Drive By Argument

History

Early years (2004-2005)

The band originally formed as part of a music project for a university course in 2004. The group were picked at random to be in the band and told to produce 5 songs, written by each member of the band. In an interview for the website Rocklouder TV, frontman Stewart «Stoke» Brock claims that they actually wrote the songs as a whole band instead of sporadically, and when asked about it, claimed that they stuck to the set rules.Before the formation of the band, the members had never met before, except for bassist Ryan Drever and frontman Stoke, but vaguely. The band then proceeded to drop out of university and commit to their new project, Drive-by Argument.

The band released two show-only EPs during the course of 2005, called «EP1» and «December Demos/Dragon EP».

One Records/Sex Lines Are Expensive Comedy (2005-2006)

In late 2005, the band signed a one single deal with Glasgow label, One Records, releasing their very first limited edition single «Sex Lines Are Expensive Comedy» on October 24, 2005. The song caused the band to receive a small following, even to be used regularly at Madison Square Garden on the warm-up soundtrack for the National Hockey League’s New York Rangers, and once on the American crime drama Cold Case.

Lizard King Records (2006)

In 2006, the band signed to indie label Lizard King Records. The band received attention when they secured a supporting position for two dates of Panic At The Disco’s 2006 UK tour. The first date was at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall (22 August 2006) and the second was at Brixton Academy (22 October 2006). That luck transcended into reputation and notoriety for the band, gaining them several fans new from the two gigs.

The Album (2006-Present)

In late 2006, after a bout of touring, the band went into the studio and recorded their self-titled debut studio album, Drive-by Argument, which was originally designated for release in September 2007. After several delays in the release of the album, it was finally released the following year, via download on May 12 and physically on May 19, 2008. On March 5, 2007, the band released a limited edition vinyl/download single called «The Sega Method» to gain more awareness. Shortly before that, the band began their first major solo tour to promote the new single and forthcoming album. In summer, the band released a re-recorded version of «Sex Lines Are Expensive Comedy» for their second album single release on June 25, 2007.

The band released their third album single «Dance Like No-One’s Watching» on April 28, 2008. So far, it has been the most well-received single from Drive-By Argument, even securing a place on the MTV2 MySpace Chart for several weeks during the time of April and May 2008.

After the release of their album on March the 19th, the band have been on an unofficial hiatus. However, the band have been rumoured to return early in the new year.

2009

Drive-By Argument announce through their MySpace an official finishing of the band. They posted a blog saying: «Hi every​one,

From today​,​ the 23rd Feb, 2009,​ Drive​-​By Argum​ent are no more.​ We’d like to thank​ every​one who’​s suppo​rted over the years​ and all the bands​ we’​ve playe​d with along​ the way.

It’s been an inter​estin​g journ​ey.​.​.

We’​ll speak​ to you all soon

Much love

DBA»
Atlas Skye

In the early hours of 24th Feb 2009, another blog was posted on Drive-By Argument’s myspace page in relation to the previous blog announcing their split the day before with a link inviting fans to see their ‘next trick’. The link is to a band’s myspace under the name ‘Atlas Skye’ and features two songs ‘Thieves’ and ‘Seeing Shapes’. It is clear that ‘Atlas Skye’ is in fact Drive-By Argument playing under a new name with a slightly different musical direction using more prominent guitar work and less synthesizers.
Trivia

The name of the band is a minor reference to a short skit in an episode of the American cartoon sitcom Family Guy.
The band have played such prestigious music festivals as T In The Park, RockNess, FM4 Frequency,
T On The Fringe 2005, Secret Garden Party 2007 and Download Festival 2007.

by N.Hate aka nhate