Forfeit Bio

This Wilmington, Delaware alternative metal quartet was formed in May of 2002 from the ashes of the now defunct metalcore band TrueZeroHook. f o r f e i t mixes elements of rock, metal, punk and hardcore to produce a raw, dark, melodic mix of bizarre time signatures and catchy hooks. f o r f e i t writes most of their songs in a group setting with each member contributing to the musical structure. Most of f o r f e i t 's lyrics are written by vocalist Kevin Straight but the arrangement of them is often a group effort. Building a sizeable following with their powerful live performance, f o r f e i t combines high-energy stage presence with an intricate math-metal song structure.

In early 2002, founding guitarist Ben Kaminski walked away from TrueZeroHook and decided to start a new project with his long time friend and neighbor Kevin Straight on vocals. Kevin did not have much experience playing in a band at this point, but Ben was well aware of his powerful voice and strong potential. Bassist Greg Kirsch soon left TrueZeroHook and joined Ben and Kevin on this project. Local drummer Addam Rud was then introduced into the band. Addam was a very schooled drummer that Greg and Ben had seen at many local shows. He had filled in for several other drummers in local bands and also recorded and produced several regional groups but had not yet found his own permanent project. These original four members then wrote two future f o r f e i t songs, Angel and L2O.

Kevin then introduced a second guitar player named Josh Betty to the band in order to create a fuller sound. Josh was a long time friend of Kevin's, but he had moved to Florida for several years prior to returning to the PA/DE area, so the rest of the band was unfamiliar with him. It was later realized that Josh and Addam had played together a year or two before f o r f e i t when Addam responded to a "drummer wanted" advertisement at a local music store. Ironically, the timing was not right for them and they parted ways. Josh, much like Addam and Kevin, was already familiar with Ben and Greg's previous band so it didn't take a lot of time for them to establish common musical ground. The five then argued extensively over several band names before one member decided to forfeit his vote????

The band then spent the next several months writing and performing songs at local clubs before heading into Philadelphia to record a demo. On a very limited budget, f o r f e i t recorded their five song debut CD titled "Last Rose of Summer" EP, which was released in May of 2003. The disc was well received by fans as well as local media-types alike. With support from local radio DJ's, the EP received a lot of airplay on rock radio programs and Internet radio. The songs were also listened to and downloaded thousands of times on free music download sites as well as the bands official website. f o r f e i t also captured numerous positive written reviews on the web and in print by independent music review sources.

On the success of this EP, f o r f e i t 's reputation started to grow and the band started playing several more clubs and building enough capitol to purchase a touring van, aptly named "ROY". The band then acquired several merchandise items and enough financial credit to record a full-length album. With the help of Producer Arik Victor, owner of the independent record label Creep Records, f o r f e i t recorded "Prelude to a Long Winter" in April of 2004 at Creep Records Recording Studio in West Chester, PA. f o r f e i t than kicked off their CD release weekend by opening for Static X and Soil at the Trocadero in Philadelphia. The show was an overwhelming success.

Unfortunately, after the release weekend and several road trips to different cities including New York and Boston, founding member Ben Kaminski announced that he would be leaving f o r f e i t at the end of August to return to school and pursue a career in web design and music production. This was an unexpected blow to the band, but the remaining members of f o r f e i t decided not to replace him for fear of altering the bands chemistry. After a few weeks of practice and some slight song revisions and equipment upgrades, f o r f e i t was back to it's standard form and going over extremely well with their audiences. The split was very amicable between Ben and the band and he still works with f o r f e i t as their Webmaster and graphic designer.

The band is currently working on writing new material and lining up as many short, independently financed tours as possible with independent bands such as 13even, Blind Set, and Shadow Agency to reach new people, increase their funds, order more merchandise, and pay off their remaining debt. f o r f e i t has also put together a live DVD from their CD release weekend which will eventually be packaged with a short EP of previously unrecorded material. A release date has not been set.


f o r f e i t 's local and national booking and management is handled mostly by their bass player, Greg Kirsch. Greg is a communications graduate of West Chester University and also worked in the promotions department at the largest rock station in Philadelphia for years. f o r f e i t has recently been obtaining a new level of success in the Boston, MA and Manchester, NH area through the help of the Boston band Hell Within. The band has been performing in the area several times a year and is taking the same approach along the East Coast to Florida as well as working their way west through Ohio and eventually into Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and California.

f o r f e i t is currently seeking record label support, tour support, record distribution deals, regional booking agents, and independent venues in medium to larger sized markets. The band's guarantee and rider are negotiable depending on location.

f o r f e i t is a band because Kevin, Josh, Addam, and Greg love music.