Artist Profile: Jimmy Eat World

Today's Artist Profile is on one of the founding fathers of the emo-rock scene, Jimmy Eat World. Jimmy Eat World were formed in Mesa, Arizona in 1993 and the band consists of Jim Adkins on lead vocals and lead guitar, Rick Burch on bass and backing vocals, Zach Lind on drums, and Tom Linton on backup guitar and vocals. The band's name is derived from an old crayon drawing made by Tom's younger brothers Jim and Ed. The brothers bickered and argued constantly, and Ed was able to exact revenge on Jim by drawing a picture of Jim putting the Earth into his mouth, with the caption "Jimmy eat world" written underneath the drawing, hence the origin of the band's name. The band's sound was inspired by acts like Sunny Day Real Estate, one of the originators of the emo-core scene during the early 90's, and Jimmy Eat World began writing songs based upon the emo mindset and begun a lengthy tour schedule in the process, giving them some well deserved recognition in the emo underground. The band attracted the attention of a talent scout at Capitol Records and was offered a record deal which the band graciously accepted. The band recruited Drive Like Jehu drummer Mark Trombino to produce their debut effort, A Static Prevails which came out in 1996.

Despite being signed to a major label, the band was allowed to release singles on indie labels and became one of the first major label bands to be fully embraced by the indie community, something which was unheard of at the time. The band released their next effort Clarity in 1999. This album is regarded as JEW's best album and one of the defining albums of the emo-rock genre, containing such classics like the title track, "Lucky Denver Mint", and "For Me, This Is Heaven". The band was dropped by Capitol Records shortly after the release of Clarity, and the band decided that their next effort would be released without the help of a major label. Their next effort would be the one that catapulted them into the mainstream, 2001's Bleed American (retitled "Jimmy Eat World" after the 9/11 attacks). The album contained such career defining songs like my personal favorite song "A Praise Chorus", the title track, "Sweetness", "The Middle", and "Hear You Me". The album quickly went platinum and is regarded as one of JEW's best albums. The band embarked on a heavy touring schedule after that, and took some time off before regrouping in 2004 to begin work on their next effort, Futures. The disc contained tracks like "Pain", "Work" and the terrific title track, en route to a gold album certification by the RIAA. The band's next disc Chase This Light followed in 2007, giving way to songs like "Big Casino" and "Always Be". The band's latest disc Invented, came out just last year and reunited the band with Clarity and Bleed American producer Mark Trombino, who lent his expertise to such tunes like "My Best Theory" and "Coffee & Cigarettes". I will always be grateful to Jimmy Eat World for introducing me to other bands in high school that helped broaden my musical horizons, bands like Brand New, Finch, Taking Back Sunday, and a host of others that are way too numerous for me to mention here. They have helped expand the musical palette of countless music fans around the world, and are in my opinion the sole creators of the emo-rock genre that without them, wouldn't exist in its form today.