Norma Jean is a mathcore band from Douglasville, Georgia
, USA
, a suburb of Atlanta
.
History
Luti-Kriss and Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child
(1997–2004)
Norma Jean live at Warped Tour in
2008
Evolving from
Luti-Kriss, the original Norma Jean
line-up featured everyone from Luti-Kriss, except a different bass
player (who had been in Luti-Kriss at one point as well). Drummer
Daniel Davison (writer of much of the bands material), explained
that the band got their name from actress
Marilyn Monroe, whose real name is Norma
Jeane Baker. It wasn't until after they decided upon that name that
they found out that "Norma" means "pattern", and "Jean" means
"God's grace and mercy", combined saying "Patterns of grace and
mercy". In
2002 the band released
Bless the Martyr and Kiss
the Child on
Solid State
Records. Their original vocalist
Josh
Scogin left the band shortly after the release of
Bless the
Martyr and Kiss the Child, stating that "it was just something
that I felt led to do." Scogin has been known to join in with Norma
Jean during live performances to sing "Memphis Will Be Laid To
Waste" since his departure. Original bassist Joshua Doolittle also
left the band around the same time as Scogin. Doolittle was
replaced by Jake Schultz. Scogin left the band and later went on to
start
The Chariot; he was
replaced by Brad Norris for about a year and a half.
O God, The Aftermath (2005)
Brad Norris was later replaced by Cory Brandan, formerly of the
bands
Eso-Charis (Disbanded),
Living Sacrifice (Disbanded but recently
re-formed in the spring of 2008), and
Uses
Fire (Disbanded). In March 2005 they released their second
album, titled
O God, the
Aftermath , the album took on a
Mathcore direction, heavily influenced by the bands
Botch and
Isis, it was also Cory Brandan's first album
performance for Norma Jean. The artwork for the band's second
album,
O God, the Aftermath was nominated for
Best Recording Package at the
Grammy Awards of 2006. The
artwork was designed by
Ryan
Clark
Redeemer (2006–2007)
Schultz onstage in front of a wall of
speakers
Redeemer, their third album, was recorded with producer
Ross Robinson. On September 21, 2007,
original drummer
Daniel Davison
announced that he would be leaving the band after their current
tour ended, via the band's official website. His last show was on
November 7, 2007 at Irving Plaza in New York, NY.
The Anti Mother (2008–2009)
On December 17, 2007, Norma Jean announced that they would start
writing for their new album,
The
Anti Mother, in January, record in April, and will be
playing the entire 2008
Warped Tour.
Writing was officially announced on January 24. On February 13,
Norma Jean announced in a Myspace bulletin that they are "about 6
songs deep." They wrote a song with
Page
Hamilton of
Helmet, and
collaborated with
Deftones' frontman
Chino Moreno. The band described the
two songs they wrote with Moreno as diverse and anti-traditional.
In early to mid February, they announced that their replacement
drummer would be Chris Raines, who is also the drummer for the band
Spitfire.
On August 5, 2008, Norma Jean released their latest full length
album, entitled
The Anti
Mother. Prior to leaving for their headlining tour, Norma
Jean shot a music video for "Robots 3 Humans 0", with music video
director Daniel Chesnut.
On January 3, 2009, Norma Jean announced on their official website
that they will be writing songs for their next album. The band's
upcoming fifth studio album is said to be a return "back to [their]
roots."
On April 5, 2009, Norma Jean announced on their website that they
have dropped off their current tour due to a myriad of
reasons.
Signing to Razor & Tie (2009-Present)
On November 3, 2009, Norma Jean announced that they would be
parting ways with longtime label Solid State and signing a deal
with independent label
Razor &
Tie with plans to release an album in the summer of 2010.
A new song is called “Kill More Presidents”, the band call the fans
for filming them a live recording of this song.
Touring
They were on
Ozzfest 2006 with
Ozzy Osbourne,
Disturbed,
Avenged
Sevenfold,
Hatebreed,
Dragonforce,
System
Of A Down,
Lacuna Coil,
Black Label Society,
Atreyu,
Unearth,
Bleeding Through,
A Life Once Lost,
The Red Chord,
Walls Of Jericho,
Strapping Young Lad,
All That Remains,
Full Blown Chaos,
Between The Buried And Me,
Bad Acid Trip.
In late 2006, they headlined the Radio Rebellion Tour with support
from
Between The Buried And
Me,
Fear Before The
March Of Flames,
Misery Signals,
The Fully Down.
They played the entire
Warped Tour in
the summer of 2008.
On October 3, 2008, Norma Jean embarked on a U.S. headlining tour
called "The Anti-Mother Tour". The tour lasted until November 15,
2008 and featured several other bands on Solid State / Tooth &
Nail Records including
Haste The Day,
The Showdown,
Mychildren Mybride,
Children 18:3, and
Oh,
Sleeper. Children 18:3 only appeared on half of the tour dates
(October 3 - October 26) while Oh, Sleeper filled in throughout the
rest of the tour (October 28 - November 15).
On December 28, 2008, Norma Jean performed at the
Unsilent
Night 2 Festival in Plano, Texas. A total of 30 bands
performed at the festival including
Scary Kids Scaring Kids,
Oh, Sleeper,
The
Secret Handshake, and
Sky Eats
Airplane.
On Sunday, July 12, 2009, Norma Jean performed at "LifeFest" in
Oshkosh Wisconsin at 11:15 PM central time.
On Friday, July 17, 2009, Norma Jean performed at Sonshine Festival
In Willmar, Minnesota.
On Thursday, September 17, 2009, Norma Jean announced they would
enter a tour spanning over November and December with
Horse the Band,
The
Chariot, and
Arsonists
Get All the Girls. They also announced that in select cities,
they would exclusively play their first album, Bless the Martyr
& Kiss the Child, in its entirety.
Members
Cory Brandan Putman live in 2007
Current
- Cory Brandan Putman - lead
vocals, guitars (2004 - present)
- Chris Day - guitars (1997- present)
- Scottie Henry - guitars (1997 - present)
- Jake Schultz - bass (2002 - present)
- Chris Raines - drums, percussion (2007 - present)
Former
- Josh Scogin - lead vocals
(1997-2002)
- Josh Doolittle - bass (1997-2002)
- Brad Norris - lead vocals (live, 2002 - 2004)
- Daniel Davison - drums,
percussion (1997 - 2007)
Guests and additional members
Discography
Studio albums
EPs
Compilations
- 2008: The Almighty Norma Jean Vinyl Boxset
Awards
Grammy Awards and nominations
References
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
