Near Miss

In summer 2001, Max Béchard and Jeremy Hernandez, both formerly of Bigwig, laid the foundation for the punk band Near Miss by cutting a four-song demo. Bassist Mychael Bingham and guitarist Sean Cockrell came aboard weeks later, completing the Austin, TX lineup that finally took shape. The group issued its debut album, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, through Fearless Records in July 2002. Later that year Cockrell departed, leaving Near Miss to carry on as a trio. Over the following years the band backed the release with nonstop touring that included appearances on Warped Tour alongside Sum 41, the Vandals, Gob, Rise Against, and the Lawrence Arms. Near Miss joined the Takeover Records roster in late 2004 and entered the studio early the next year with Steve Kravac (Less Than Jake, Tsunami Bomb) to track its second album. The following summer the band contributed to a three-way split release with the Matches and Reeve Oliver, then spent spring 2006 on the road with Killradio. That May saw the arrival of Testing the Ends of What They'll Put Up With. Near Miss kept touring through the summer while adding ex-Staring Back guitarist Joshua Portman to the fold.