Anberlin Music Videos, Pictures and Photos including SXSW 09 Interview, The Unwinding Cable Car, Paperthin Hymn, A Day Late Music Videos on Roxwel

Anberlin

Florida alternative rock outfit Anberlin only recently signed to a major label, but the band has been playing together for years. Originally formed in 1998 by singer Stephen Christian and bassist Deon Rexroat, what is now Anberlin began as a Christian punk band called Servants After God’s Own Heart 24/7, often shortened to SaGoh. The group released two independently produced records as SaGoh, eventually leading to a record deal with Tooth & Nail Records, a Christian record label that has seen mainstream success with crossover acts like Copeland and Hawk Nelson. Upon their signing to Tooth & Nail the band decided to drop their punk sound and adopt a more conventional rock style, renaming themselves Anberlin and eventually rounding out their lineup with drummer Nathan Young and guitarist Joseph Millligan.

Anberlin released their first album on Tooth & Nail, Blueprints for the Black Market, in 2003. The album was relatively unsuccessful - moving only about 60,000 copies and producing only one single, "Readyfuels" - but it still managed to get the band’s foot in the proverbial door, attracting a fair amount of attention from both secular and religious music critics alike. Though members of Anberlin consider themselves a Christian band, the religious influence in their music is less overt than it was in SaGoh, taking a backseat to their clean-cut rock mainstream rock sound.

Eager to follow up Blueprints for the Black Market, Anberlin returned to the studio in 2004 to begin working on their second album, Never Take Friendship Personal, which saw an early 2005 release. Far more successful than their freshman album, Never Take Friendship Personal received the attention it deserved, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart based on the success of singles "A Day Late" and "Paperthin Hymm". Their third album, 2007’s Cities, fared even better on the charts, moving over 150,000 copies and debuting respectably at #19 on the Billboard 200. Notable tracks from Cities include "Godspeed", "Hello Alone", and "The Unwinding Cable Car".