Biography
The band was initiated in 1993 as Forgiving Iris, with members Reagan Jones (vocals/keyboards), Matt Morris (keyboards/programming). The two had met in college and, influenced by 1980s artists such as Erasure and Depeche Mode, began playing covers locally in Austin, Texas. In 1999 they changed their name to Iris and released their debut full-length, Disconnect, which netted them "Best Band" and "Best Album" awards at the American Synthpop Awards in 2000. Its single, "Annie, Would I Lie To You?" was one of the best-selling records in label A Different Drum’s history.
After several shows that followed, Reagan Jones and Matthew Morris started having arguments about their musical direction. Morris was focused on his personal life, and he wasn't interested to go back into the studio for the second album. He met Andrew Sega through the original singer of CTRL Joel Willard in 2001, and told him that Jones was looking for someone new to work with. Sega and Jones started working on some test tracks, the first of which would later become "Unknown". They felt that the chemistry between the two worked out so well that they started working on the new record that would become Awakening. Sega added guitars and pushed the band's sound into a more experimental electronic direction. They released their second album Awakening throughout Sega's new label, Diffusion Records. Their next record, Wrath (2005) took a more aggressive approach. Its first single, "Appetite" went No. 1 on mainstream radio in Poland. A European tour followed, including festivals in Moscow and London.
In 2008, Iris released their first CD/DVD combo, Hydra. It featured 3 brand new tracks, as well as remixes from bands like Mesh, Alpinestars, Datguy, Benz & MD, plus a 40 minute "behind the scenes" tour diary DVD.
A new album titled Blacklight was released on September 3, 2010 on Infacted Recordings.
Read more about this topic: Iris (American Band)
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