The blues/rock disciple, the synth-pop convert, the hair-metal drummer and the post-pop/punk troubadour. Throw all of these personalities together and you would certainly have the unlikeliest of musical collaborations. However, you might also end up with one of the most surprising and refreshing rock bands to come along in a while.The southern California-based quartet, the Surrender, seem to harness the wildly diverse backgrounds of each of its members and funnel them into an honest brand of loud, thumping, pulsing, sparkling, and unapologetically moody arena rock. They are also Stereofame.com's Artist of the Month for December 2010, marking the second time the band has received the honor.
"It's really humbling and gratifying to know that your hard work is being recognized and appreciated," frontman Collin Elliott said.
Elliott comes from a blues-influenced school of rock. According to him, he grew up wanting to be the next Stevie Ray Vaughan before becoming enchanted by the rootsy sound of alternative country singer-songwriters like Ryan Adams and Steve Earle.
"I didn't really have a lot of experience playing with different bands growing up, so I tended towards music that I could write and play on the acoustic guitar," Elliott said.
Guitarist Neil Parek and drummer Mike Balboa come from the Def Leppard school of rock and represent the band's longest standing relationship. The two met in elementary school and, bonded by their shared appreciation of the colorful and bombastic hair-metal bands of the day, grew up playing in various bands together.
The lineup is rounded out by bassist Shawn Dailey, who grew up Santa Barbara playing in pop/punk bands.
"You can really hear the history between (Parek and Balboa) by the way they play together and how they influence each other's ideas. They speak the same language musically," Elliott said.
The obvious touchstones now are U2, Coldplay and Muse. But the Surrender has a subtle undercurrent of new wave, British melancholy in the vein of the Cure.
"We're a band whose parts really don't make sense together," Elliott said, "but we know good music when we hear it. Each one of us brings something to the table that changes the destination of each song we write in a pretty unique way."
The community of Stereofame seems to agree. After being chosen as Artist of the Month for a second time, the Surrender has the opportunity to be discovered by more and more new fans all across the globe.
"Stereofame has provided us with so many opportunities and great experiences," Elliott said. "They really seem to understand the needs of unsigned artists. They so clearly love all types of music and it shows in the diversity of the site. Putting our music on Stereofame has been, without a doubt, the best decision we've made as a band."
Labels: aom, contest, The Surrender
