Every Day Life
Encyclopedia
Every Day Life was a Christian rapcore
group. The band became identified with the Straight Edge
movement, which advocates abstinence from sex
, drugs
, and tobacco
.
The band has been labeled as a Christian version of Rage Against the Machine
, which the band states is "kinda flattering, because when we started the band, I hadn't heard ‘em... we had no influence of theirs, and we had no starting point from them."
While the group saw other bands in the genre such as Korn
and Limp Bizkit
, and even the Christian bands P.O.D.
and Project 86
, achieve great success, that same goal was elusive to Every Day Life. This was partially due to bad luck regarding record labels and promotion, and part to controversial album content, which lead to their first two albums being pulled from Christian bookstores. Even so, the band did receive some light MTV rotation, entered the college radio charts, and was nominated for a Dove Award.
While controversial, the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music describes the band as having been "the first group in Christian music to address political issues in a responsible manner." The band consistently wrote about social issues, and was not afraid to tackle harsh issues of social and economic justice, both within Christianity and in the larger world. EDL felt that these issues were often marginalized or poorly approached in churches, and completely taboo in contemporary Christian music
. Larry Norman
was an influence for the band, with the lyricist telling one interviewer that "He wrote about the issues... just as Steve Taylor
did, and just as Rez Band did when they started. These artists who originally started talking about the issues of Christianity now have no place in the market, because now the market has become songs of confirmation. And it almost makes it seem as though something we're doing is unheard of, and maybe not even Christian." HM jokingly remarked that the Chick tract
"Angles?", which describes the evils of Christian rock
, had been inspired by the band.
and laid down some material for an album. However, the label went defunct before releasing any EDL material. After finally being released from that contract, they signed with Alarma Records
and produced their debut album, Disgruntled. For the band, the delays were intolerable. Frontman Cookerly reported that "when I got into the studio, I got upset and angry and yelled my way through it ... My goal was to write the most upset record the Christian market had ever seen, to completely alienate everybody.” Production was managed by Lanny Cordola
. In addition to sporting an American Flag with the bands name cut out, the cover image of Disgruntled shows a scene from the Reginald Denny incident, part of the Los Angeles riots of 1992. The flag was intended to represent the broken ideal of American life, and the photo to be a graphic portrayal of the extremes of life and society.
One British reviewer found that the albums blend of musical styles "Can seriously affect your blinkered ideas on what Christian music
should sound like," and packs "more punches than Lennox Lewis
."
From the start their lyrics were controversial. Their debut album contained a cover of the Gil Scott Heron song "Whitey on the Moon" (with guests Gospel Gangstaz
) that used the word "nigga". Lyrically, the artist described most of their debut as being "super-personal." On one song, the lyricist dealt with his own childhood. His mother, addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol, and depressed
, had told him several times to commit suicide
. American Standard contains lyrics on the topics of rape, the exploitation of Native Americans, as well as the dark sides of the music business and church politics. HM described it as having "insurgent lyrics and subversive undertones that challenged the status quo
of our society."
The band has received criticism from churches for their unusual sound and the content of their albums. In one incident after a show, frontman Cookerly was surrounded by a crowd of Bible
-bearing teenagers who told him that his actions were a reflection of what the Antichrist
would do. "I cried a lot that night," Cookerly reported. One specific criticism of the band is that they don't often use "God" or "Jesus" in their lyrics. On that topic frontman Cookerly stated "It has never been our position that Christ would be prostrated to gain industry status and give foundation to our [bands'] Christianity... Why, just for the sake of using his name, should I say Jesus?" "[The] fact is this," Cookerly told 7ball, "some bands are called to be a praise band like The Supertones, and some are called to educate Christians like The Blamed
, and we are here to bear witness to the disenfranchised."
American Standard was named for the toilet manufacturer
. The album contains social criticism aimed at society, as explained by the lyricist: "our standards have slipped. They're crap. And without getting too vulgar, we as a society piss out all this hypocrisy." The criticisms also extend to Christian culture, "Christianity, we're in trouble, because Christianity for the typical white family isn't that [stereotype] anymore. It's a single parent family, it's still having to deal with alcoholism
, it's still having to deal with drug abuse
, it's still having to deal with date rape
. And any of the things that the world dictates happens to the average white family that's Christian in American society... Our God is a wonderful, just and redeeming Jesus Christ, but people see the need to bring out all these unnecessarily. You know, the Word of God
stands alone, and it almost seems as though they have to put powdered sugar
on what's already sweet."
Production of American Standard was handled by Mike Knott. One reviewer found that the songs "tend to mesh into one another, creating the 'one long song' effect... the best way to tell each separate track apart is the tempo and length of screams," but that that didn't detract from the musical or lyrical relevance of the album. Another commented that the album could set the standard for "Christian hard, heavy, and puncturing music." A reviewer in a more conservative publication disagreed, calling the lyrics "downright absurd" ramblings and complaining about the lack of direct references to Jesus. The song "Salt Circles" received a GMA Dove Award nomination in the "Hard Music Recorded Song of the Year" category in 1999.
Their 2000 release Moment of Clarity marked a slight change in sound for the band - a turn toward a pop and rock oriented sound. HM found that change to be subtle, but enough to commercialize the music.
After Moment of Clarity was released, the band was courted by major labels including Roadrunner Records
. They eventually signed to a Universal
imprint, but that deal folded when Universal restructured and eliminated that particular subsidiary. The band fell back to KMG
, which had then been resurrected as Fashion Pop Records by Frank Chimento, releasing an eponymous album in 2001.
Rapcore
Rapcore is a subgenre of rap rock fusing vocal and sometimes instrumental elements of hip hop with punk rock .-History:...
group. The band became identified with the Straight Edge
Straight edge
Straight edge is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs. It was a direct reaction to the sexual revolution, hedonism, and excess associated with punk rock. For some, this extends to not engaging in promiscuous sex, following a...
movement, which advocates abstinence from sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
, drugs
DRUGS
Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows are an American post-hardcore band formed in 2010. They released their debut self-titled album on February 22, 2011.- Formation :...
, and tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
.
The band has been labeled as a Christian version of Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
, which the band states is "kinda flattering, because when we started the band, I hadn't heard ‘em... we had no influence of theirs, and we had no starting point from them."
While the group saw other bands in the genre such as Korn
Korn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...
and Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 1995, the group's lineup consists of Fred Durst , Wes Borland , Sam Rivers , John Otto and DJ Lethal . The band achieved mainstream success with their second studio album Significant Other, released in 1999...
, and even the Christian bands P.O.D.
P.O.D.
Payable on Death is an American Christian metal band formed in 1992. The band's line-up consists of vocalist Sonny Sandoval, drummer Wuv Bernardo, guitarist Marcos Curiel, and bassist Traa Daniels. Their Christian faith is an important part of their music.They have released seven studio albums and...
and Project 86
Project 86
Project 86 is an American Christian rock band from Orange County, California, formed in 1996. The line-up consists of bassist Steven Dail, vocalist and songwriter Andrew Schwab, and guitarist Randy Torres. The band has released seven studio albums, which have collectively sold over 500,000 units...
, achieve great success, that same goal was elusive to Every Day Life. This was partially due to bad luck regarding record labels and promotion, and part to controversial album content, which lead to their first two albums being pulled from Christian bookstores. Even so, the band did receive some light MTV rotation, entered the college radio charts, and was nominated for a Dove Award.
While controversial, the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music describes the band as having been "the first group in Christian music to address political issues in a responsible manner." The band consistently wrote about social issues, and was not afraid to tackle harsh issues of social and economic justice, both within Christianity and in the larger world. EDL felt that these issues were often marginalized or poorly approached in churches, and completely taboo in contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
. Larry Norman
Larry Norman
Larry David Norman was an American Christian musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer, who worked with Christian rock music...
was an influence for the band, with the lyricist telling one interviewer that "He wrote about the issues... just as Steve Taylor
Steve Taylor
Roland Stephen Taylor , is an American Christian singer, songwriter, record producer and film director.-Early life:Taylor, the eldest of three children, was born in Brawley, California. Taylor's father, Roland Taylor, was a Baptist minister. When Taylor was six years old, the family relocated to...
did, and just as Rez Band did when they started. These artists who originally started talking about the issues of Christianity now have no place in the market, because now the market has become songs of confirmation. And it almost makes it seem as though something we're doing is unheard of, and maybe not even Christian." HM jokingly remarked that the Chick tract
Chick tract
Chick tracts are short evangelical-themed tracts created by American publisher Jack Chick. Chick tracts use a comic book format. They are often controversial for their enthusiastic endorsement of fundamentalist Christianity and condemnation of ecumenical, liberal, and prosperity Christians, the...
"Angles?", which describes the evils of Christian rock
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...
, had been inspired by the band.
History
EDL was founded in 1992 as Every Day Life In Southern California. Early on the band signed to R.E.X. RecordsR.E.X. Records
R.E.X. Records was an independent record label founded by Doug Mann and Gavin Morkel, which operated from 1987 until running into financial difficulty in 1995. Operations were based in Chicago until 1990 when the company moved to Nashville...
and laid down some material for an album. However, the label went defunct before releasing any EDL material. After finally being released from that contract, they signed with Alarma Records
Alarma Records
Alarma Records is a sublabel of Frontline Records.Alarma! Records and Tapes was originally formed in 1983 by the band Daniel Amos, with musician Tom Howard, for the release of their Doppelgänger album...
and produced their debut album, Disgruntled. For the band, the delays were intolerable. Frontman Cookerly reported that "when I got into the studio, I got upset and angry and yelled my way through it ... My goal was to write the most upset record the Christian market had ever seen, to completely alienate everybody.” Production was managed by Lanny Cordola
Lanny Cordola
Lanny Cordola is an American guitarist, songwriter and producer. He has been a member of bands such as Giuffria, House Of Lords, and Magdallan ....
. In addition to sporting an American Flag with the bands name cut out, the cover image of Disgruntled shows a scene from the Reginald Denny incident, part of the Los Angeles riots of 1992. The flag was intended to represent the broken ideal of American life, and the photo to be a graphic portrayal of the extremes of life and society.
One British reviewer found that the albums blend of musical styles "Can seriously affect your blinkered ideas on what Christian music
Christian music
Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....
should sound like," and packs "more punches than Lennox Lewis
Lennox Lewis
Lennox Claudius Lewis, CM, CBE is a retired boxer and the most recent British undisputed world heavyweight champion. He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship...
."
From the start their lyrics were controversial. Their debut album contained a cover of the Gil Scott Heron song "Whitey on the Moon" (with guests Gospel Gangstaz
Gospel Gangstaz
Gospel Gangstaz is a Grammy-nominated Christian rap group from Compton and South Central, Los Angeles. The group has featured members formerly affiliated with the Crips and Bloods gangs, Mr. Solo, Chilly Baby, DJ Dove and Tik Tokk....
) that used the word "nigga". Lyrically, the artist described most of their debut as being "super-personal." On one song, the lyricist dealt with his own childhood. His mother, addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol, and depressed
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
, had told him several times to commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. American Standard contains lyrics on the topics of rape, the exploitation of Native Americans, as well as the dark sides of the music business and church politics. HM described it as having "insurgent lyrics and subversive undertones that challenged the status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
of our society."
The band has received criticism from churches for their unusual sound and the content of their albums. In one incident after a show, frontman Cookerly was surrounded by a crowd of Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
-bearing teenagers who told him that his actions were a reflection of what the Antichrist
Antichrist
The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...
would do. "I cried a lot that night," Cookerly reported. One specific criticism of the band is that they don't often use "God" or "Jesus" in their lyrics. On that topic frontman Cookerly stated "It has never been our position that Christ would be prostrated to gain industry status and give foundation to our [bands'] Christianity... Why, just for the sake of using his name, should I say Jesus?" "[The] fact is this," Cookerly told 7ball, "some bands are called to be a praise band like The Supertones, and some are called to educate Christians like The Blamed
The Blamed
The Blamed is a christian punk band that is from California and Illinois that features Bryan Gray . The bands music is a mixture of hardcore punk, punk and metal.-Albums:-Members:*Jeremy Moffit*Mark Aceves...
, and we are here to bear witness to the disenfranchised."
American Standard was named for the toilet manufacturer
American Standard Brands
American Standard Brands is a closely held manufacturer of plumbing fixtures, sold under the American Standard, Crane, Fiat, Sanymetal, Showerite and Eljer brand names, based in Piscataway Township, New Jersey, United States. It is principally owned by Sun Capital Partners with Bain Capital...
. The album contains social criticism aimed at society, as explained by the lyricist: "our standards have slipped. They're crap. And without getting too vulgar, we as a society piss out all this hypocrisy." The criticisms also extend to Christian culture, "Christianity, we're in trouble, because Christianity for the typical white family isn't that [stereotype] anymore. It's a single parent family, it's still having to deal with alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, it's still having to deal with drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
, it's still having to deal with date rape
Date rape
"Date rape", often referred to as acquaintance rape, is an assault or attempted assault usually committed by a new acquaintance involving sexual intercourse without mutual consent....
. And any of the things that the world dictates happens to the average white family that's Christian in American society... Our God is a wonderful, just and redeeming Jesus Christ, but people see the need to bring out all these unnecessarily. You know, the Word of God
Word of God
Word of God or God's Word may refer to:*Divine revelation**certain Religious texts**Prophecy**Biblical literalism*Logos as "divine word"** in biblical creation, see Genesis creation narrative**in trinitarianism, see Jesus Christ the Logos...
stands alone, and it almost seems as though they have to put powdered sugar
Powdered sugar
Powdered sugar, also known as confectioners' sugar or icing sugar, is very fine sugar. When intended for home use, it typically contains a small amount of anti-caking agent....
on what's already sweet."
Production of American Standard was handled by Mike Knott. One reviewer found that the songs "tend to mesh into one another, creating the 'one long song' effect... the best way to tell each separate track apart is the tempo and length of screams," but that that didn't detract from the musical or lyrical relevance of the album. Another commented that the album could set the standard for "Christian hard, heavy, and puncturing music." A reviewer in a more conservative publication disagreed, calling the lyrics "downright absurd" ramblings and complaining about the lack of direct references to Jesus. The song "Salt Circles" received a GMA Dove Award nomination in the "Hard Music Recorded Song of the Year" category in 1999.
Their 2000 release Moment of Clarity marked a slight change in sound for the band - a turn toward a pop and rock oriented sound. HM found that change to be subtle, but enough to commercialize the music.
After Moment of Clarity was released, the band was courted by major labels including Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...
. They eventually signed to a Universal
Universal Records
Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
imprint, but that deal folded when Universal restructured and eliminated that particular subsidiary. The band fell back to KMG
KMG Records
KMG Records was a Christian record label. The label was established in 1997 by Buddy Killen as a subunit of the Killen Music Group / Buddy Killen Enterprises and sold in late 1998 to Cal Turner III, who is related to the Cal Turner of Dollar General stores...
, which had then been resurrected as Fashion Pop Records by Frank Chimento, releasing an eponymous album in 2001.
Discography
- 1996: Disgruntled (Alarma RecordsAlarma RecordsAlarma Records is a sublabel of Frontline Records.Alarma! Records and Tapes was originally formed in 1983 by the band Daniel Amos, with musician Tom Howard, for the release of their Doppelgänger album...
) - 1997: American Standard
- 2000: Moment of Clarity (KMG RecordsKMG RecordsKMG Records was a Christian record label. The label was established in 1997 by Buddy Killen as a subunit of the Killen Music Group / Buddy Killen Enterprises and sold in late 1998 to Cal Turner III, who is related to the Cal Turner of Dollar General stores...
) - 2001: Every Day Life (Fashion Pop)
Members
- Tedd Cookerly - vocals
- Carl Weaver - guitar
- Eric Wilkins - drums
- Jason Bowen - bass
- Jensen Tripp - bass
- The Nayt - guitar
- Oxx - bass
- Jeff ElbelJeff ElbelJeff Elbel is a musician, songwriter, and producer currently based near Chicago, Illinois. He is also a frequent journalist for publications including the Chicago Sun-Times.-Discography:Jeff Elbel + Ping: The Eleventh Hour Storybook...
- bass - Jim Rupe (KingSize) - bass
- Shawn Pawling - Guitar
- Evan Stromberg- Guitar
- Scott Silleta aka DJ Cool Rock - Formerly of the bands Plankeye, Rich Young Ruler and Fanmail