Parkway Drive

Parkway Drive
Parkway Drive, Warped Tour 2007
Background information
Origin	AustraliaByron Bay, New South Wales,
Genre(s)	Metalcore[1]
Years active	2003 - Present
Label(s)	Resist Records Epitaph Records
Website	Official website
Members
Winston McCall Ben Gordon Jeff Ling Luke Kilpatrick Jia O'Connor
Former members
Brett Versteeg Paul Lynch Tom Jagels Liam Readen-Smith

Parkway Drive are a metalcore band from Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. As of 2007, Parkway Drive has released an EP, entitled Don't Close Your Eyes, two split CDs, and two full-length albums, Killing with a Smile and Horizons.

Early History (2003-2006)

Parkway Drive formed in the summer of 2003, their name coming from the street they used to practice on in their home town of Byron Bay, Australia. Not long after they had formed, they released a split EP with Adelaide band I Killed The Prom Queen (Disbanded). Later that year, Melbourne Guitarist Paul Lynch had left the band. the band also made an appearance on the Byron Bay Hardcore compilation What We've Built, preceded by their debut EP, Don't Close Your Eyes. In May 2005 they headed to the USA to record their debut album with renowned hardcore producer, Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz (production credits include Unearth and Underoath). Since the release of Don't Close Your Eyes, Parkway Drive have rapidly accumulated a loyal fanbase Australia-wide, courtesy of support slots for international acts including Hatebreed, In Flames, Chimaira, Shadows Fall, As I Lay Dying, Bleeding Through, Alexisonfire, and performances at Metal for the Brain 2005 and Australia's Hardcore 2005. They have built quite a strong reputation within the music industry, this led to their signing with Epitaph record labels. In June 2006, the band was signed to Epitaph Records, which released Killing with a Smile in the United States during August of that year. In late May 2006, second bass player Shaun Cash left the band for personal reasons with the full support of the rest of the members. The band soon found a replacement in their "merch guy" and long-time friend, Jia "Pipey" O'Connor. Now a permanent part of the line-up, he played with them for the rest of their first international tour in the UK and Europe, and later dates in the United States. In October 2006, they were billed as the Australian contingent on the Rockstar Taste of Chaos tour, playing alongside Anti-Flag, Underoath, Thursday, Senses Fail, Taking Back Sunday and Saosin. During November and December 2006 they appeared at the Homebake Festival, Sound Fest, Resist Records' tour, Soundwave Festival and Gravity G Festival before returning to the UK and Europe.

Horizons (2007 - Present)

On 3 March 2007, Parkway Drive played a new song, The Siren's Song, to a crowd at the venue Underworld in Camden, which would feature on Horizons. They were placed on the bill for the U.S. Vans Warped Tour 2007, the only Australian band on the tour. On 15th August, Winston McCall did an interview on Australia's Triple J Radio station in which he previewed a track off of the album 'Horizons" called Boneyards - A video has been made for this song. The album Horizons was released on 6th October 2007- though the entire album was leaked some five weeks before the final release date. The album was generally accaimed by critics and fans alike; especially Blunt Magazine, who wrote that the album 'simply slays from the get go' and awarded it 10/10, and planet-loud.com, which suggested that it would 'set the benchmark for metal albums to come'. Parkway Drive toured venues in Europe alongside Comeback Kid in the Never Say Die! tour. Bands included in the lineup were Comeback Kid, The Warriors, This Is Hell and Cancer Bats. They will be touring the US with Killswitch Engage, Every Time I Die and The Dillinger Escape Plan

Members

Current

Winston McCall, Parkway Drive vocalist

• Winston McCall - Vocals
• Ben Gordon - Drums
• Jeff Ling - Guitar
• Luke Kilpatrick - Guitar
• Jia "Pipey" O'Connor - Bass

Former

• Brett "Steegy" Versteeg - Bass
• Shaun Cash - Bass
• Paul Lynch - Guitar
• Keean Alavi - Lead Guitar

Discography

Albums

• 2005 - Killing with a Smile (Resist Records, Epitaph Records)
• 2007 - Horizons (Resist Records, Burning Heart Records, Epitaph Records)

EPs

• 2003 - Split EP with I Killed The Prom Queen
• 2004 - Don't Close Your Eyes EP (Resist Records)
• 2006 - Don't Close Your Eyes (Reissue) EP (Resist Records)

Other Releases

• n/a - "What We've Built" BBHC compilation
• 2006 - Smoke 'Em If Ya Got 'Em [Music Video] (Resist Records)
• 2007 - Boneyards [Music Video] (Resist Records)

External links

• Official Parkway Drive website
• Parkway Drive's MySpace page
• Resist Records
• Interview with Winston McCall (vox)
• Interview with DB Magazine
• Video of Parkway Drive recording Horizons