A stunning collective of DC hardcore/punk scene vets, Regents members include David NeSmith , Drew Ringo , Lukas Previn and Jason Hamacher. Their collective band credits are enough to stagger any 90’s hardcore, punk and emo fan. These groups include Frodus, Battery, Sleepytime Trio, Thursday, Maximillian Colby and Men’s Recovery Project. Regents can also boast the inclusion of the legendary J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines) who handled bass duties on the album as well as production.

Speaking of his work with Regents, Robbins says “The Regents album includes some of the fastest and most chaotic songs I've ever played on. Their energy is haywire which I enjoy as a listener and if you are going to call yourself a hardcore band, that energy makes sense to me. Once we started recording and they were in-between bass players, the opportunity to play on the record was too much fun to pass up.”

Musically, Regents is at once spastic, furious and emotional while side-stepping any overt metal or grind elements. Within their sound are elements of the “off the rails” aggression of early Gravity Records and the socially-minded viewpoint of classic Dischord Records.

Regents originally formed in 2009 with NeSmith, Hamacher, Ringo and original bassist, Dan Evans (The Exploder). Though, most members originally hail from DC, they are currently spread nearly 1,000 miles apart and balance careers and families outside of music. This makes Regents song writing sessions, intense creative bursts when they get together.

The original line-up released a four-song 7” on Lovitt in 2011 landing them in Alternative Press’ “Top 100 Bands You Need To Know” issue and has leveled audiences on both sides of the Mississippi. Due to other commitments Evans bowed out during the writing of Antietam After Party and Previn (who was in Thursday at the time) took over bass detail with gusto, precision and force. He decided to join the band learned the songs in-between Thursday tours . In addition to their songwriting, Regents have become a formidable live act garnering them a featured video interview with the Grammys website at this year’s SXSW and have done mini-tours with such artists as Retox, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Narrows, Coliseum and Converge. The band will be touring the West Coast in November with Retox.

Original art work by Brian Montuori.

View news about this artist on dyingscene.com View other music on the same record label