Ecological Atreyu
Who are they?
Arteyu is a metalcore band from Orange County, California that formed in 1998. The band consists of five guys, Alex Varkatzas, Dan Jacobs, Travis Miguel, Marc McKnight, and Brandon Saller. Alex is the lead vocalist and lyricist, Dan and Travis play guitar, Marc is bassist, and Brandon plays drums as well as doing some vocals. The band was not originally called Atreyu, they were called Retribution until they found out that another band from Hemet, California had the name. The band got their name from the book/movie The Never-Ending Story.
Since the band’s inception in 1998, they have released four studio albums, Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses in 2002, The Curse in 2004, A Death Grip on Yesterday in 2006, and Lead Sails Paper Anchor in 2007. Each of their four albums studio has sold about 200,000 copies each. They were on the Projekt Revolution tour with Linkin Park in 2008. They headlined with Hawthorn Heights, 10 Years, and Armor For Sleep.
Retrospective 1998-2000
1998 – 2000 are known as the Atreyu Independent Years. Back then, the band only consisted of four members: Alex, Dan, Brandon and Kyle Stanley. This is around the time the band changed their name, which was suggested by a friend named Scott Lloyd, also known as The Mess. In 1999, the band released their first album, a seven-track independent EP called Visions. The album was only sold at their concerts. Their second album, a five-track EP, under the underground Tribunal Records label.
Retrospective 2001-2006
In 2001, the band was finally signed to a big-name record company called Victory Records, which seemed to favor young metalcore bands. In 2002, they released their first full-length studio album, Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses. Around this time, the band introduced the drummer, Brandon, as another singer in the band. When their music video for Lip Gloss and Black was featured at the Headbangers Ball and Uranium in 2003, the band received much-needed attention. The band’s second studio album The Curse was released in 2004 and sold some 300,000 copies.
After the release of his second album, Atreyu appeared on the Mr. and Mrs. Smith soundtrack covering “You Give Love a Bad Name”, originally performed by Bon Jovi. You can also find them on the Underworld: Evolution soundtrack and the Burn Out 3 video game.
Recent Years 2007 – Now
In early 2007, Atreyu signed with Hollywood Records for America in addition to making an international deal with Roadrunner Records. With the new label came the start of his fourth album, Lead Sails Paper Anchor. This album received mixed reviews due to the band’s new sound. Despite the band’s new sound, it peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200. Marc recently posted a blog stating that Atreyu would be recording their fifth album in early spring 2009.