The intersection of persistence, perseverance and pure talent is only the starting point for bands emerging in the digital age. For THE COMPOSURE, this mix has fueled a nonstop thrust of power-pop energy from Pittsburgh to the world; a journey that continues for the band on March 13, 2012 with the release of their aptly named EP: STAY THE COURSE.

Assembled in 2007 by singer/guitarist Paul Menotiades and drummer Cory Muro, THE COMPOSURE has taken a simple foundation of sweet pop-punk, and built layers of infectious rhythm soaked in Menotiades' sugary melody. Rounded out with slick harmonies from guitarist Seth Milly and the snapping pulse of bassist Johnny Grushecky, the band's signature blend feels comfortably familiar yet refreshingly new.

"There's something inviting about the songs we write," Paul explains. "We want there to be this connection - that our fans and listeners feel like they're right there with us - in the moment of each song. They're not only singing along but relating to each and every word."

And Menotiades knows a thing or two about fan connection. As a staple in the Pittsburgh music scene since high school, Paul found international success at young age with the band Punchline, emerging as one of the city's most accomplished outfits.

Cory, Seth and Johnny weren't far behind, either. Each of the guys spent years in various rock outfits that collectively racked up hundreds of shows, tours and songs, with each of the three emerging as well-oiled machines in their own right.

So when THE COMPOSURE was born, there was no delay in opportunities presenting themselves to the seasoned unit. Within days of the band's first demos hitting Myspace, veteran producer Marc McClusky (Weezer, Ludo) contacted the band about working together. Meanwhile, legendary producer Mark Trombino (Blink 182, Jimmy Eat World, Midtown) heard the recordings and offered his involvement, too.

The resulting work was Strings Attached – a debut LP that introduced THE COMPOSURE to the world by sticking silvery pop-punk flavored rock in the heads of listeners everywhere. The band then hit the road – sharing the stage with everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Allstar Weekend – and never looked back.

So it's only fitting that The Composure delivers STAY THE COURSE – their sophomore release – right as the band is doing just that. Overflowing with that signature meld of tight-locked power pop, the EP's six songs are polished and pure, ready for sing-a-longs and sharing.

"This EP is a snapshot of the natural progression of The Composure," Muro explains. "We didn't have to lock ourselves in a studio to fabricate new material. These songs are just what we do, and I think they're easy to relate to because they're very real and come straight from who we are."

From the first seconds of album opener Stay Away From Me – with driving punk backbeats – to the bouncy closer Satan, STAY THE COURSE tightly weaves the band's past four years of musical growth through their solid sonic foundation that has captivated audiences since the first note.

"Our fans, friends and audiences are on this musical journey with us," Paul continues. "And for that, we feel an obligation to Stay The Course of who we are, and we're doing just that."

Always at the forefront with an active role in emerging stylistic nuances Century Media has truly shattered the barriers and exemplified diversity in extremes while remaining rooted in the underground but giving bands opportunities outside of the normal means with major league international touring, commercial radio play, and music placement in high-profile films, TV and commercials. Despite all of the years and breakthroughs the company maintains their organic, family feel and business is still being conducted by fans of the music for fans of the music.

This is the official Soundcloud account for UK musician Steven Wilson


“I use my gut, and my gut don’t lie to me” is more than just a lyric in Twin Forks’ exuberant “Something We Just Know,” it is a kind of mission statement for the quartet. If you’ve ever been to a musical performance that made you lose all sense of time and place and give in to the cathartic feeling of clapping and dancing and singing along, you’ve already visited the sweet spot where Twin Forks have made it their mission to reside. “Whatever makes the audience stomp their feet and sing at the top of their lungs, that’s what I want to be doing,” says singer/guitarist Chris Carrabba. “I want to be generating that spirit from the stage.

Carrabba figured out the guiding principle for Twin Forks before he even knew exactly what the project would sound like. During recent solo tours, Carrabba -- whose Dashboard Confessional grew from an intimate solo-acoustic affair to a bona fide arena rock band during the mid ‘00s -- says he was reminded how important that audience connection had always been to him as a performer.

He also knew he wanted to craft a sound closer to the music he’d loved as a kid -- classic folk, country and roots music. Growing up outside Hartford, Connecticut in an area he describes as “half-rural, half-city,” Carrabba developed an early fondness for acoustic singer-songwriters he heard on the radio -- Cat Stevens and John Denver and Gordon Lightfoot -- as well as the more obscure Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan and Guy Clark LPs he found in his mother and step-brother’s record collections. “At the beginning of Dashboard, I wanted to write an acoustic record, but every time I played a D,C, or G chord -- which are called the ‘cowboy chords’ -- I would think about how Tom Petty or Cat Stevens or John Denver or Gordon Lightfoot did this already,” says Carrabba. “That’s when I started tuning my guitars all to hell and back, just so they sounded weird to me. I was probably playing DCG anyway, but I didn’t know anything about guitar, and that was how I could get myself feeling like I was in new territory.”

“When I started playing acoustic-based music, I wasn’t trying to avoid traditional folk because I didn’t love it -- I just loved it so much and didn’t wanna do an injustice to it,” Carrabba notes. “And I had other influences and I thought, why can’t I combine this punk and hardcore feeling with this classic folk feeling -- because they were both such massive loves of mine. But right now I’m more excited about utilizing the age-old, time-tested thing and trying to excel within the parameters of a traditional template.”

He still wanted to be in new territory, though, so when he started writing songs for the project that would evolve into Twin Forks, he wanted to add a new twist. So Carrabba spent three years teaching himself traditional fingerpicking technique. “There’s magic in that kind of playing, where you’re managing two guitar parts,” he says. “I have always found it fascinating and it just seemed like it was calling to me.” Equipped with that new set of skills, Carrabba started writing his most delicate, musically articulate compositions yet, temporarily setting them aside for he-didn’t-know-what. In the interim, making his 2011 covers album, “Covered In The Flood,” gave him the chance to explore his relationship with songs by some of his favorite folk and country artists, both classic and contemporary, including Clark, John Prine, Justin Townes Earle and Corey Brannan. He then worked up those covers for a performance at San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival.

The experience was a major awakening. “Onstage at HSB, we were elated. All I want to be is elated while I’m performing. Why else should we be getting onstage? We’re not up there to be some good-time charlie band, but we are not hiding the fact that we are elated to be onstage with you and we’re choosing the songs that are giving us the best edge to be able to do that.”

After Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Carrabba returned home with a new sense of purpose and a clarity of vision for Twin Forks. In the previous two years, he had been sticking to a temporary rule he’d imposed on himself as a songwriter: “I had made this rule that I would not say ‘love’ or ‘heart’ in my lyrics,” he explains. “I would talk about those things but I wouldn’t say them. So when I came home from that festival and I did write the first song and it did say both ‘love’ and ‘heart,’ they felt like the right words, after not having used them for so long. I let the songs happen and found a tempo that suits what Twin Forks became.”

“Something We Just Know” came to him first, and then, the flood -- another eight songs in the following eight days. Twin Forks began tracking the new songs whenever they could, between tours with other projects, in a multi-purpose space Carrabba had converted into a studio. Over the course of several weeks starting last fall, they managed to record more than twenty tracks that they plan to whittle down to eleven or twelve for the debut LP they plan to release later this year. “We tracked everything live, and I have this tendency to get really excited about what everyone is doing and I’ll make a little hoot or shout, and you can hear all those things in the final versions of the songs,” says Carrabba. “On ‘Scraping Up The Pieces,’ everytime I listen to it and hear Suzie laughing, I’m dying to remember what could have been so funny. Then we additionally multi-track, which we figured was a thoughtful way of approaching the record. You get the error-prone thing that has all the magic in it, but that doesn’t mean you can’t chase a little more precision. But the goal is always to do our best to get it right in the same room with each other, looking at each other, laughing with each other. I think you can feel that all over the songs.”

Originally recorded with musician friends including mandolin player Suzie Zeldin, bassist Jonathan Clark and drummer Ben Homola, Twin Forks has evolved as a live band to include Kimmy Baranoski on backing vocals, Kelsie Baranoski on mandolin and Shawn Zorn on drums.

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"Where I Belong" is out now! Stream/Download on your favorite app!

We're excited to make our mark on Chicago Pop-Punk. BUY: http://www.heyfarraday.com/whereibelong

Farraday is a female led pop-punk band out of Chicago, IL started by six friends with one goal in mind: to make great music. The band has a deeply rooted DIY work ethic and utilizes their talents to handle all their own merch, print, web design, video production, and booking. With a self released EP entitled "The Fear of Missing Out", and recent singles released under Pittsburgh indie label Modern Short Stories, this hard working, energetic, sextet is bringing their love of pop punk to every corner of Chicago and beyond.

Find out more about Farraday @ http://www.HeyFarraday.com

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