Vasoli has lately been focusing on his side project, known as Person L. Tom has been recording with his new band, Cheap Seats, with Matt as their manager. Mike also has a side project, called The Traded Series. The origins of the group that would become The Starting Line go back to 1999, via an AOL instant message from Churchville, Pennsylvania guitarist Matt Watts to vocalist/bassist Kenny Vasoli. It asked if the then fourteen-year-old Vasoli, who was at that time in a band called Smash Adams, was interested in "Jamming and shit", as the message title read.
Only a few weeks later, Vasoli found himself rehearsing with his future bandmates Watts, guitarist Mike Golla and drummer Tom Gryskewicz. Soon, the band started touring under the name Sunday Drive, selling out home-made merchandise and a self-recorded demo cassette that the guys titled 'Four Songs'. Their first official release was a three-way split with The Jimmy Tuesday Band and The Commercials contributing three songs each, the work released on KickStart Audio in 2000.
Sunday Drive was soon approached by We the People Records and asked to produce a recording session (the infamous We the People Records Sessions). Set for a release in December 2000, the twelve songs were initially planned to become the band's debut full-length With Hopes of Starting Over on We the People Records, but they ended up serving only as demos for tracks on future releases, as the band signed with Drive-Thru Records in April 2001. On Drive-Thru, they soon released their debut EP With Hopes of Starting Over. Yet, as the name Sunday Drive was already taken by a Christian rock band, they went on as The Starting Line.
On July 16, 2002, almost exactly one year after the release of their EP, the full-length Say It Like You Mean It followed. The songs ranged from energetic and fast-paced to melancholy and calm, dealing with performing on stage ("Given the Chance"), feeling homesick ("Left Coast Envy") and getting even with Vasoli's ex-girlfriend Karina ("Up & Go", "Hello Houston", among others). The hit single "The Best of Me" and its two music videos, as well as the second single "Leaving", received heavy radio and TV airplay, securing The Starting Line a spot on the Warped Tour.
Due to their desire to put out new material, the band decided to release an all-unplugged EP, recorded in three sessions over the following year. The first three songs (recorded in The Prize Fight's Bob Jones' bedroom in August 2002), the second session (recorded in Vasoli's basement in March 2003) and the last track (recorded on the band's touring bus in April 2003) became The Make Yourself at Home EP, released on November 25, 2003. The CD and the DVD version issued simultaneously, featuring an acoustic set performed live at Skate & Surf 2003 in Asbury Park, New Jersey, would be their last releases put out solely on Drive-Thru Records, as The Starting Line was signed by Geffen Records soon afterwards.
Their major label debut, Based on a True Story, came out in May 2005. Lyrically, the band dissociated themselves from the post-relationship formula that was predominant on their previous records. On this album, a lot of the songs (e.g. "Inspired By the $", "Autography" and "The B-List") were explicitly inspired by the band's disdain for their record label Geffen and its executives. The album was far more successful than the band's 2002 effort and sold 42,000 copies within its first week, as opposed to its predecessor's 11,000. The release was followed by the semi-headlining Nintendo Fusion Tour with Fall Out Boy, kicking off in September 2005. A few dates into the tour, The Starting Line were — at their request — released from their record deal with Geffen, and became free agents. In early January 2006, their signing with Virgin Records was announced.
On March 5, 2008 the band announced in an e-mail and on Absolutepunk.net they would be going on a break in order for Ken and Brian to explore Person L, Matt and Tom to explore The Seventy Six, and Mike to spend time with his two daughters and explore The Traded Series. The band had been playing with the idea of coming back in 2011, but in a chat with absolutepunk.net, Kenny Vasoli said, ""it's looking good, may even be earlier. I hung with Matt and Tom the other day, we all are still in love with one another.
On November 10, 2009, The Starting Line released their first-ever live concert CD, film and documentary DVD titled "Somebody's Gonna Miss Us" via Image Entertainment on a 2-disc set. Through intimate and honest interviews with the band, friends and family fans will get a glimpse into the inner workings of the group and a career that spanned nearly a decade, five releases, and thousands of shows.
On December 29, 2009, The Starting Line had a reunion concert at the Theater of Living Arts. Starting Line guitarist Matt Watts stated on the website AbsolutePunk that "this doesn't mean that TSL are back together....It simply means that we're taking a break from our break, and wanted to play a fun show in Philadelphia and continue to focus on our lives outside of TSL"
The Starting Line added a second holiday show on December 30, 2009 in Philadelphia at the Trocadero Theater. This was added due to the fact that the first holiday show scheduled for December 29, 2009 sold out in a little over an hour and the band would like to give their local fans a better chance to see them. Towards the end of their set, Kenny Vasoli announced the band's reunion. However, the group has only toured intermittently since then.
Main Website: http://www.startinglinerock.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thestartingline
Greg
The Starting Line Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The summer had come to an end.
My best friend goes, I try to follow,
Running as you disappear.
Stay.
You know how bad this hurts.
It's been three weeks and just gets worse.
Forever this time.
Greg's last day is our last chance to be best friends
Until we say "goodbye" and "I'll try to see you when the weather clears.
Then I went home and prayed that tomorrow
You would turn the car right back around.
Evergreen Rd just won't feel the same,
Since your gone.
Greg's last day is our last chance to be best friends
Until we say "goodbye" and "I'll try to see you when the weather clears.
Greg's last day is our last chance to be best friends
Until we say "goodbye" and "I'll try to see you when the weather clears.
The Starting Line's song "Greg" is a nostalgic, heart-wrenching tribute to a close friendship that is coming to an end. The song opens with the singer describing the departure of "Greg" to Ohio, which marks the end of summer and the beginning of a new chapter in both of their lives. The singer expresses his desire to follow Greg but is ultimately unable to catch up before Greg disappears from sight. The chorus of the song, which is repeated several times throughout, is a plea for Greg to come back to Pennsylvania and stay forever.
The second verse of the song speaks to the pain and longing that the singer is experiencing in Greg's absence. It has been three weeks since Greg left, and the pain only seems to be getting worse. The singer begs Greg to come back and be his best friend forever this time. The chorus repeats, emphasizing the importance of the present moment as their last chance to be together before they must say goodbye and hope to see each other again in the future.
The final section of the song has the singer returning home and praying that Greg will turn around and come back to Pennsylvania. The last line of the song speaks to the singer's realization that things will never be the same without Greg, and that the memory of their time together will always be bittersweet.
Overall, "Greg" is a poignant reflection on the impermanence of close relationships and the pain of saying goodbye to someone you care about deeply. The lyrics are simple yet powerful, and the melody is hauntingly beautiful, making it a standout track on The Starting Line's album "Say It Like You Mean It."
Line by Line Meaning
When you left home and moved to Ohio
When you moved away from Pennsylvania to Ohio
The summer had come to an end.
It was the end of summer when you moved away
My best friend goes, I try to follow,
You were my best friend, and I wanted to follow you
Running as you disappear.
I tried to catch up to you as you were leaving, but you disappeared
Stay.
I wish you didn't have to go and that you could stay
You know how bad this hurts.
You know how much it hurts me that you left
It's been three weeks and just gets worse.
It's been three weeks since you left, and the pain just gets worse
Come back to PA.
Please come back to Pennsylvania
Forever this time.
This time, I hope you can stay forever
Greg's last day is our last chance to be best friends
The last day we saw each other was our last chance to be best friends
Until we say "goodbye" and "I'll try to see you when the weather clears."
Until we said goodbye, and I promised to try to see you again when the weather clears
Then I went home and prayed that tomorrow
After you left, I went home and prayed that tomorrow you would come back
You would turn the car right back around.
I wished you would turn your car around and come back to me
Evergreen Rd just won't feel the same,
The road we used to walk on, Evergreen Rd, won't feel the same without you
Since your gone.
Since you're gone, everything feels different and empty
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: KENNETH VASOLI, MATTHEW WATTS, MICHAEL GOLLA, THOMAS GRYSKIEWICZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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