UVR (band) - History

History

UVR was formed in Tracy, California in 1995 by Chris Powell (vocals and guitar) and Justin Rio (drums and backup vocals), while both were attending Merrill F. West High School. The bass-player position was first filled by Robert Lopez, and later by Ruben "Bubba" Anazola. The first album "UVR" was on tape cassette and was only sold in limited quantities while the band played its first local shows and developed its style. The second album "nothing" was recorded at the Livermore recording studio "Audio Voyage" in 1997 and featured a grunge/sludge style, but included a more pop-like single "Stalker" that would be a harbinger of the band's future sound. (http://www.facebook.com/pages/UVR/108239572529753)

In 1998, Ben McCloy joined the band and would play bass for UVR until 2003. The band added second guitarist Greg Hepler for approximately one year, but he left the group to attend college at Chico State. As the self-recorded album "the New Superpimp" was almost complete in 1999, guitarist Patrick Ziller replaced Greg Hepler as second guitarist. Pat Ziller was formerly in the Tracy ska band, the Skivies. The album "the New Superpimp" displayed the band's beatles and beachboys influenced vocal harmonies, with a touch of punk and ska stylings. With the release of this album, the band began expanding their touring range to the central valley, bay area, and Los Angeles areas in Calfiornia. (http://www.facebook.com/pages/UVR/108239572529753)

In 2001 the band began recording "Plastic World" and brought in guitarist Todd Brown from the Concord-area band "the Spectors", with whom UVR had done several concerts with in the Bay Area. Todd took over guitar duties from Chris who then concentrated on lead singing duties. Chris wrote the songs for Plastic World, with the exception of "Fine Fine Day" which was written by Pat Ziller. The album had a signature sound including catchy melodies, fast drum beats and 2 to 4 part harmonies layered with distorted guitar. With the help of a local manager and promoter, the single "Got 2 Girlfriends" became a No. 1 hit on central valley station 93.1 FM, and began getting airplay on numerous California radio stations, including a No. 1 spot on XM Radio for underground artists. The first local CD release party for Plastic World was held at the Red Lion hotel in Modesto, CA, to approximately 3,000 fans. That same year, UVR played at the Summerfest music festival for a crowd of nearly 10,000, opening up for national acts including Marcy Playground. (http://www.facebook.com/pages/UVR/108239572529753)

Despite significant airplay and record sales, major label interest was minimal and consisted of primarily contact from low level A&R reps. On the heels of Plastic World's underground popularity, UVR went on several western states tours, playing in Oregon, Washington, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. After switching management to Stewart Teggart (manager for Pennywise), UVR was asked to play numerous showcase performances for Warner Brothers, Capital, Hollywood, Arista, Maverick and other record labels, primarily in 2002. While label interest seemed initially intense, ultimately no major US label picked up the band. UVR eventually entered into a distribution deal with pinch-hit records, and the Plastic World album showed up in Tower Records stores across the US. UVR later signed a distribution deal with Burnside Records. Several songs off of Plastic World were placed in US TV shows and movies, including the MTV Movie "Everybody's Doing It." (http://www.facebook.com/pages/UVR/108239572529753)

After additional US touring, in 2003, both Patrick Ziller and Ben McCloy left UVR. Patrick Ziller later started the group "Soundboy". Joel Rydman joined UVR as second guitar player from his former band "PFOP." Mohawn "Mo" Krishna joined UVR as the bass player, from his former lead-singer position in San Jose group "Moodfrye." UVR recorded and released its next album "Blood on the Satellite" in October 2003, for which the single "Hollywood" received significant airplay on major stations in California, and on college stations across the US. Blood on the Satellite had an overall darker sound than Plastic World. Thereafter, the band based itself in Sacramento, California. (http://www.facebook.com/pages/UVR/108239572529753)

With the release of the "Blood on the Satellite" and a new manager based in Paris, France, UVR began several tours of western Europe and brief tours in Japan. In France, UVR released an export version of its former releases entitled "Teen Assassin." The band was featured in several issues of the France magazine "Rock Sound" and its album was ranked in the top 55 records of 2004 by that magazine. In 2004, UVR recorded a version of its cover "Ready or Not" with French Rap group "Les Sales Gosses" which was released on Universal Records. The video for this collaboration was filmed in Montreal, Canada in 2005. (http://www.facebook.com/pages/UVR/108239572529753)

In 2007, UVR released its next album "Silent Disaster" to iTunes, which included the title track "Silent Disaster," and "Jamie," "Impossible," among others. The band is currently working on new material, which is being written by Chris and Joel at the band's recording studio in Sacramento. Chris and Joel are also working on a side-project of experimental music called "the Math Club." (http://www.facebook.com/pages/UVR/108239572529753)