History
Before Roadside Monument began, singer Doug Lorig was involved in other bands. During junior high, high school, and college, he performed in the bands Cow Shrapnel, Waterfront, and Sixth Hour, all of which also featured another future Roadside Monument member, bassist Todd Florence.
Roadside was signed to Tooth & Nail Records only about four months after they formed in 1994, because they had good fortune in being discovered by Brandon Ebel. They released their Tooth & Nail debut, a 7-inch vinyl EP called My Life Is Green, in 1995.
Roadside Monument followed up their debut with their first full length Beside This Brief Hexagonal also in 1996. After the release of this album, complications emerged with keeping the band together due to medical issues and other obligations. After the other members departed, Lorig was left to find Matt Johnson (of Blenderhead) on drums and Johnathan Ford on bass. Lorig, Ford and Johnson became the core of Roadside Monument, and its sole members in all future releases. In 1997, Eight Hours Away from Being a Man was released, along with a pair of split EPs (with Puller and Frodus). Eight Hours Away from Being a Man was the album in which they became a prominent band on the Tooth & Nail roster, gaining popularity in the indie rock, emo and Christian underground music scenes.
Roadside Monument broke up after the Cornerstone Festival in 1998, when Ford moved to Chicago, Illinois. They had already written and recorded another album, called I Am the Day of Current Taste, which was released several months after their breakup.
In 2002, Ford returned to Seattle, and Roadside Monument reunited as an indie band. The new incarnation of the band played local shows, toured with Pedro the Lion and lasted for about one year, when Johnson decided to end the band again because of an inability to be a part of a full-time touring band. During this short time that the band re-united they created several new songs, including "Zzyzx" which was recorded during a live performance at Cornerstone 2002, and subsequently released via the band's official Web site.
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