In 1998, Project 86 released its self-titled debut on BEC Recordings, a division of Tooth & Nail Records, and was immediately labeled "rapcore" due to strong similarities to acts such as Rage Against the Machine. Though Schwab's vocals could barely be called rapping, it was a convenient label due to the popularity of that genre of music at the time. The album and a supporting tour opening for P.O.D. and Blindside on the Warriors Tour stirred a lot of hype for the band and their sophomore album was excitedly anticipated.
Project (as the band is often referred to by its fans) released Drawing Black Lines in early 2000 to very strong aclaim and the album is widely considered to be the band's defining work. In support of Drawing Black Lines, Project 86 toured extensively with the addition of a second live guitarist (Cory Edelman, formerly of No Innocent Victim), headlining with supporting bands such as Living Sacrifice and Stavesacre and also opening for P.O.D. and Linkin Park. Perhaps more importantly, influential modern shock rocker Marilyn Manson took interest in the band and had the song "P.S.", originally released on Drawing Black Lines, added to the Blair Witch 2 soundtrack. Probably due to this interest, Project 86 became a higher priority for Atlantic. DBL was slated to be re-released with new artwork and three new songs, but in actuality it was only a bare bones repackaging of the exact same album. However, Atlantic did pour over half a million into Project's next musical foray, entitled Truthless Heroes (2002), which, though proving to be the band's most popular outing yet, was released amidst great turmoil.
Over the course of recording Truthless Heroes (which took around a year to complete) Project 86 had increasing difficulty with its management, as well as both record labels (Tooth & Nail still had rights to release their music to the Christian market). This wore the band down immensely, but by the time the album was finished, the difficulty seemed to have worked out in Project's favor - Atlantic bought all of Tooth & Nail's remaining rights to the band and released "Hollow Again", the first single from the album, on mainstream radio. Word came out that the band would be shooting a video for the song shortly, but it never materialized as Atlantic ran into troubles of its own and liquidated some of its assets - including Project 86. In 2003, finding themselves cut loose by both label and management, Project started its own independent label.
Also during this time, the members of Project 86 became outspoken concerning the Contemporary Christian Music scene, siding with other similar acts such as Stavesacre and MXPX in saying that they wanted to distance themselves from the label and the idealogical restrictions that the CCM label automatically places on bands. A Truthless Heroes website containing links to various underground news organizations, as well as edgy visual art pages that decried the dehumanizing effect of pornography, surfaced and generated much controversy among the band's fans.
Project 86's fourth album, Songs To Burn Your Bridges By, was released independently in the fall of 2003 and went on to sell quite well despite being sold only at shows and online. Come 2004, the band mended relations with and re-signed to Tooth & Nail Records and Songs To Burn Your Bridges By was re-issued with three new songs and completely new artwork.
In February 2005, Project 86 announced that they were working on a new album. The title was later announced as ...And The Rest Will Follow. The band spent several weeks in the studio with Garth Richardson over the summer recording the material, and then began releasing a new song every Monday on their purevolume site. The album was released on September 27, 2005, and sold 8,000 copies in its first week, more than any other Project 86 album. A release tour began September 23, with Spoken, Number One Gun, Mourning September, and The Fold.
On January 6th, 2006, Project 86 appeared live on G4's Attack of the Show!, performing "My Will Be A Dead Man" and "The Spy Hunter". This was the band's first appearance on mainstream cable television.
In other recent news, announced March 28th, 2007, on the band's website: "Recently, Alex Albert officially left Project 86. After many years as the drummer for the band, it was time for him to move on to pursue other interests. Alex parted the band on friendly terms, and Project 86 wishes him the best in this new chapter in his life. Thanks for all your years of comraderie, Alex, and you are in our prayers!"
From www.project86.com:
Project 86 has been riding high since the release of their 6th studio album "Rival Factions" in June, 2007. The record grabbed P86 their highest career Billboard debut at 123 and their 1 single "Evil -A Chorus of Resistance" has topped rock charts for the last several months. The new record has garnered extensive critical praise with glowing reviews in AP, Infuze, All Music Guide, Sputnik, The OC Register, etc. The guys were also featured in Outburn and CCM, and graced the July cover of HM Magazine. Add the recent tapping to have their music used on the upcoming film "The Seeker-The Dark Is Rising" video blog series on MTV.com and its clear the guys in P86 have much to celebrate.
"The Kane Mutiny-EP" was released on Nov. 27 2007, making it the first EP that Project 86 ever released.
Then, after almost a year of no new music, Project 86 released the "This Time Of Year EP", a christmas album with 5 tracks on it.
On April 24, 2009, Project 86 Announced that their seventh studio release would be entitled "Picket Fence Cartel." On May 20, 2009, they uploaded two songs from Picket Fence Cartel, "Destroyer" and "Dark Angel Dragnet" to their MySpace page, for streaming play. They also added the song from 'Picket Fence Cartel' called A John Hancock with the safety off on June 4, 2009. The album was released on July 14, 2009.
After fulfilling their last agreement with T&N, in December 2011 the band announced a Kickstarter campaign via their official website and Facebook page, stating that "the fans are now our record label." Their eighth studio release, Wait for the Siren, was released on August 21, 2012.
Featuring all star guest appearances by: Bruce Fitzhugh (Living Sacrifice), Rocky Gray (Evanescence), Brian "Head" Welch (Korn, Love and Death), Andrew Welch (Disciple), Blake Martin (A Plea for Purging) and The Wedding. The new album was produced by Steve Wilson and Andrew Schwab and engineered/mixed by Steve Blackmon.
Described as Andrew Schwab's opus the record promises to be a fresh take on the P86 sound. Schwab said, "On this record I was really able to take the reins of the creative process in a direction I was passionate about. I was able to write songs that pushed me to grow as an artist. It was also insanely fun to have so many of my friends involved in the process and at this point in the game that is what its about. I am really looking forward to people hearing this album." With concert goers noting the new energy of the songs and new band members Scott Davis on drums, Dustin Lowry on guitar and Mikee "Norman" Williams on bass it seems P86 has benefited from a back to basics reinvention.
2. Also, in the early 90's, house producers Howie How & Little Carlos released 12"s on seminal labels R&S Records and Nu Groove Records, under the name "Project 86". They are otherwise totally unrelated. See also the following link for detail on this collaboration: http://www.discogs.com/artist/Project+86
Molotov
Project 86 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They live for nothing, but this escape
Too bad they can't say at the break of the dawn
That the night was a dream
Nobody can say at the rise of the sun
That it was what it seemed
I know I swallowed it all and I could never be full
I know I swallowed it all and I could never be sure
And now they call me a fool for leaving
They drink all night and ache all day
Too bad they can't say at the break of the dawn
That the night was a dream
Nobody can say at the rise of the sun
That it was what it seemed
I know I swallowed it all and I could never be full
And now they call me a fool for leaving
I know I swallowed it all and I could never be sure
And now they call me a fool for leaving
Home with you, alone with you
Home with you, alone with you
I'm leaving
Now, I'm leaving
So when all those who are convinced
There's nothing but this
Come to us and condescend
We know we won't miss emptiness
Too bad they can't say at the break of the dawn
That the night was a dream
Nobody can say at the rise of the sun
That it was what it seemed
I know I swallowed it all and I could never be full
And now they call me a fool for leaving
I know I swallowed it all and I could never be sure
And now they call me a fool for leaving
(Home with you)
I know I swallowed it all and I could never be full
(Alone with you)
And now they call me a fool for leaving
(Home with you)
I know I've swallowed it all and I could never be sure
(Alone with you)
And now they call me a fool for leaving
The lyrics of Project 86's song Molotov depict the never-ending cycle of addiction and substance abuse, and how it can trap individuals in an endless loop of escapism. The first stanza portrays a group of people who dance and drink all night, living for nothing but the temporary escape from their realities. As the sun rises, they cannot help but realize that the night was nothing but a dream that would not take away their problems. The singer of the song, who has also fallen into the trap of addiction, realizes that he "swallowed it all" and can never be sure if he would find inner peace. He knows that he has to leave this cycle behind but is still being labeled foolish for doing so.
The second half of the song appears to be a conversation between the singer and those who still cannot see beyond their addiction. They condescend and try to convince him that there is nothing else than this emptiness. However, the singer has seen through their facade and knows that he won't be "missing emptiness." He knows that he needs to leave this endless cycle behind and regain control over his life, even if it means being labeled a fool. The song's repetitive structure of "Home with you, alone with you" is a reflection of the singer's inner conflict of wanting to break free but also feeling trapped within the cycle.
Overall, Molotov highlights the perils of falling into addiction and the importance of breaking free from it, even if it means embracing discomfort and leaving behind the comfortable escape that it provides.
Line by Line Meaning
They dance all night and sleep all day
They party all night and sleep all day, refusing to face reality.
They live for nothing, but this escape
Their entire existence is centered around avoiding their problems and indulging in a constant state of distraction.
Too bad they can't say at the break of dawn that the night was a dream
They regret their actions and wish they could take back the mistakes they made at night.
That the night was a dream, nobody can say at the rise of the sun that it was what it seemed
At daylight, the reality of what happened during the night sets in and they can't pretend it was anything other than the mistakes they made.
I know I swallowed it all and I could never be full, and now they call me a fool for leaving
The person acknowledges their past mistakes and overindulgence, but is now being ridiculed for trying to break free from it all.
They drink all night and ache all day
Their excessive partying leads to physical pain and emotional exhaustion in the morning.
Home with you, alone with you, home with you, alone with you, I'm leaving, now I'm leaving
The person is leaving their past lifestyle behind, even if it means leaving the people they once partied with.
So when all those who are convinced there's nothing but this, come to us and condescend, we know we won't miss emptiness
The person feels confident in their decision to leave their old life behind, even if others judge them for it. They know that living a life of excess only leads to emptiness.
I know I swallowed it all and I could never be full, and now they call me a fool for leaving
Reinforcing the fact that the person was aware of their overindulgence in the past and is now being ridiculed for making a positive change in their life.
(Home with you) I know I swallowed it all and I could never be full, (Alone with you) and now they call me a fool for leaving
Repeating the same point, that the person was never satisfied with their old life and is now being criticized for choosing to move on.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: ANDREW ALBERT SCHWAB, RANDY MICHAEL TORRES, STEVEN ALLEN DAIL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind