The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - The Awakening (2018)

One of the few screamo bands to land a Top 40 pop hit, the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus formed in 2003 in Middleburg, Florida. After writing and rehearsing for 18 months, the bandmembers were urged by several friends to pursue their music seriously. This encouragement led the guys to book themselves several local shows, to the quick embrace of their hometown scene. As the buzz grew, the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus recorded their first EP and began relentlessly spreading their name around Florida. Despite a rapidly developing fan base, several subsequent label showcases amounted to nothing and various bandmembers either exited or were booted from the group.

Undeterred, the band's remaining core -- vocalist Ronnie Winter and guitarist Duke Kitchens -- began to rebuild the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, focusing on a blend of emo-pop, screamo, and alternative rock in the process. Soon completing the quintet were guitarist/vocalist Elias Reidy and bassist Joey Westwood, both of whom had previously played together in a metal band called In Fate's Hands, as well as drummer Jon Wilkes. A few months after the lineup was solidified, the guys inked a deal with Virgin. Entering the studio with David Bendeth (Hawthorne Heights, Breaking Benjamin) in 2005, the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus began crafting their full-length debut. The resulting Don't You Fake It appeared in July 2006 and was certified gold by the year's end, propelled by the success of the Top 40 single "Face Down" and the band's stint on the summer-long Warped Tour. The guys also contributed a track to the video game soundtrack for Madden NFL 2007.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus set to work on a follow-up album in 2007, taking a brief break in early 2008 to launch an acoustic tour of the Eastern Seaboard. Lonely Road was then released in February 2009, three months after the announcement that guitarist Reidy had exited the band's lineup. Although it proved to be the band's last release for Virgin Records, the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus continued releasing material, beginning with the 2010 EP Hell or High Water and continuing with the group's third LP, Am I the Enemy? in 2011. ~ Corey Apar