Parkway Drive is a 2002 band that formed at Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. Within their 8 year period, Parkway Drive only released two full-length albums along with an EP, a DVD, and two split albums.
Band Story
The story of the band’s name is a unique one. Parkway Drive used to practice in a house called Parkway House. The property sat on a street in Byron Bay from which the band took its name. The original band members then were Shaun Cash, Winston McCall, Jeff Ling, Brett Versteeg, Ben Gordon and Like Kilpatrick. At some point, the group collaborated with I Killed the Prom Queen to make the split EP “I Killed the Prom Queen/Parkway Drive.”
In the following year, Parkway Drive came up with their first eight track EP “Don’t Close Your Eyes.” This first solo work was so well received in their home country that the band eventually saw the growth of a loyal fan base. Things started to look up even more for the band after other bands like Shadows Fall and Hatebreed performed in the same band events.
It was only after three years or so after the band’s formation though that major developments came up. The band finally got the chance to travel to the US to record their first album. A tour followed to promote the album “Killing with a Smile.” More positive developments came when the group later inked a deal with Epitaph Records at which point their album was released in the US. Just when everything seemed to turn out well though, Shaun Cash who played bass left the group.
It was a double blow for the group because Brett Versteeg who also handled bass left as well. A friend of the group Jia “Pie” O’Connor was tapped to take on the bass player spot. Despite the changes, Australian fans and tour merch customers continued to multiply especially after the band’s tours. A further boost to their popularity was the second release of the EP “Don’t Close Your Eyes.” This second release contained songs from the Byron Bay Hardcore compilation and their split EP. The second Parkway Drive Album “Horizons” was also well received.
Studio Albums Released
“Killing with a Smile” served as their debut album recorded in 2005 and released in the US 2006. The album played a major role in giving the band international recognition. Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage fame produced the album.
October 2007 saw the release of their second album called “Horizons.” Fans highly anticipated the release since they played a few songs that were going to be in the album live. Both critics and fans enjoyed the album, making its way to number six on the ARIA Charters. It is now the bestselling release in the band’s history and has reached multi-platinum status in Europe.
Vocalist Winston McCall announced in 2010 that Parkway Drive is working on a new album claiming that it “will be their rawest and heaviest record to date.” Subsequent updates were posted on online avenues including MySpace and their blog. There is no word on the title of the album or how many tracks it would contain, but the album will be released after their current European Tour and before the Vans Warped Tour to start on June 2010. Truly a well anticipated addition to the Parkway Drive discography.
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