• 1999-present

  Ed SloanVocals, guitar1999-present

  Mitch JamesBass, vocals1999-present

  Les HallGuitar, keyboard, vocals2006-present

  Brian GeigerDrums1999-2004

  Tony ByroadsTurntable, vocals1999-2005

  James BranhamDrums2004-2008

  Will HuntsDrums, percussion2009-2010

  Mark CastilloDrums, percussion2010-2012
• Crossfade formed in 1999 in Columbia, South Carolina. The band went through several names, including The Nothing and Sugardady Superstar, before deciding on Crossfade in 2002.
• Crossfade released their self-titled debut album on April 13th, 2004 through Columbia Records. The profanities on the album are censored, but the band did not release an explicit version due to lack of funds.
• In 2006, Crossfade released their second album, Falling Away. This record has shifted just over 200,000 copies to date - small in comparison to the band's platinum-selling debut. Poor sales lead to Columbia Records dropping Crossfade in 2008.
• Front man, Ed Sloan, told Noisecreep how he struggled to get himself together after Crossfade were dropped by Columbia Records: "I remember the day the tour bus drove away and I was just sitting there and thinking to myself, 'I don't even have a place to live.' I mean, I had my studio and my cat, but that was it [laughs]. I had to get my life together and that was really hard for me to do." During this time, Sloan told Songfacts how he slipped into a depression and stopped writing music altogether: "I didn't know what we were going to do. So for like a year I didn't use music as my outlet. I just kind of stayed by myself and loathed my own misery. And that was the only year of my life that I've never written any music or listened to any music. I turned into something that I never knew I had the capacity to become." Sloan told Al.com that it was Crossfade's guitarist, Les Hall, who pulled him out of his depression: "Les came in, took me by the bootstraps and helped me to step forward. After a year of me self-medicating, he just said, 'We're going to write about this and make a third album,' which forced some of these songs that talk about the dark side of life."
• After Ed Sloan recovered from his depression, Crossfade began work on their third album, We All Bleed. Sloan told us: "It took us three years to write the record, so we didn't have any timeline, we didn't have a label breathing down our backs…We took three years to write a record instead of 6 months, like most bands have to." After singing with Eleven Seven Music, Crossfade released We All Bleed on June 21, 2011. Sloan told us the album marks the band starting anew: "I already feel like we're just starting out again, we're starting out not at the bottom, because we've been a successful band before and I know we will be a very successful band coming here again soon. But we've got to work hard at it again, and it feels good to work hard at it again. So a lot of good things musically, career-wise and lyrically have come out of something that at first seemed devastating, to say the least."

Comments

More Songfacts:

We Are The WorldUSA for Africa

Lionel Richie hosted the American Music Awards the night he recorded "We Are The World."

Yellow LedbetterPearl Jam

Eddie Vedder often changes the words when he sings "Yellow Ledbetter." The basic story is about a guy whose brother dies in the first Gulf War. Apparently, bad news in the army is delivered in yellow envelopes.

Thinking About YouCalvin Harris

"Thinking About You" was the ninth track from Calvin Harris' 18 Months album to enter the UK singles Top 10. No other artist has obtained so many hits from one LP - Michael Jackson was the previous record holder with seven Top 10 tunes from both his Bad and Dangerous sets.

Mr. BojanglesThe Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

The Texas songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker wrote "Mr. Bojangles" after a weekend in jail where a fellow inmate told him his life story.

Brand New BookTrain

Train wrote the 2011 song "Brand New Book" for the TV show The Biggest Loser - part of the song was used in the opening credits.

Dirty WaterThe Standells

"Dirty Water" became a Boston sports anthem in the '00s, but it was written by a guy from California after almost getting mugged on a visit to the city.

Editor's Picks

Sarah BrightmanSongwriter Interviews

One of the most popular classical vocalists in the land is lining up a trip to space, which is the inspiration for many of her songs.

Angelo Moore of FishboneSongwriter Interviews

Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.

Dave Alvin - "4th Of July"They're Playing My Song

When Dave recorded the first version of the song with his group the Blasters, producer Nick Lowe gave him some life-changing advice.

Who Did It First?Music Quiz

Do you know who recorded the original versions of these ten hit songs?

Song CitiesMusic Quiz

Nirvana, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen are among those who wrote songs with cities that show up in this quiz.

Emmylou HarrisSongwriter Interviews

She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.