Steel Train

Steel Train Is An Indie Rock Band Which Formed In 1999 In New Jersey United States. They Consist Of Jack Antonoff Vocals Guitar Daniel Silbert Guitar Evan Winiker Bass Vocals Justin Huey Keyboards Vocals And Jon Shiffman Drums The Band Began When Two Friends Jack Antonoff And Scott Irby-Ranniar Sharing A Common Love Of Music Began Playing Together. They Busked In Subways And Alleyways In New York And In 1999/2000 Recorded A Demo That Garnered A Large Degree Of Record Label Interest. Despite The Array Of Offers The Guys Now Called Steel Train After Lyric In A Sublime Song Eventually Chose To Sign With Drive Thru Records Particularly Drawn By The Support But Also Artistic Freedom The Label Offered. In 2002 The Band Recorded Their Debut Ep Entitled 'For You My Dear ' Recruiting Evan Winiker Formerly Of NJ Emo Band Random Task And Matthias Gruber To Help With Recording And Touring. The Two Later Became Full Members Of The Band First Winiker Who Was Presented As A Full Member In The Promotional Pieces For That Same Ep Released In January 2003 And Later Gruber Who Joined With Second Guitarist Matthew Goldman To Complete The Band And Create Steel Train. Together The Band Went On To Record The '1969' Ep A CD Of Cover Versions Of Songs From That Year That Inspired The Band And Their Sound And Their Debut Album 'Twilight Tales From The Prairies Of The Sun ' Dropped A Year Later In 2005. In December Of 2006 The Band Announced That They Would Be Departing Ways With Matthias Gruber Drums And Matt Goldman Guitar Who Chose To Pursue Other Interests. The Positions Were Filled By Tour Manager Daniel Silbert On Guitar And Jon Shiffman On Drums. In 2009 The Band Left The Drive Thru Label And In June Of 2010 Independently Released Their Eponymously-Titled Third LP. Included In That Release Was A Companion Album 'Terrible Thrills Vol. I' Consisting Of Covers And Re-Imaginings Of Each 'Steel Train' Track By Female Artists Including Scarlett Johansson Tegan And Sara Holly Miranda Alia Shawkat Amanda Palmer And Jack's Sister Rachel Antonoff. The Band Often Polarizes Opinions Mainly Based Around The Fact That The Style Of Rock They Play Is More 'classic' Jack Often Jokes The Band Was "30 Years Too Late" Yet People See Them As Very Much A Part Of The Emo/pop-Punk Scene Mainly Due To Their Drive Thru Records Connections . They Are Well Noted For Their Impressive Live Shows And 'jamming' Ability. The Lead Singer Jack Also Used To Date Scarlett Johansson And The Song Better Love Off Of Twilight Tales From The Prairies Of The Sun Is About/makes Reference To Her 1 2 . Though Better Love Is A Song Strictly About Her He Also References Her In "2 O'clock'" And "Dig". "Josie Smiles And Laughs While Me And Scarlett Will Smoke Our Hash." 3 And "oh My Scarlet You Had A Real Friend In Me."Lyrics Edit Current Members * Jack Antonoff - Vocals Guitar Piano * Evan Winiker - Bass Backing Vocals * Daniel Silbert - Guitar Backing Vocals * Jon Shiffman - Drums Percussion * Justin Huey - Keys Edit Past Members * Matthias Gruber - Drums Percussion * Matthew Goldman - Guitar Backing Vocals * Scott Irby-Ranniar - Vocals Percussion Edit read less