Texas Is the Reason
was an American emo band. The group was founded by former Shelter guitarist Norm Arenas and 108 drummer Chris Daly in 1994. They disbanded in 1997.
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TEXAS IS THE REASON TICKETS
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Biography
Norm Arenas (guitar), guitarist for the
hardcore Hare Krishna band Shelter, formed Texas Is the Reason with friend and then fellow
Hare Krishna devotee Chris Daly (drums), formerly of the band 108, which played music of a similar kind to Shelter's, some time in the early 1990s in
New York City.
[1] They both desired to leave the macho attitude and religious preaching of their former projects. With former
Fountainhead bassist Scott Winegard (bass), the three recruited one-time bassist for Buffalo's
Copper, Garrett Klahn (guitar/vocals), to round out the quartet.
The name "Texas Is the Reason" is lifted from a
Misfits song, entitled "Bullet". It also makes reference to a
conspiracy theory about the assassination of
John F. Kennedy, in which the president was killed in a plot arranged by Texas Democrats in order to give
Lyndon B. Johnson control of the White House. Releasing three songs on an
EP, Texas Is the Reason became an underground smash and helped usher in an era of similarly motivated and styled emo bands. They then released a split single with
The Promise Ring through
Jade Tree Records. The following year (1995) they released another split single with
Samuel through British record label Simba.
What followed was their first and only full-length album,
Do You Know Who You Are?
, named after the last statement
John Lennon supposedly heard. Produced by
Jawbox's J.Robbins and released on
Revelation Records,
Do You Know Who You Are?
brought a lot of major-label courtship to Texas Is the Reason, who were being hailed as the "next big thing" in the growing
punk explosion on
MTV. Song titles from the album, such as "The Magic Bullet Theory" and "Back and to the Left", continued the allusion to one of the
Kennedy assassination theories.
In 1997, on the eve of signing with
Capitol Records, the band flew overseas for a European tour. Ongoing intra-band tensions arising from the major label attention reached their apex. The night of the final stop of the tour in
Bielefeld, Germany, Daly and Arenas agreed before the show that if the show was "awesome", it would be their last. Arenas later related, "I walked on stage and we opened with 'Antique' and when Garrett started singing, there were eight hundred Germans singing along with us. I looked at Daly and knew that this was over."
[2]
The members headed to various different musical projects, with Klahn to
New Rising Sons and Daly to indie outfit
Jets to Brazil. Winegard started putting out other bands' records through an imprint he co-owns called GrapeOS, while playing with other musicians in a band called the
Americans. The only member to go inactive in the world of
indie rock was guitarist Norm Arenas, living in
Chicago and
DJing for almost three years.
Winegard and Arenas joined Charlie Walker of
Chamberlain and Jonah Matranga of
Far and
Onelinedrawing to form the band
New End Original, which lasted from 2000 to 2003. Klahn's New Rising Sons released two EPs through GrapeOS, were dropped by
Virgin Records, and then disbanded; he now plays in the band
Solea. Daly left the now-defunct
Jets to Brazil sometime after their 2002 release,
Perfecting Loneliness
.
After nine years apart, the band decided to reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of the release of
Do You Know Who You Are
. A single show was scheduled for New York City's Irving Plaza on November 25, 2006, but a second show was added for the following night due to an unexpectedly quick sell-out of the first show.
[3] In interviews leading up to the reunion, the band noted their long-time disappointment at not playing a final show in their home city. The band also insisted that the reunion shows were a one-time event, and that they had no plans for further shows: "While we empathize with everyone who wants to come to the show, but can't come for any reason, this will not become a tour and we are not reforming the band. That is as clear a statement as anyone can make."
[4]
Discography
Albums
- Do You Know Who You Are?
(1996)
- Your Choice Live Series 037
- Split live album with Samiam. Released in 1999 on Your Choice Records
EPs
- Texas Is the Reason
Released November 21, 1995 on Revelation Records
- Split 7" with Samuel Released in 1995 on Simba Recordings and Art Monk Construction
- Split 7" with The Promise Ring Released in May 1996 on Jade Tree Records as JT1024
Notes
- [http://books.google.com/books?id=HJfGtREyuSAC&pg=RA16-PT759&dq=Texas+Is+the+Reason+Hare+Krishna The Great Indie Discography]
- Paul, Aubin. "Interviews: Texas Is the Reason". Punknews.org. September 22, 2006.
- Rock/Pop Listings
- TEXAS IS THE REASON ON POSSIBLE REUNION TOUR: "NO, NO, NO."