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40 Below Summer
40 Below Summer is an American nu metal band from New Jersey. Formed in 1998, the band broke up seven years later in 2005. After two small reunions in 2006 and 2010, they permanently reformed in 2011. Their latest album, Untethered, was released in 2025.
40 Below Summer came together after drummer and Peruvian native Carlos Aguilar met singer Max Illidge in a band named Alien. Joey D'Amico met Max Illidge in late 1997, and later joined the duo playing guitar. Pete Savad joined soon after playing bass at first, then moving to guitar with the addition of Jordan Plingos on bass. The self-released Side Show Freaks (1999) was recorded with these lineups at their rehearsal location in the Music Building, NYC. Savad left the band as they got close to signing their first record deal. Moving Plingos to guitar, the band added Steve Ferreira who was soon replaced by Puerto Rican-born Hector Graziani on bass. Soon after, Rain (2000) was self-released.
In late 2000, the band's self-released CD Side Show Freaks found its way to No Name Management (known for acts such as Slipknot and Mudvayne). After partnering with No Name, numerous record label showcases on both coasts followed, with up to fifteen prominent labels showing interest in the band. They eventually signed with Warner Music Group's London-Sire, although at one point they were close to signing with Madonna's Maverick Records, another Warner label. In March 2001, 40 Below Summer travelled to Los Angeles to commence recording their major label debut Invitation to the Dance with famed heavy metal producer GGGarth (Rage Against the Machine, Mudvayne, Kittie). Prior to the album's release, the band embarked on a poorly attended tour with Chimaira and Ill Niño that was headlined by Factory 81. After several delays, Invitation to the Dance was eventually released on October 16, 2001 (some sources state September 11, 2001).
Two months after its release, London-Sire went out of business due to a corporate merger. This led to the band being briefly signed to parent label Warner Bros. Records during 2002. Reprise/Warner Bros. subsequently re-issued Invitation to the Dance, although the band elected to leave the label in December 2002. Regarding their departure, Max Illidge stated "The label [London-Sire] folded. which essentially meant all our funding was cut. But we couldn't go sign another deal, because Warner Brothers owned London-Sire so Warner Brothers owned our contract. They didn't even know who the fuck we were. They folded a lot of other labels too. For literally like a year they had to sift through probably a thousand different acts that were on all these labels and say 'keep them, dump them'. We were like playing phone tag talking to this guy and that guy for like a year before we finally just said please let us go."
After performing on the Jägermeister Music Tour with Drowning Pool, Coal Chamber and Ill Niño, they started to write material for their second album. While the band started writing almost immediately after the release of their previous album, they threw out some fifteen songs before coming up with 21 that they reduced down to the final ten (plus a bonus track, "The Day I Died").
Unsigned at this point, Razor & Tie Records saw the band in February 2003 when they played in New York City with E.Town Concrete. A deal was signed in June just as the band entered the studio. The band would later strike a licensing deal with Roadrunner Records for the album's UK release.
Their second album The Mourning After was released on October 28, 2003. Two singles were released from the album in "Self-Medicate" and "Taxi Cab Confession". The video for the former received a fair amount of airplay on MTV2's Headbangers Ball. The band negotiated a release from their contract in 2004. Illidge stated "We had trouble with Razor & Tie. They really had no experience at the time putting out rock albums. They were known for like kids pop, shit like that. They just didn't know what they were doing, they had no clue. That shit was doomed. We ended up actually getting the rights to Mourning After, and we got a little money out of the deal." Not long after this Jordan was temporarily replaced by Ty Fury. The band then recruited Ryan Juhrs (formerly of Flaw) to fill the spot officially and Carlos left soon after.
Despite breaking up, 40 Below Summer released The Last Dance on October 31, 2006, via Crash Music Inc. The album features nine demo versions of songs intended for their third LP, as well as a bonus DVD featuring footage of the band's "last" performance at the Starland Ballroom in New Jersey (September 2005). The album sold 1,095 copies during its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
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40 Below Summer
40 Below Summer is an American nu metal band from New Jersey. Formed in 1998, the band broke up seven years later in 2005. After two small reunions in 2006 and 2010, they permanently reformed in 2011. Their latest album, Untethered, was released in 2025.
40 Below Summer came together after drummer and Peruvian native Carlos Aguilar met singer Max Illidge in a band named Alien. Joey D'Amico met Max Illidge in late 1997, and later joined the duo playing guitar. Pete Savad joined soon after playing bass at first, then moving to guitar with the addition of Jordan Plingos on bass. The self-released Side Show Freaks (1999) was recorded with these lineups at their rehearsal location in the Music Building, NYC. Savad left the band as they got close to signing their first record deal. Moving Plingos to guitar, the band added Steve Ferreira who was soon replaced by Puerto Rican-born Hector Graziani on bass. Soon after, Rain (2000) was self-released.
In late 2000, the band's self-released CD Side Show Freaks found its way to No Name Management (known for acts such as Slipknot and Mudvayne). After partnering with No Name, numerous record label showcases on both coasts followed, with up to fifteen prominent labels showing interest in the band. They eventually signed with Warner Music Group's London-Sire, although at one point they were close to signing with Madonna's Maverick Records, another Warner label. In March 2001, 40 Below Summer travelled to Los Angeles to commence recording their major label debut Invitation to the Dance with famed heavy metal producer GGGarth (Rage Against the Machine, Mudvayne, Kittie). Prior to the album's release, the band embarked on a poorly attended tour with Chimaira and Ill Niño that was headlined by Factory 81. After several delays, Invitation to the Dance was eventually released on October 16, 2001 (some sources state September 11, 2001).
Two months after its release, London-Sire went out of business due to a corporate merger. This led to the band being briefly signed to parent label Warner Bros. Records during 2002. Reprise/Warner Bros. subsequently re-issued Invitation to the Dance, although the band elected to leave the label in December 2002. Regarding their departure, Max Illidge stated "The label [London-Sire] folded. which essentially meant all our funding was cut. But we couldn't go sign another deal, because Warner Brothers owned London-Sire so Warner Brothers owned our contract. They didn't even know who the fuck we were. They folded a lot of other labels too. For literally like a year they had to sift through probably a thousand different acts that were on all these labels and say 'keep them, dump them'. We were like playing phone tag talking to this guy and that guy for like a year before we finally just said please let us go."
After performing on the Jägermeister Music Tour with Drowning Pool, Coal Chamber and Ill Niño, they started to write material for their second album. While the band started writing almost immediately after the release of their previous album, they threw out some fifteen songs before coming up with 21 that they reduced down to the final ten (plus a bonus track, "The Day I Died").
Unsigned at this point, Razor & Tie Records saw the band in February 2003 when they played in New York City with E.Town Concrete. A deal was signed in June just as the band entered the studio. The band would later strike a licensing deal with Roadrunner Records for the album's UK release.
Their second album The Mourning After was released on October 28, 2003. Two singles were released from the album in "Self-Medicate" and "Taxi Cab Confession". The video for the former received a fair amount of airplay on MTV2's Headbangers Ball. The band negotiated a release from their contract in 2004. Illidge stated "We had trouble with Razor & Tie. They really had no experience at the time putting out rock albums. They were known for like kids pop, shit like that. They just didn't know what they were doing, they had no clue. That shit was doomed. We ended up actually getting the rights to Mourning After, and we got a little money out of the deal." Not long after this Jordan was temporarily replaced by Ty Fury. The band then recruited Ryan Juhrs (formerly of Flaw) to fill the spot officially and Carlos left soon after.
Despite breaking up, 40 Below Summer released The Last Dance on October 31, 2006, via Crash Music Inc. The album features nine demo versions of songs intended for their third LP, as well as a bonus DVD featuring footage of the band's "last" performance at the Starland Ballroom in New Jersey (September 2005). The album sold 1,095 copies during its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.