From Autumn to Ashes

Clean Vocals: Francis Mark (clean vocals: 2000–2008; 2014–present; unclean vocals: 2006–2008; 2014–present; piano: 2001–2008; 2014–present; drums: 2000–2006)

Lead guitar & Vocals: Brian Deneeve (2001–2008; 2014–present)

Bass & Backing vocals: Mike Pilato (2000–2004; 2007–2008; 2014-present)

Rhythm guitar: Rob Lauritson (2006–2008; 2014–present)

Drums & Unclean vocals: Jeff Gretz (2007–2008; 2014–present); additional guitars: 2020–present)

Former members:

Unclean vocals: Benjamin Perri (2000–2006)

Lead guitar: Stephen Salvio (2000–2001)

Rhythm guitar: Scott Gross (2000–2004)

Rhythm guitar: Jonathan Cox (2004–2006)

Bass & backing vocals: Josh Newton (2004–2007)

History:

2000 - 2003: The early years, "Sins, Sorrow and Sadness" EP and first album "Too Bad You're Beautiful"

The group formed in 2000 under the name "Who's to Blame" on Long Island in 2000 with Francis Mark (drums, vocals), Steve Salvio (guitar) and Benjamin Perri (vocals). Perri provided screaming vocals, while Mark sung clean vocals. Commenting on the name of their band, Scott Gross (guitar) said that no one is going to get the right answer on this one because that would pretty much end the band, and that no one is going to know the reason and they would keep it that way. The term "Autumn" refers to both the season and a fictional character the band created. Mark and Gross planned to use the character in a book. For the first few months as a touring band, From Autumn to Ashes claimed to have sold half of their equipment, a car, and spent between $3,000 and $4,000 making demos and hand distributing them.

o find a record label, the band says they pretty much just sent packages to every record label and made a huge amount of phone calls harassing people. In 2001, From Autumn to Ashes performed in Long Island with Ferret Music bands Skycamefalling and Martyr AD, where the founder of Ferret Music, Carl Severson, attended. The following day, Severson contacted the group and they were soon signed in 2001. The band's debut full-length album, Too Bad You're Beautiful, was released on August 14, 2001. Too Bad You're Beautiful, which was written entirely about a relationship Perri had, sold over 100,000 records in the United States and thus From Autumn to Ashes became the highest selling band on Ferret Records. It also featured vocals on the song "Short Stories With Tragic Endings" from Melanie Wills of the band One True Thing. A reviewer on Punk News stated the album had the ability to put you to sleep like a baby's lullaby, then smash you awake with gut wrenching, floor pounding hardcore. In 2000, under the music label Tribunal, the band released the Sin, Sorrow and Sadness EP on March 5, and later took part in the Warped Tour during the summer months. In 2002, the band employed a live drummer for a number of songs so that Mark could focus on the songs in which he did more vocals.

2003 - 2005: The Fiction We Live and growing success with member changes

In 2003, following speculation as to which label From Autumn to Ashes would release their next record, the band signed to Vagrant Records and enlisted Garth "GGGarth" Richardson as producer. After performing on the 2003 Warped Tour, they released their second full-length album, The Fiction We Live, on September 9, 2003, which again featured vocals from Melanie Wills on the song "Autumn's Monologue". The album was described as more melodic in sound than Too Bad You're Beautiful, which had a more hardcore sound. Perri explained that The Fiction We Live's songs had more structure than their debut release and were the result of the band's time together. Aubin Paul of Punk News viewed the release as a growth from Too Bad You're Beautiful, writing that like their previous album, it contained its share of PSAT words and overtly maudlin pseudo-poetry, but was still a big improvement. The move to a larger label and slightly more commercialized sound allowed the band to find more mainstream success, producing three singles: "The After Dinner Payback", "Lilacs & Lolita" and "Milligram Smile". The song "The After Dinner Payback" also appeared on the soundtrack for the horror film Freddy vs. Jason. For the following months, the group toured the country, also playing on the 2004 Warped Tour, during which time Josh Newton (bass) joined as Pilato left along with Gross.

2005 - 2007: New line up, "Abandon Your Friends" album release and vocalist change

On March 8, 2005, a re-release of Too Bad You're Beautiful was issued, featuring the songs from the Sin, Sorrow, and Sadness EP. Featuring a new lineup of Benjamin Perri (vocals), Brian Deneeve (guitar, piano, backing vocals) and Francis Mark (drums, vocals) alongside new members Jon Cox (guitar) and Josh Newton (bass, backing vocals), Abandon Your Friends was released on Vagrant in August 2005 under direction of producer Richardson.

The album stemmed from the idea that abandoning your friends is kind of what they do in the sense of how life goes on when they go away on tours. Abandon Your Friends met with speculation about the band's internal conflicts surrounding a potential break up. Perri had not been much involved in the process of creating the album and did not attend practice sessions, despite stating in interviews that the album was a full on collaborative effort and that everyone had a say in what they were writing. It was revealed in 2007, in interviews, and when Mark posted in the band's Myspace blog, that he had ghostwritten Perri's lyrics in a matter of days. The band had made a further move away from the heavier sound of their past albums and had shifted more focus to Mark's vocals. CMJ reviewer Tracey John explained that the album continues to straddle both ends of the hardcore and emo spectrum, but the band does not show much progression from 2003's The Fiction We Live. The album generally garnered reviews noting that fans of From Autumn to Ashes might be disappointed. Others disagreed, like UK magazine Kerrang!, which gave the album a 5 out of 5 review and called it a metal masterpiece. The album sold over 100,000 copies. It produced one single, "Where Do You Draw The Line?" with an accompanying music video. Unhappy with intraband politics, guitarist Jonathan Cox quit the band around November 2006.

Vocalist Ben Perri left the band according to a MySpace blog posted on December 5th, 2006. However, the band continued without him, with Fran Mark on full vocal duties. This left a lineup of Fran Mark (vocals and drums), Brian Deneeve (guitars) and Josh Newton (bass) to record the next album as a three piece. However, for live purposes, Fran chose to front the band.

2007 - 2008: Release of "These Speakers Don't Always Tell The Truth" EP, Holding A Wolf By The Ears, Live at Looney Tunes CD

After taking a five-month hiatus at the beginning of 2006, From Autumn to Ashes returned and played the length of the 2006 Vans Warped Tour, adding Rob Lauritsen in place of Cox. In September 2006, the band rented practice space and began writing material for Holding a Wolf by the Ears. Brian McTernan was chosen as producer because he had previously worked with Mark and Newton on their side project Biology's album. The members opted for this release to have a less refined feel than the last albums. As they prepared to begin studio recording, Mark noted that Perri never came to any of the practices and had no involvement, similar to when they wrote Abandon Your Friends. Perri then declared that he would no longer be a part of the band. Mark felt there were kinder ways to leave, but it was cool of him to recognize that he lacked the passion for the band. The group decided to continue without Perri, and Mark became lead vocalist, providing both clean and screaming vocals along with his drum tracks. He said he had worked hard on personal lyrics and felt reluctant to hand them off to someone else. Once he began recording the vocals, it immediately felt like that was how it should have been all along. The album's lyrics were mostly about living and the idea that extremes are dangerous. The album was recorded in about a month. Its title came from a Thomas Jefferson quotation about holding a wolf by the ear. Reviewer Drew Beringer of Absolute Punk praised the lineup change, stating that Mark was a far stronger front man than Perri.

In early 2007, the band began auditioning drummers to replace Mark on tour. Initially they were looking for a temporary member, planning to remain a quartet if they didn't get along with a drummer. Jeff Gretz was officially added to the lineup two weeks before touring began. The limited edition EP These Speakers Don't Always Tell The Truth was released as a Hot Topic exclusive on March 13th, 2007, featuring 2 tracks from the brand new album, Holding A Wolf By The Ears was released on March 13, 2007.

Holding a Wolf By the Ears was released on April 9, 2007, as the final album in their contract with Vagrant Records. According to Mark it was heavier than anything they had done and closest to how he believed the band should sound. Reviewer Corey Apar of Allmusic noted that the band sounded stronger than it had in a while. Music videos for "Pioneers" and "Deth Kult Social Club" were filmed, the first based on the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the second a live video shot on Long Island in late February 2007. "Pioneers" was released as the first single. In September 2007, ex bassist Mike Pilato returned to the live band replacing Josh Newton following the release of Holding A Wolf By The Ears, performing alongside new members Rob Lauritson and Jeff Gretz on their final tours.

2008 - 2014: Break up in 2008, "Live at Looney Tunes" and new projects

In January 2008, the band performed at the Looney Tunes store in New York. A recording of this show was released on June 17, 2008. This became their final release. On June 9th 2008 the band already announced an indefinite hiatus. Mark explained that it did not feel like a breakup but more like an ending. There were no quarrels, no issues of fan support, simply a sense of completion. He thanked fans for their loyalty.

Mark and Lauritsen started the band Warship, which released one album and disbanded in 2009. Soon after, Mark formed Tidal Arms with Tom Tierney and Patrick Southern. Deneeve and Emanuel singer Matthew Breen created the band Summer Law, which ended after several months so Deneeve could attend culinary school to become a pastry chef. Gretz returned to drumming for Zao and also joined Emanuel and the Fear.

Meanwhile Brian Deneeve joined the UK boyband The Wanted as one of the guitarists for their backing band. Later he formed the band Get Involved! with Tucker Rule (Thursday), Derrick Karg, Todd Weinstock (Glassjaw) and Marcus Russell Price.

2014 - present: Reunion concerts and possible new releases

The band's Twitter account posted for the first time on October 13, 2014, sharing an image of Too Bad You're Beautiful without further explanation.

On November 4, 2014, they posted a lyric line from the song "Kansas City 90210", fueling speculation about a reunion.

On November 26, 2014, it was announced that the band would reunite at Amnesia Rockfest in June 2015, with more shows to be announced.

On July 7, 2015, Francis Mark was charged in Michigan with maintaining a drug house. He released a statement clarifying that he had turned himself in and that the alleged drug house was a medicinal marijuana facility. He assured fans that the band would make up the canceled dates.

In 2019 they started being active on Facebook again, in March 2020, the band confirmed a second round of reunion shows, their first in four years, though the shows were canceled or rescheduled due to the pandemic. They confirmed they would play the rescheduled May 2021 dates of Furnace Fest.

In the following years, they re-released several albums on vinyl, played a shows and played a US tour with 10 dates. Several shows sold out.

In a live interview later uploaded to YouTube, Jeff Gretz confirmed that the reunion depended on writing new music and that the band had indeed been writing, though unsure where it would lead.

On September 19, 2023, the band shared a short teaser video. On September 22, they announced a short East Coast tour for November and December, their first shows since 2021.

The band played a sold out show in New York in early 2025 together with Thoughtcrimes and LaMacchia.

It's unknown if they will release new material or just keep on playing live shows.

Musical style and development:

The band mixed melody with hardcore/metal styles, and their earlier albums featured a unique dual vocal style between frontman Benjamin Perri and drummer Francis Mark. This style was very innovative at the time and earned the band widespread praise.

The band's styles included emo,screamo, post-hardcore, and metalcore.

For his stylistic influences for playing drums, Mark references Stewart Copeland of The Police who he "always thought ... had a really good style", Neil Peart of Rush, John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, and Keith Moon of The Who. Following the release of The Fiction We Live, then screaming vocalist Perri explained that the lyrics he was writing for the forthcoming album (Abandon Your Friends) would feature lyrics that were inspired by Billy Joel, stating that they were "billyjoelesque" because "they're more straightforward, not what I'm thinking, what I'm feeling, instead of poetry and shit". However, it is unclear whether the lyrics were used on the album, as was revealed by Mark in 2007, that Perri had not contributed to Abandon Your Friends and it was Mark who had ghostwritten the lyrics.

From Autumn to Ashes also combines genres as Mark has said, The combinations of genres allows them to tour with a variety of bands with different styles. They are able to "go on tour with Taking Back Sunday one month and go on tour with Shadows Fall the next month."

Described as "melody and lushness meets brutality," the band released their debut full-length album Too Bad You're Beautiful in 2001. The album featured former band member Benjamin Perri on harsh vocals, with Mark providing the clean vocals and acting as drummer. The year 2003 saw the release of The Fiction We Live and 2005, the release of Abandon Your Friends, the last From Autumn to Ashes album with Perri and Mark in their respective roles. After Perri's departure shortly after Abandon Your Friends, Mark became lead vocalist and in 2007, the band released Holding a Wolf by the Ears. On June 9, 2008, the band announced that they had gone on "indefinite hiatus." They insisted that the decision was amicable and the band had simply reached its natural conclusion. They have since reunited and played several shows but have yet to release any new music.

Discography:

Albums:

2001 - Too Bad You're Beautiful

2003 - The Fiction We Live

2005 - Abandon Your Friends

2007 - Holding a Wolf by the Ears

2008 - Live at Looney Tunes (Live CD)

EPs:

2000 - Sin, Sorrow and Sadness

2005 - The Bled/From Autumn to Ashes (Split EP with The Bled)

2007 - These Speakers Don't Always Tell the Truth

2007 - Stitches/Deth Kult Social Club (Split 7-inch EP with Haste the Day)

Compilations/Soundtracks:

2003 - Chloroform Perfume (Acoustic) (Punk Goes Acoustic)

2003 - The After Dinner Payback (Freddy vs. Jason Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

2003 - Lilacs & Lolita (American Chopper Video Game Soundtrack)

2004 - Territorial Pissings (live; Nirvana cover) (Another Year On the Streets, Vol. 3)

2005 - Betwixt Her Getaway Sticks (Masters of Horror Soundtrack)

2005 - Let's Have a War (Fear cover) (Tony Hawk's American Wasteland Soundtrack)

2005 - Inapprope (Cry Wolf: Music from and Inspired by the Film)

2007 - On the Offensive (Saw IV Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

2007 - Love it or Left it (ATV Offroad Fury 4 Soundtrack)

2007 - Daylight Slaving (Madden NFL 08 Soundtrack)

https://www.facebook.com/FATAOfficial

http://www.eastcoastindependent.com/?p=822