In 1999, guitarist Matt Watts emailed bassist Ken Vasoli, after reading his AOL profile, and invited him to jam. Soon the two of them, along with guitarist Mike Golla and drummer Tom Gryskiewitz  were lining up shows and recording singles and marketing themselves with home made promotional items,

The Starting Line

Usually I’ll start to sing a couple of words, where the consonants and syllables all work in the phrase, and then I’ll take that phrase and think about how that corresponds to something that’s happening in my life. That’s usually how I come up with the concept of the song.

Building a Band

In 1999, guitarist Matt Watts emailed bassist Ken Vasoli, after reading his AOL profile, and invited him to jam. Soon the two of them, along with guitarist Mike Golla and drummer Tom Gryskiewitz  were lining up shows and recording singles and marketing themselves with home made promotional items, with the help of the internet.  Their recording they were releasing as mp3 downloads on line and this is where they built their first fan base.

Punk recording label Drive Thru pursued the band, and a contract was signed.  Under the guidance of Drive Thru, the band became The Starting Line in 2000 and released their first extended play recording, With Hopes of Starting Over, followed by the Warped Tour.

Putting It All Together

Thanks to all the work The Starting Line had put into self promotion and the success of the EP, when the released their debut album in 2002, Say It Like You Mean It, their fans were ready and the recording was greeted with enthusiasm.  The single, Best of Me, and the two videos the band made for the song received heavy radio and television air play, securing equal attention for the second single, Leaving.  The band signed for inclusion in their second Warped Tour.

Their second album, Based On A True Story,was released in 2005.  Disappointed in how little priority Geffen gave the album,they found a way out of the contract, signing later that year with Virgin Records.  In 2007, after their third Warped Tour, The Starting Line recorded their third album, Direction, which offered one single to appear on the Billboard Charts, Island.  The band launched a nationwide headlining tour that September.

A Break

In 2008, The Starting Line announced they were taking a break.  Each member had side projects which they wanted to explore, and initially, they were planning to reunite in 2011.  Various interviews, however, have offered conflicting ideas, about getting together sooner, or not at all.  In 2009, The Starting Line released a CD/DVD entitled Somebody's Gonna Miss Us. The dvd told the story of the inception of the band and their growth through their Bamboozle concert in 2008.

In December of 2009, the band scheduled a concert at the Theater of Living Arts in Philadelphia, carefully clarifying that this was not a sign of a reunion.  Vasoli referred to the concert as “as break from a break.”  When this show sold out in the first hour tickets were available, they added a second show, scheduled for the next day at Trocadero Theater.

Did you know . . .

1. At the band's inception, bassist Ken Vasoli was 14 years old.

2. The single, Inspired by the $,was written to direct angry sentiments at their promoters at Geffen.

3. The Starting Line had to change their name from Sunday Drive because that name had been taken by a Christian band.

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