Acoustic / Indie / Alternative Rock
About :
A room full of music and people isn’t so strange. The trick is filling the spaces in between. When truth finds a melody, strangers disappear, and suddenly everyone belongs. And Chris Carrabba knows how to fill a room better than anyone.
“There’s this magical thing when you find that people are connected through your songs,” he says. “It’s a stroke of luck, really. And I feel lucky that it happens with our music.”
He can call it luck, but for close to a decade now, Dashboard Confessional has cultivated the kind of connection with fans that most songwriters spend a lifetime pursuing. Since the release of Swiss Army Romance in 2000, Carrabba’s fearless honesty has inspired fierce loyalty from anyone seeking truth in music. You cannot fake the truth. You can’t even hide from it. So the best songwriters dive deeply into it, coming out the other side armed with sing-a-long anthems.
“Music is all things to me,” Carrabba says. “It’s a respite from real life, but it’s also a place contemplate and begin to understand what you’re going through. Music can clarify how things are affecting you.”
Carrabba’s sixth full-length album as the mind behind Dashboard Confessional, Alter the Ending is a collection of songs that speak to the desire in all of us to bend the shape of our lives, to twist fate, to change the end before we arrive at it. For Carrabba, this new album is the hard-won remedy for the rough spells that can plague any life, his being no exception.
“In the course of making this record, things kind of fell apart,” he says. “My sister was in a terrible accident and was in a coma, one of my relatives had a heart attack, and another was in sudden need of a liver transplant. I spent quite a number of hours away from the studio at various hospitals. There was a lot of disarray going on. My whole life was on fire as I made this record. Life felt like it was burning through me.”
From the first notes of album opener “Get Me Right,” Carrabba sings of a struggle to get home, through a dense forest, to a rundown, broken old place. As the music moves from its first sparse, cautious notes, the song grows taller and larger and until it finally sounds like the very salvation its narrator is seeking. On the first single, “Belle of the Boulevard,” Carrabba sings, “Down in a local bar/Out on the Boulevard/The sound of an old guitar/Is saving you from sinking…” To be saved by music is not a fairy tale. For Carrabba, it’s a very real aspiration, maybe even a work ethic.
“I’ve always looked at music as a way to feel better. I’ve written some sad songs and some happy ones too,” he says. “But the goal has been the same every time: to feel good. To pick up a guitar, to enjoy holding it in my hands, to tell a story, and to feel better after having told it.”
In fact, Alter the Ending might be the most confident, optimistic music in Dashboard Confessional’s entire storied career up to now. It’s the sound of Chris Carrabba finally finding in his own music what everyone else heard from the very beginning, turning this “little side-project” into a decade-long triumph of empathy and truth. But where can you go after you’ve made an entire album about endings?
“I feel like this is the beginning of something new. It’s a really good feeling. And I haven’t felt like this since Swiss Army Romance. I have no idea what will be next, but this feels like a new start.”
“There’s this magical thing when you find that people are connected through your songs,” he says. “It’s a stroke of luck, really. And I feel lucky that it happens with our music.”
He can call it luck, but for close to a decade now, Dashboard Confessional has cultivated the kind of connection with fans that most songwriters spend a lifetime pursuing. Since the release of Swiss Army Romance in 2000, Carrabba’s fearless honesty has inspired fierce loyalty from anyone seeking truth in music. You cannot fake the truth. You can’t even hide from it. So the best songwriters dive deeply into it, coming out the other side armed with sing-a-long anthems.
“Music is all things to me,” Carrabba says. “It’s a respite from real life, but it’s also a place contemplate and begin to understand what you’re going through. Music can clarify how things are affecting you.”
Carrabba’s sixth full-length album as the mind behind Dashboard Confessional, Alter the Ending is a collection of songs that speak to the desire in all of us to bend the shape of our lives, to twist fate, to change the end before we arrive at it. For Carrabba, this new album is the hard-won remedy for the rough spells that can plague any life, his being no exception.
“In the course of making this record, things kind of fell apart,” he says. “My sister was in a terrible accident and was in a coma, one of my relatives had a heart attack, and another was in sudden need of a liver transplant. I spent quite a number of hours away from the studio at various hospitals. There was a lot of disarray going on. My whole life was on fire as I made this record. Life felt like it was burning through me.”
From the first notes of album opener “Get Me Right,” Carrabba sings of a struggle to get home, through a dense forest, to a rundown, broken old place. As the music moves from its first sparse, cautious notes, the song grows taller and larger and until it finally sounds like the very salvation its narrator is seeking. On the first single, “Belle of the Boulevard,” Carrabba sings, “Down in a local bar/Out on the Boulevard/The sound of an old guitar/Is saving you from sinking…” To be saved by music is not a fairy tale. For Carrabba, it’s a very real aspiration, maybe even a work ethic.
“I’ve always looked at music as a way to feel better. I’ve written some sad songs and some happy ones too,” he says. “But the goal has been the same every time: to feel good. To pick up a guitar, to enjoy holding it in my hands, to tell a story, and to feel better after having told it.”
In fact, Alter the Ending might be the most confident, optimistic music in Dashboard Confessional’s entire storied career up to now. It’s the sound of Chris Carrabba finally finding in his own music what everyone else heard from the very beginning, turning this “little side-project” into a decade-long triumph of empathy and truth. But where can you go after you’ve made an entire album about endings?
“I feel like this is the beginning of something new. It’s a really good feeling. And I haven’t felt like this since Swiss Army Romance. I have no idea what will be next, but this feels like a new start.”
History :
Side project and first albums (2000-2002)
The band originated as Chris Carrabba's solo side-project while he was in his previous band Further Seems Forever. He recorded his first album Swiss Army Romance in 2000. The following year, he recorded Further Seems Forever's debut album The Moon Is Down. However, he left the band soon after the album's release, instead recording and releasing his sophomore album The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most, as well as a follow-up EP titled So Impossible, both underneath the Dashboard Confessional name.
By 2002, three other musicians had joined the band, including former Further Seems Forever band mate Jerry Castellanos and started the process of recording the band's next album. After the success of his second album, Carrabba was asked to perform on MTV Unplugged, and the subsequent live release marked the first time many of the songs were recorded with a full band.
Also in 2002, the music video for Screaming Infidelities (produced by James Paul Wisner) won the MTV2 award at the MTV Video Music Awards, beating out Norah Jones, The Strokes, The Hives, Nappy Roots and Musiq. This video starred Chris in both the performance and the storyline. The video was directed by Maureen Egan and Matthew Barry.
A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar (2003-2005)
In 2003, the band released its third album A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar. Peaking at #2 on the United States Billboard charts, the album proved to be the band's most commercially-viable album yet. In the summer of 2004, Dashboard Confessional recorded the song "Vindicated" for the film Spider-Man 2. The song was featured on the soundtrack and played over the film's end credits. Because of this, the band gained a sizable audience for their next release the following summer.
Dusk and Summer (2005-2006)
In May 2005, Dashboard Confessional entered the studio to record their fourth album with acclaimed producer Daniel Lanois. The album was released on June 27, 2006; its first single was "Don't Wait". Following the release of Dusk and Summer, Dashboard Confessional went on a summer tour of the U.S. with special guests Say Anything and Ben Lee, followed by co-headlining an arena tour with alternative rock band Brand New.
The Shade of Poison Trees (2007-2009)
In 2007, the band released its follow-up to Dusk and Summer, The Shade of Poison Trees.
Alter the Ending (2009 - Present)
The band began recording their sixth studio album, Alter the Ending, in 2008. Carrabba stated that the album could have turned into a concept album.
"...only with the last three has it become, like, 'All right, these have a continuity and there's something going on,' so I'm excited to see where that leads".
On February 14, 2009, as a special Valentine's Day gift to fans, Chris released a free download on his MySpace page entitled "Even Now (Acoustic)" from their forthcoming studio album.
In June, 2009, the band began "sequencing the album", suggesting that the upcoming album was close to completion.
In August 2009, Dashboard Confessional contributed a song to the motion picture soundtrack for dark comedy film Jennifer's Body, titled "Finishing School". It was not featured on Alter the Ending.
On September 10, 2009, Chris Carrabba confirmed on his Twitter page that the new 12-song album would be released on November 10, 2009. It was found out that the album would be released on 2 discs: a first disc consisting of the full-band version of the album, and a second disc consisting of the acoustic version. In addition, Carrabba stated that Dashboard Confessional would be touring with New Found Glory and Never Shout Never in the near future.
However, on October 30, 2009, Chris announced via Twitter and Facebook that, due to a last-minute family emergency, the band would be cancelling their Alter The Ending tour with New Found Glory and Never Shout Never with the exception of November 7 with the Louisville Orchestra.
Although the longer tour with New Found Glory and Never Shout Never was cancelled, Chris announced on his website on November 10, 2009 that he and John will begin a 13-date acoustic tour with New Found Glory (who will be playing an acoustic set as well) on November 30, 2009.
The music video for "Belle of the Boulevard" was released on the band's MySpace page on November 25, 2009.
Rolling stone gave the album 4 out of 5 stars. "Ending is a return to full-bore rock after the mellow Shade of Poison..."
