identity on fire - a skylit drive

Michael "Jag" Jagmin - Vocals
Nick Miller - Guitar
Joey Wilson - Guitar
Brian White - Bass / Screams
Kyle Simmons - Keyboards
Cory La Quay - Drums / Vocals

The past is a surefire reminder of where we’ve been, but it doesn’t always need to dictate exactly where we’re headed. Thus it takes great vision for a band to refuse to rest on their previous successes, focusing instead on what they need to become. But that’s exactly what Lodi, California’s A Skylit Drive achieved with the sextet’s forthcoming release, Identity On Fire, set for release on February 15th 2011.

Marrying the defining, intrinsic elements of A Skylit Drive’s signature sound with a bold new palette of tones, textures and song structures, the aptly named Identity On Fire serves up a double meaning, not only standing apart from the band’s prior works but also defining the band from this point forward.

“This record has everything to do with setting fire to the things that you don't want and don't need, and are only slowing you down,” notes vocalist Michael “Jag” Jagmin. “It’s about creating your own identity, and being who you want to be. We feel like that's what we've done with this album.”

A Skylit Drive — which also includes guitarists Nick Miller and Joey Wilson, bassist/screamer Brian White, drummer Cory La Quay and keyboardist Kyle Simmons— officially burst onto the scene in 2007 with the She Watched The Sky EP, followed by 2008’s Wires And The Concept Of Breathing, marking the group’s first proper full-length, and the entrance of Jagmin to the fold. Wires hit #171 on the U.S. Billboard 200, as well as #9 on the Top Heatseekers Chart and #20 on the Top Independent Albums chart, setting the stage for a much-anticipated follow-up. The band then joined the Fearless Records family, with their label debut coming in the form of 2009’s Adelphia, which peaked at #64 on the Billboard 200.

With the sophomore pressure behind them, ASD re-entered the studio in the fall of 2010—after a summer of 10-hour days spent writing new material in a blistering warehouse—to record Identity On Fire, the band’s third full-length. All the sweat clearly paid off: Identity captures the group truly coming into their own, at a pivotal stage in their career.

“We're extremely excited about the album,” says Jagmin. “We took everything we did on Wired and Adelphia and were like, 'What did we do wrong, what did we do right, and what have we never done, but wanted to do?' We feel that this is the album we've needed to make, and we finally did it.”