Trial (band)
| Trial | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Seattle, WA, USA |
| Genres | Hardcore punk |
| Years active | 1995-Present |
| Labels | Panic Records |
| Associated acts | Wait in Vain, Himsa, Between Earth and Sky, Champion, Three Inches of Blood, Hellpromise |
| Members |
Greg Bennick Timm McIntosh Alexei Rodriguez Brian "Brain" Redman E.J. Bastien Roger Kilburn |
| Past members |
Josh "Sammi Curr" Freer Michael Green Derek Harn Brian "Spicoli" Johnson |
Trial is an American political straight edge hardcore punk band based in Seattle, Washington. The band was active from 1995 until 2000. They reunited for three reunion shows in Seattle, London, and Budapest in the fall of 2005, and recently were part of the Burning Fight Book Release show in Chicago IL on May 2 and 3, 2009. They headlined a night at Fluff Fest in the Czech Republic on Saturday, July 25, 2009, and then at Antifest in Stockholm Sweden a week later. Shortly afterwards, bassist Brian Redman was killed in a moped accident. The band took two years off before returning to play Rainfest in Seattle, The Rumble in Chicago, East Coast Tsunami Fest in Pennsylvania, a surprise show in NYC, and Sound and Fury Fest in Santa Barbara CA. They went on tour throughout Europe for thirty shows in the fall of 2011.
Mission
According to the band themselves, "We were after that one moment, that one intimate and intense exchange, that one flash of passion and agony colliding and intertwining that left us all reeling and realizing that we'd just experienced something very real. We were desperate for that, and we found it, and kept finding it wherever we played, regardless of the specific song or the topic. There was an experience people were having when they were given the opportunity to suffer and share what that suffering really felt like. The more we connected with that feeling and that experience, the more people understood what it was we were aiming to do, and the more they wanted to be a part of it. And that's what made Trial so meaningful: it wasn't about us. It was about the people who came to the shows or listened to the songs and who connected in whatever way they could. They were the ones, who through their courage and willingness to share of themselves, who justified, invented, and kept recreating the band. Anyone can write songs and release records. But not anyone can come to a show or write a letter or email and desperately connect with the music they experience and then share their own suffering with such intensity that it alters the way the musicians see their art and themselves. Art, and life ultimately, are about transformation. Because of the people at the shows, being in Trial felt like transformation night after night, wherever in the world we went. We were being inspired and influenced by all the people who came to share or who shared after the fact through what they wrote to us or said in reaction to what they'd experienced." (From the Reunion/Retrospective DVD insert)
Discography
Trial released three studio CD's: There were a number of alternative versions, vinyl-only releases and compilations as well.
"Through the Darkest Days" (1996)
"Foundation" (1997)
"Are These Our Lives" (1999)
External links
Interview TRIAL - Greg