Band Bio: Originating in the icy tundra of the beautiful and remote Upper Peninsula of Michigan, squint has always been a band focused on gathering experiences to write about. They packed up and moved to Louisiana after high school so that they could play more cities and see new places. Their incessant touring has consistently interfered with love, however, and helped the band become deadly-accurate portrait artists of broken relationships. Strong as their passion for writing music may be, they are a band ultimately devoted to the live performance.
The band made their first full record, Beeker, on a total budget of $1200 in Houston, TX. Though it was obviously a freshman effort, the songwriting was there, and the album opened doors for squint to begin touring regionally. They acquired a fair amount of recognition in the South and Southeast, and their first “big break” came when they landed a show opening for the Toadies in Monroe, LA. Then, soon after, they played their first arena show, opening for the Goo Goo Dolls at Louisiana Tech University.
When it came time to record the next album, squint got the attention of producer, Ed Stasium. Ed is a legend; the man responsible for recording dozens of successful acts including The Ramones, Soul Asylum, and Rev. Horton Heat. Ed signed on with the band to make a full length record, and squint’s latest album, Tinsel Life, was born. This album earned them a nomination for an American Music Award even before it was released. (Ed would later go on to remix the now out-of-print Beeker, for a re-release in 2006.)
After releasing Tinsel Life, squint immediately went back to their first love, touring, playing shows from New York to Los Angeles to Houston to their original hometown of Houghton, Michigan. Meanwhile, on college radio, Tinsel Life became the 12th most added record according to CMJ’s Top 20 Adds and charted on the CMJ Top 200. At commercial radio, Tinsel Life immediately charted on the Top 20 Specialty Radio charts. squint also soon found themselves on Touchtunes Jukeboxes, DMX Radio, and Sirius XM.
As squint continued to tour and have some success with Tinsel Life, they got the attention of Jagermeister, and soon found themselves with a sponsor. They are featured on the Jager Music Compilation and are performing on the 2008 Jagermeister Tour with Hinder, Trapt, and Rev Theory. Songs from Tinsel Life have been featured on MTV, VH1, The Travel Channel, A&E, Oxygen, Nickolodeon, and TLC. squint’s unique live show also attracted the attention of microphone stand manufacturer, Atlas. Atlas joined forces with squint in 2004 – making squint possibly the first artist in history to specifically have a microphone stand endorsement. squint is also proudly sponsored by AKG Microphones.
Since the release of Tinsel Life, squint has performed an average of over 100 shows a year; gracing the stage with bands like Staind, Fall Out Boy, The Goo Goo Dolls, Stone Sour, Alter Bridge, The Toadies and more. squint has also donated over 33 thousand dollars to Parkinson disease research through their annual charity festival, Squintfest (www.squintfest.com). These accomplishments, and their hard work and solid song writing, earned squint the ASCAP Plus Award in 2003 thru 2008.
The band moved to Austin, TX, in late 2007. They continue to grow an extremely loyal fanbase, who affectionately call themselves sqroupies. With plans in place to record a new studio album in early 2009 with successful and talented producer Dave Percefull (Bowling for Soup, David Cook), squint is looking forward to another great year.
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