciocchetti . Cecilia . LEC releases 'Wildfire' music video featuring Against The Current . DOT Esports . 10 January 2022 . 10 January 2022.
  12. Web site: 2022-08-06 . YOUR NEW HOTTEST UNSIGNED BAND . 2023-01-18 . . en.
  13. Web site: Wilson-Taylor . James . February 2, 2024 . From Ashes To New Team Up With Chrissy Costanza On 'Barely Breathing' . July 11, 2024 . Rock Sound.
  14. Web site: Corrigan . Sarah . Review: Against the Current – In Our Bones . Theedgesusu.co.uk . 2016-05-23 . 2022-04-22.
  15. Web site: Against the Current Unleash New Single 'Weapon'. Tamara. May. March 11, 2021. Wall Of Sound.
  16. Web site: Chris Payne . Against the Current Premieres New Album: Listen to 'Past Lives' | Billboard – Billboard . Billboard.com . 2022-04-22.
  17. Web site: Watch Against the Current Romp in a Bounce House . Rolling Stone . 2016-05-23 . 2022-04-22.
  18. Web site: Artist Biography . Against the Current Biography, Songs, & Albums . AllMusic . 2022-04-22.
  19. Web site: Against the Current Roars Back on the Scene with New EP 'Fever'. Heather. Graham. August 20, 2021.
  20. Web site: Will Marshall . Live Review: Against The Current, Yours Truly, Halflives | Electric Ballroom, London | 10/04/22 . Noizze.co.uk . 2022-04-18 . 2022-04-22.
  21. Web site: Against the Current. Rachel. Laposka.
  22. Web site: Ben Walker . Against The Current – The Haunt – 8th March 2017 – Brightonsfinest . Brightonsfinest.com . 2017-03-17 . 2022-04-22.
  23. Against The Current – Chart history (Billboard 200). Billboard. June 1, 2016. June 11, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160813153042/http://www.billboard.com/artist/7386511/against-the-current/chart?f=305. August 13, 2016.
  24. Against The Current – Chart history (Alternative Albums). Billboard. June 1, 2016. June 11, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160813153134/http://www.billboard.com/artist/7386511/against-the-current/chart?f=794. August 13, 2016.
  25. Against The Current – Chart history (Rock Albums). Billboard. June 1, 2016. June 11, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160813153122/http://www.billboard.com/artist/7386511/against-the-current/chart?f=408. August 13, 2016.
  26. Against The Current – Chart history (Heatseekers Albums). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. June 1, 2016. June 11, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160813153110/http://www.billboard.com/artist/7386511/against-the-current/chart?f=324. August 13, 2016.
  27. Against The Current – Chart history (Canadian Albums). Billboard. June 1, 2016. June 11, 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160813153054/http://www.billboard.com/artist/7386511/against-the-current/chart?f=309. August 13, 2016.
  28. Web site: Against The Current – Albums. Oricon. ja. December 7, 2018.
  29. Web site: Against the Current full Official Chart history. Official Charts Company. October 6, 2018.
  30. Web site: Past Lives by Against the Current. Apple Music. 28 September 2018 . September 28, 2018.
  31. Web site: Against The Current Release "Again&Again" Ahead Of New 'Fever' EPーListen. Alternative Press. June 23, 2021. June 25, 2021.