Call Us Forgotten has a story as unique as the music itself. “The inspiration for the band's name is that you can 'Call Us Forgotten' and put us against insurmountable circumstantial odds and we will smile and scream 'What Makes You Think These Walls Can Hold Us?’ (Lyrics from the band’s anthem-esque ‘Under An Ashen Sky’) says Front man / Lead Vocalist, Josh Oliveri. Josh continues “the band’s name was inspired by my personal past and the vast amount of kids out there, past and present, who have been forgotten. Raised by TV sets, foster parents or ourselves, we are told who we are supposed to be, what we can be, what we'll never amount to and are left with a skeleton of dreams and an expectation of failure.”
Hailing from Portland, Oregon, CUF’s sound is a force to be reckoned with. The band has quickly gained international recognition, and is consistently reigning at the #1 Spot on MySpace’s “Unsigned” Metal Charts and in the Top 5 “Overall” Metal Charts. With heartfelt lyrics, brutal instrumentals, epic choruses and catchy clean vocal melodies, CUF dynamically constructs songs that will sear their signature on your bones.
The project started in 2007 as the brainchild of Josh Oliveri, who relocated to Portland from southern Oregon. Leaving an old music project behind in the small town of Grants Pass, OR, Oliveri set out to start something special and build it from the ground up. Shortly after getting settled, he met drummer, Kory Thielen. With a concise vision and direction for the band already set in motion, Josh and Kory began building the band’s foundation, both musically and on the business front.
Over the course of 2 years, the duo had grown together musically and creatively and wrote a full-length album’s worth of songs. After carefully selecting 4 of the 12 songs, Josh and Kory entered the studio in November 2009 with engineer Aiden Franklin, (ex-Blessthefall, Dearwhoever), and self-produced their debut EP, "A Crusade For The Broken," which dropped in early May 2010. The entire EP was recorded with Oliveri performing guitars, bass and vocals and Thielen providing technical drums and brutal backing vocals. Screaming powerful messages of hope and a vision to inspire the broken, CUF sets itself apart from the onslaught of verse/chorus/verse clichés that are composed of empty rhymes and lack of substance.
Oliveri created a viral marketing model and six months after the EP’s May release, the band had generated over a Million plays on their MySpace page and over 75,000 friends from all over the globe. Additionally, he created the EP cover art, which captures a striking image of a girl whose facial image is lost in 65 words that pose negative connotations towards who you are and what the world may tell you. The artwork would become iconic with the band’s freshman release.
With everything moving in the intended direction, the two musicians felt it was time to complete their permanent lineup. After an exhaustive search, they finally found the perfect fit in CJ Havener (Guitar), Adam Williams (Guitar) and Jesse Wright (Bass), all sharing a passion for the genre, incomparable dedication, excellent writing chemistry, compositional knowledge and compatible personalities. For example, Williams possesses a Svengali-like knowledge of music theory, which provides the tools to create highly dynamic melodies, while CJ's searing guitar playing provides a creative edge, which compliments Oliveri's writing style. Oliveri moved to lead vocals and is now focused more on writing. In conjunction with the band’s management and legal team, he continues to be intimately involved in the band’s business and the overall marketing strategy.
By September 2010, the band had successfully integrated their styles and continued to make their way towards having the next "Huge Sound”. With the lineup now complete, the band entered the studio in October 2010, with Neil Engle (Alesana, Between The Buried and Me, Drop Dead Gorgeous), to begin recording. Guitars and screams were recorded at The Goat Shed Studio, while clean vocals, gang chants and all of the extra elements such as cello and keys were recorded at Interlace Audio. The project was mixed and mastered by Josh Schroeder (Beneath the Sky, Legend). The band emerged with a second EP (untitled & yet to be released), capturing the evolution of the band (now with their full lineup)-- which will give fans 3 new songs in addition to 2 fan chosen favorites that have been re-recorded, as well as a cover version of Kanye West’s, “Heartless”.
"The amount of planning and thought that has gone into the future of the band is staggering and we are confident that it will pay off," Oliveri states. In the short amount of time since their debut release, CUF’s MySpace site (through their tireless efforts and fans word-of-mouth), has well over 100,000 Friends, is approaching 4 Million Profile Views and has over 1.7 Million Song Plays and counting. Call Us Forgotten is well on their way to making history by blowing up the Metalcore Genre! FUCK
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…shrink me down again