Crossbreed - Biography
Biography
Crossbreed was formed in 1996 as a four-man band consisting of James Rietz, Chris Nemzek, Charlie Parker and Travis Simpkins. A year later they added keyboardist Jason Troph who left in 1998 to front the Orlando-based band Irrational. He was replaced by Phil "Flip" Marquardt. Their self-produced album .01 was released in 1998 with only 1,000 copies made; the album featured a cover version of "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak.
In 1999, Dan "DJ" Izzo (then under the moniker "D.J. Balistick") joined the band as their DJ/2nd Keyboardist. It was at this time that he began developing their stage show using black lights and glow paint, which helped bring the band to the attention of the music industry.
On April 29, 2000 Crossbreed played Tampa's 98Rock's radio festival, Livestock, where they met the girls from the band Kittie. They gave them a copy of their 3-Track demo, which found its way to the A & R Rep for Kittie's former label Artemis. Crossbreed was signed to Artemis by the end of the year and their debut album, Synthetic Division was released nationally on May 8, 2001. Their first single, "Underlined", debuted on MTV2 & MTVX. Synthetic Division has sold to date a total of over 50,000 copies. In what would be a sign for the future, bassist Charlie Parker left the band after a show on April 20, 2002. Crossbreed then parted ways with their label in 2003 and after a show with Orgy on May 2, 2004, bassist Bishop, keyboardist "Flip", and drummer Simpkins left the band as well. Later that year, Izzo would also leave the band. James Rietz & Chris Nemzek chose to continue and re-form the band with new members.
With a new line-up, Crossbreed spent their time writing new material and doing shows in Florida, including opening for Orgy, Mushroomhead, and Mindless Self Indulgence. On July 25, 2005 they released their self-produced EP New Slave Nation and toured the Midwest with Mushroomhead and Dope on the Music for Freedom Tour. The following spring, they went out with Nothingface and Silent Civilian for a brief time before dropping off the tour due to conflict.
As of May 14, 2008, it was noted on Subkulture's Myspace Blog that Kem Secksdiin is co-writing and performing numerous songs on the upcoming Crossbreed album.
In July 2008, Crossbreed opened up their own audio-visual recording studio. Dubbed "The Candy Factory", the studio is located in the warehouse district of Downtown Clearwater, Florida and served as the studio where Crossbreed's new record KE 101 was recorded.
In June 2008, Crossbreed signed with Driven Music Group, the new label of ex-Korn guitarist, Brian "Head" Welch. According to the band's MySpace, their new album KE 101 was scheduled to be released in late spring/early summer 2009 via Ryko distribution, but due to the company going under, they have decided to sign with Crash Music, an affiliate of Driven Music Group. Due to this and several other issues, the new album KE 101 was released on September 15, 2009.
Crossbreed decided to disband in 2010 and played their last show on December 17, 2010 at The State Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida.
As of 2012 and early 2013 the band has begun posting on it's official Facebook page that indicates the band is working on new material and entertaining playing shows again.
In 1999, Dan "DJ" Izzo (then under the moniker "D.J. Balistick") joined the band as their DJ/2nd Keyboardist. It was at this time that he began developing their stage show using black lights and glow paint, which helped bring the band to the attention of the music industry.
On April 29, 2000 Crossbreed played Tampa's 98Rock's radio festival, Livestock, where they met the girls from the band Kittie. They gave them a copy of their 3-Track demo, which found its way to the A & R Rep for Kittie's former label Artemis. Crossbreed was signed to Artemis by the end of the year and their debut album, Synthetic Division was released nationally on May 8, 2001. Their first single, "Underlined", debuted on MTV2 & MTVX. Synthetic Division has sold to date a total of over 50,000 copies. In what would be a sign for the future, bassist Charlie Parker left the band after a show on April 20, 2002. Crossbreed then parted ways with their label in 2003 and after a show with Orgy on May 2, 2004, bassist Bishop, keyboardist "Flip", and drummer Simpkins left the band as well. Later that year, Izzo would also leave the band. James Rietz & Chris Nemzek chose to continue and re-form the band with new members.
With a new line-up, Crossbreed spent their time writing new material and doing shows in Florida, including opening for Orgy, Mushroomhead, and Mindless Self Indulgence. On July 25, 2005 they released their self-produced EP New Slave Nation and toured the Midwest with Mushroomhead and Dope on the Music for Freedom Tour. The following spring, they went out with Nothingface and Silent Civilian for a brief time before dropping off the tour due to conflict.
As of May 14, 2008, it was noted on Subkulture's Myspace Blog that Kem Secksdiin is co-writing and performing numerous songs on the upcoming Crossbreed album.
In July 2008, Crossbreed opened up their own audio-visual recording studio. Dubbed "The Candy Factory", the studio is located in the warehouse district of Downtown Clearwater, Florida and served as the studio where Crossbreed's new record KE 101 was recorded.
In June 2008, Crossbreed signed with Driven Music Group, the new label of ex-Korn guitarist, Brian "Head" Welch. According to the band's MySpace, their new album KE 101 was scheduled to be released in late spring/early summer 2009 via Ryko distribution, but due to the company going under, they have decided to sign with Crash Music, an affiliate of Driven Music Group. Due to this and several other issues, the new album KE 101 was released on September 15, 2009.
Crossbreed decided to disband in 2010 and played their last show on December 17, 2010 at The State Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida.
As of 2012 and early 2013 the band has begun posting on it's official Facebook page that indicates the band is working on new material and entertaining playing shows again.