Biography
Back in 1997, vocalist and guitarist Shawn Harris teamed up with drummer Matt Whalen and bassist Justin San Souci to launch the Locals while the three were still early in high school in Oakland. Irritated by the scarcity of venues open to those under 21 in the Bay Area, the musicians commandeered a warehouse that had been repurposed as a webcasting soundstage and began staging their own L3: Live, Loud and Local concerts. Once guitarist Jon Devoto joined, the group adopted “Commo Promo” methods to build attendance, surprising passersby outside concerts, malls, schools, dorms, and restaurants with short acoustic performances in the days leading up to each event. Momentum built rapidly, allowing the quartet to fill roughly 450-capacity rooms through word of mouth alone, yet they soon had to adopt a new name after the Chicago band the Locals, fronted by Yvonne Doll, reached out.
Pooling funds, the newly christened Matches tracked their debut album in basements and living rooms; the playfully titled E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals surfaced in February 2003 and intensified regional interest along the West Coast. Their energetic performances earned support slots alongside Reel Big Fish, Lit, and Zebrahead, while a contribution appeared on the 2003 Immortal Records holiday benefit compilation A Santa Cause next to tracks from MxPx, New Found Glory, and Fall Out Boy. By year’s end the band had signed with Epitaph, which issued a remixed edition of E. Von Dahl—already having moved more than 4,000 copies—in April 2004. Continued road work included appearances on the 2004 and 2005 Warped Tours as well as a three-way split release titled Takeover alongside Near Miss and Reeve Oliver. These efforts preceded the September 2006 arrival of the more ambitious sophomore album Decomposer, crafted with nine producers including Bad Religion’s Brett Gurewitz, Rancid’s Tim Armstrong, blink-182’s Mark Hoppus, Goldfinger’s John Feldmann, and 311’s Nick Hexum. Following additional touring, the group delivered the densely layered and more uneven A Band in Hope in 2008, which Harris characterized as “a pendulum’s sway between hope and despair.”
Pooling funds, the newly christened Matches tracked their debut album in basements and living rooms; the playfully titled E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals surfaced in February 2003 and intensified regional interest along the West Coast. Their energetic performances earned support slots alongside Reel Big Fish, Lit, and Zebrahead, while a contribution appeared on the 2003 Immortal Records holiday benefit compilation A Santa Cause next to tracks from MxPx, New Found Glory, and Fall Out Boy. By year’s end the band had signed with Epitaph, which issued a remixed edition of E. Von Dahl—already having moved more than 4,000 copies—in April 2004. Continued road work included appearances on the 2004 and 2005 Warped Tours as well as a three-way split release titled Takeover alongside Near Miss and Reeve Oliver. These efforts preceded the September 2006 arrival of the more ambitious sophomore album Decomposer, crafted with nine producers including Bad Religion’s Brett Gurewitz, Rancid’s Tim Armstrong, blink-182’s Mark Hoppus, Goldfinger’s John Feldmann, and 311’s Nick Hexum. Following additional touring, the group delivered the densely layered and more uneven A Band in Hope in 2008, which Harris characterized as “a pendulum’s sway between hope and despair.”
Albums
Singles
