Signal To Noise

Signal to Noise, a post-hardcore quartet, came together in 2003 while absorbing the sound of Hot Water Music, Quicksand, Texas Is the Reason, and Alkaline Trio; their gritty vocals and soaring melodies bore the strongest resemblance to the Gainesville originators. Based in Boulder, Colorado, the members independently issued two demos and an EP while landing local support slots alongside Planes Mistaken for Stars, Minus the Bear, and the Bronx until one of those EPs reached Eyeball Records founder Alex Saavedra in New Jersey. Impressed by the recordings, Saavedra flew to Colorado to catch a live set and signed the band in February 2006. The following month they played South by Southwest in Austin. In spring 2006 founding singer and guitarist Tim Cleary left the group amicably, after which James Tanner—former frontman of Colorado Springs punks Harrison Bergeron—joined drummer Jesse Dixon, guitarist Nolan Aldridge, and vocalist/bassist Tristan Shaffer. That fall the digital-only EP Stop When the Rain Starts surfaced as an early preview of the band’s debut full-length Kodiak, which arrived in early summer 2007. Shortly after the album was finished but several months before its release, Dixon exited and Andrew Vastola took over on drums.