Face to Face (punk band)

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This article is about the punk rock band. For the new wave band of the same name,
see Face to Face (new wave band).
Face to Face
Scott Shiflett at the Observatory Santa Ana CA Dec 2014.jpg
Face to Face performing at the Observatory in Santa Ana, California in December
2014.
Background information
Origin Victorville, California, United States
Genres Punk rock, skate punk,[1] pop punk[2]
Years active 1991�2004, 2008�present
Labels
Dr. Strange Victory Music Vagrant A&M Fat Wreck Chords Rise
Associated acts
Legion of Doom Me First and the Gimme Gimmes No Use for a Name The Offspring Pulley
Saves the Day 22 Jacks Viva Death Foo Fighters
Website facetofacemusic.com
Members
Trever Keith
Dennis Hill
Scott Shiflett
Danny Thompson
Past members
Rob Kurth
Matt Riddle
Mark Haake
Pete Parada
Chad Yaro
Face to Face is a punk rock band from Victorville, California, formed in 1991 by
front man Trever Keith, bassist Matt Riddle and drummer Rob Kurth. The band rose to
fame with their 1995 album Big Choice, featuring the radio hit "Disconnected" which
received heavy rotation on KROQ radio in Los Angeles and appeared in the movies
Tank Girl and National Lampoon's Senior Trip.[3]

Face to Face officially split up in September 2004, allowing the band members time
to focus on other projects.[3] During that time all the band members played in a
number of post-Face to Face projects including Legion of Doom, Me First and the
Gimme Gimmes, The Offspring and Saves the Day.[4] In April 2008, after a four-year
hiatus, Face to Face performed together for the first time at The Glasshouse in
Pomona, California.[3][5] Since then, the band has continued to perform and has
released four more studio albums.

Contents
1 History
1.1 Beginnings (pre-1992)
1.2 Success (1993�1997)
1.3 Later years (1998�2004)
1.4 Breakup period (2005�2007)
1.5 Reunion and beyond (2008�present)
2 Band members
2.1 Timeline
3 Discography
4 Footnotes
5 External links
History
Beginnings (pre-1992)
Face to Face can trace its beginnings to 1988 where Trever Keith (vocals,
synthesizers), Matt Riddle (bass, background vocals) who had been friends since
high school (plus Todd (Rick) Atmire (guitars) and Matt Atmire (drums)), formed a
metal band named Victoria Manor that lasted a few short years.[6] After Victoria
Manor disbanded Keith and Riddle formed a band named Zero Tolerance with drummer
Rob Kurth and guitarist Mark Haake who were both Air Force members stationed at
George Air Force Base outside of Victorville. Although no Zero Tolerance records
exist, they recorded a demo tape in early 1991 with this line-up. Later in 1991,
the band decided to take a new musical direction and changed their name to Face to
Face.[7] Shortly afterwards, guitarist Mark Haake left the band and the remaining
members continued on as a three-piece.

The band continued to play frequently throughout the Inland Empire and Orange
County and quickly became a local favorite alongside bands like The Offspring,
Guttermouth, Voodoo Glow Skulls, and others. At a show in Montclair, CA in May
1991, the band met Bill Plaster of Dr. Strange Records and was offered a record
deal. After accepting Plaster's offer, Face to Face entered Westbeach Recorders
studio located in Hollywood, CA in October 1991 to record songs for their first
album, Don't Turn Away (1992). Once the recording was finished, Dr. Strange Records
had difficulty raising the financial resources to have the recordings pressed; in
the interim, the band met Jim Goodwin.[8] Goodwin offered to record the band's
newest songs for free so they entered the studio in August 1992 and recorded
"Nothing New," "Pastel," and "Disconnected". These three songs ended up being
included on Don't Turn Away along with the songs recorded at Westbeach Recorders.

Success (1993�1997)
In 1993, following a three-week tour in Germany supporting Lagwagon, Face to Face
added Chad Yaro as an additional guitarist and new manager Desi Benjamin and began
writing material for a new record.[8] Before the band began recording the new
material, they decided to sign a recording contact with a new major label and
publishing deal which Desi Benjamin secured for them with JVC/Victory/A&M Records
and E.M.I. Music Publishing. On the heels of the new recording contract, Face to
Face entered the studio with producer Thom Wilson (of The Offspring fame) and began
recording the album that became known as Big Choice.

After finishing the recording, Victory Music decided they wanted to test their
distribution system with a new release. To do so they assembled an EP of songs
featured on several of the band's 7" records along with other unreleased
recordings. This EP was titled Over It (EP) and was released several weeks before
Big Choice.[9] The EP contained a remixed version of the song "Disconnected". This
version began to receive significant airplay from KROQ in Los Angeles, California.
This drove the label to push the band to re-record "Disconnected" for Big Choice.
It was featured as a bonus track alongside a cover of the Descendents song
"Bikeage".

After touring with bands such as NOFX, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and The
Offspring in 1995 supporting Big Choice, bassist Matt Riddle chose to leave the
band. Riddle went on to play in 22 Jacks, Pulley, No Use for a Name and most
recently The Implants. The band replaced him with a then-unknown bassist, Scott
Shiflett.[10] Scott's first show with the band was on December 2, 1995 at the
Victorville Fairgrounds.

In 1996, Face to Face began writing and recording what was to become their third
album self-titled. This was the first record without Matt Riddle, who had been
Keith's songwriting partner. Due to this, Keith wrote the majority of the songs on
the album with some help from Shiflett and Yaro. In the studio, the band once again
recruited Jim Goodwin to record and produce the record. Following the release of
the album, they headlined the 1997 SnoCore Tour and joined the Warped Tour.[11]
Later years (1998�2004)
In 1998, it was announced that drummer Rob Kurth was leaving the band. To finish
out the tour for their self-titled record, the band hired drummer Jose Medeles.
After the tour ended, Pete Parada joined the band as Kurth's permanent replacement.
With Parada behind the drums, the band recorded and released two more albums (with
producer Chad Blinman), Ignorance is Bliss (1999) and Reactionary (2000).[12]
Following the release of Reactionary, long-time guitarist Chad Yaro left the band
to focus on his family.

Following Yaro's departure, Face to Face decided to remain a three-piece and began
writing material for their sixth studio album, How to Ruin Everything, which was
released on Vagrant Records in 2002.[13] Following the release of How to Ruin
Everything, the band headlined The Warped Tour.[14]

In the fall of 2003, the band began a temporary hiatus; however, the following
year, they announced that their hiatus would be permanent.[4] They gave their fans
a proper farewell with "The Only Goodbye Tour" of 2004 with supporting acts My
Chemical Romance and Seconds to Go, which followed with a raucous Warped Tour
finale in Boston.[4]

Breakup period (2005�2007)

Following the band's breakup, Keith was active in the mash-up group Legion of Doom.
Shiflett worked extensively on his brainchild Viva Death. Parada joined Saves the
Day and was eventually recruited by The Offspring, replacing drummer Atom Willard.
[4]

Reunion and beyond (2008�present)

On January 29, 2008, Face to Face announced that the band would be reuniting for
select shows in the US and internationally.[5] Later that same year the band
launched a short U.S. tour[15] with former Uprising drummer Danny Thompson filling
in for Pete Parada who was touring with The Offspring. When Parada decided to
permanently commit to The Offspring, Face to Face brought Thompson on board as
their full-time drummer.[4] Since the inception of this new lineup in late 2008,
the band has recorded three new albums and toured extensively.[16]

In September 2015, it was announced that the band had signed with Fat Wreck Chords
and was headed to the Blasting Room in Ft. Collins, CO to begin recording a new
album.[17] This album was released on March 4th, 2016 and is titled Protection. In
August of 2018 the band released an acoustic record titled, Hold Fast.

In December 2017, the band released a visual history coffee table book, Face to
Face: 25 Years of SoCal Punk, with author Aaron Tanner.[18]

Band members
Current members
Trever Keith � vocals, guitar (1991�present)
Scott Shiflett � bass, vocals (1995�present)
Dennis Hill � guitar, vocals (2009�2014 [fill in], 2015�present)
Danny Thompson � drums (2008�present)
Past members
Chad Yaro � guitar, vocals (1994�2000, 2008�2014)
Pete Parada � drums (1998�2004)
Matt Riddle � bass, vocals (1991�1995)
Rob Kurth � drums, vocals (1991�1997)
Timeline

Discography
Main article: Face to Face discography
Don't Turn Away (1992)
Big Choice (1995)
Face to Face (1996)
Ignorance is Bliss (1999)
Standards & Practices (1999) (Re-release in 2001)
Reactionary (2000)
How to Ruin Everything (2002)
Laugh Now, Laugh Later (2011)
Three Chords and a Half Truth (2013)
Protection (2016)
Hold Fast (Acoustic Sessions) (2018)