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Of Mice & Men is an American metalcore band from Costa Mesa, California. The group was founded by Austin Carlile and Jaxin Hall during mid-2009 after Carlile's departure from Attack Attack!. The name of the band is derived from John Steinbeck's novel of the same title.

History

Formation and debut album (2009–2010)

Of Mice & Men was founded by Austin Carlile, the original vocalist of Attack Attack!, and bassist Jaxin Hall, an import from Auckland, New Zealand during 2009 in Columbus, Ohio. The two recorded their demo "Seven Thousand Miles for What?" with the band Though She Wrote at Paper Tiger Studios in Columbus. Carlile and Hall searched for other members for about a month. They came across Valentino Arteaga, drummer of Lower Definition, Jon Kintz of Odd Project, and Phil Manansala, a touring guitarist for A Static Lullaby. Carlile and Hall moved to Southern California to join up with the three. A little while later, Kintz was cut from the band and replaced with Shayley Bourget. With a question at hand asking of the departure of Kintz in a Q&A for the group, Bourget jokingly stated "Jon didn't cut it." On Kintz's part, he reportedly cited that the band felt he was "partying too much." After reaching 1,000,000 plays from their Myspace profile in just two months since its launch, the band uploaded a cover of Lady Gaga's song, "Poker Face". The song was mastered by Tom Denney, formerly of A Day to Remember and a copy of the demo was sent directly to Rise Records. Recognizing the band as Carlile's new musical project, Of Mice & Men was signed to the label. The group then traveled to the Foundation Studios in Connersville, Indiana on July 14, 2009, with Joey Sturgis to record their self-titled debut album.

On December 6, 2009 they had two video shoots in Ventura, California for "Those in Glass Houses" and "Second & Sebring". The band released their debut album on March 9, 2010 even though they planned on releasing it earlier. The album was originally intended to be released on February 23, however it was forced into a delay just days before its release, but leaked on February 10, 2010 by fans that hacked into the system. The music video for "Second & Sebring" was released on Hot Topic's website and made its television premiere on Headbangers Ball on March 15, 2010.

The band quickly jumped on the Squash The Beef Tour supporting Dance Gavin Dance, along with Emarosa, Tides of Man, and Of Machines. Also in 2009, Of Mice & Men was support on the Atticus Tour along with Finch, Blessthefall, Drop Dead, Gorgeous, Vanna, and Let's Get It.

After completion of the Atticus Tour, the band supported I See Stars on the Leave It To The Suits Tour with We Came as Romans, Broadway, and Covendetta.

Departure of Carlile and Hall (2010–2011)

Jerry Roush, who was formerly a part of Sky Eats Airplane, soon became a permanent addition to Of Mice & Men. Originally, Roush was a substitute for Austin Carlile on The Emptiness Tour in 2010 which featured the band along with Alesana, A Skylit Drive, The Word Alive, and We Came as Romans. Carlile required a heart surgery performed in the near future and was forced to not tour by his doctor. At the same time, Carlile fell in to a conflict with the other members. Through much deliberation, the band and Carlile decided to part ways. The group thereafter invited Roush to front Of Mice & Men. The band was featured on the cover for the 19th issue of Substream Music Press shortly after this decision.

After "The Emptiness Tour", Of Mice & Men supported Attack Attack! on the "This Is A Family Tour" with In Fear and Faith, Pierce the Veil, and Emmure.

Months after Roush's inception, bassist, Jaxin Hall left the group on August 23, 2010. Hall considerably explained that the reasons for this decision were made to concentrate more on his personal life as well as his clothing brand, Love Before Glory. Dane Poppin of A Static Lullaby substituted as a bassist for Of Mice & Men's then upcoming tour dates after Hall's departure. The group were included in the Punk Goes... compilation, Punk Goes Pop 3, covering the R&B song, "Blame It" by Jamie Foxx with Poppin on bass and is the only recording by the band to feature Roush's vocals.

The band participated in Warped Tour 2010.

Shortly after the conclusion of Warped Tour, Of Mice & Men toured the UK in support of August Burns Red and Blessthefall.

Carlile's return with Ashby, and The Flood (2011–2012)

Leading onto Roush being a part of the band for already nine months, the group confirmed on January 3, 2011 that they reached a decision to have Jerry Roush leave Of Mice & Men in favor for former vocalist and founding member, Austin Carlile to return to the group. Roush posted an extended response to his firing from the band on his Twitter account. Carlile was under an intention for months to start a new musical project, with fellow musician Alan Ashby, until his request to return to the group was made. Carlile and Ashby were then both accepted into Of Mice & Men, with Ashby as an entirely new member. Despite Ashby and Carlile's short-lived "drama" over Ashby exposing Carlile's brief affair with fan Delaney Michelone, they remained band mates and close friends. The group then underwent a slight arrangement, as they required a bassist after several substitutions that Dane Poppin, of A Static Lullaby, contributed to. Poppin's needed return to A Static Lullaby after extensive touring with Of Mice & Men had the group move Shayley Bourget from rhythm guitar to bass guitar but remain at clean vocals where Ashby was employed as rhythm guitarist instead of being employed as the needed bassist in the group.

The refreshed band began the recording process of their sophomore album titled The Flood in late January 2011. Shortly after the album's completion, the band headlined the 2011 annual Artery Across the Nation Tour with support from Woe, Is Me, Sleeping with Sirens, I Set My Friends On Fire, and The Amity Affliction.

The band toured Europe and Australia in support of The Amity Affliction, along with I Killed the Prom Queen, and Deez Nuts. They also later supported Asking Alexandria on a short four-day UK tour along with While She Sleeps.

On May 13, 2011 Of Mice & Men released a brand new single entitled, "Still YDG'N". Also, on May 24, 2011 they released a second song entitled, "Purified". "Purified" has been added to the 2011 installment of Sideonedummy's annual Warped Tour compilation. "The Flood" was released June 14, 2011.

Of Mice & Men participated on all of the Warped Tour 2011. They were joined by former bassist Jaxin Hall on select California dates for "Second and Sebring." From September 13, 2011, until October 14th, 2011 Of Mice & Men supported We Came as Romans on the Im Alive Tour along with Miss May I, Texas in July, and Close to Home. Afterward, the group headlined the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour with Iwrestledabearonce, I See Stars, Abandon All Ships, and That's Outrageous!. For the Fallen Dreams were also included on the first half of the tour.

Departure of Shayley Bourget, The Flood Deluxe Reissue (2012)

In 2012 the group announced that they were returning to the studio to begin work on their third release. On February 9, the announcement of Shayley Bourget's departure from the band was released to the public via Facebook and YouTube. Shayley had also released a video statement on YouTube, stating the reasons he had to discontinue with the band. He suffered from depression and alcoholism, along with other personal problems, and felt that he was bringing the other band members down. Shayley stated he will not be returning to the band, has since started a new project, called Dayshell, with Raul Martinez, and he is continuing on with creating new music for himself. On March 2, the band announced via Facebook that Austin Carlile would be taking over on all vocals for Of Mice & Men's third studio album.

Carlile said in a fairly recent interview with Matthew Colwell of the "Alternate Press" that the release date of the album is still currently unknown.

A reissue of The Flood was released on July 24, 2012. It contains 2 discs, featuring 4 brand new tracks.

For Vans Warped Tour 2012, Aaron Pauley of Jamie's Elsewhere substituted on bass guitar and clean vocals. Pauley has since stated that he is no longer a band member of Jamie's Elsewhere, but he did not leave on bad terms. It is speculated that Pauley will have a permanent position in OM&M following the Vans Warped Tour.

New album (2012–present)

On April 2, 2012 during an interview with Alternative Press Austin Carlile stated that the band sound on their upcoming album will be "... more rock, or I guess a nu-metal sound you could say.", Carlile went on to say that "...our newer stuff is a lot more structured. When I think of nu-metal, I think of Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot and even Chevelle-those types of bands. The songs are a lot more structured and they're a lot deeper and the tunings are even lower. I kind of wanted to touch on that and have our songs to have more of a rock and roll feel. Just in your face, angsty, here-it-is rock and roll. And that's what I think of when I think of nu-metal: structured, heavy music that has a point. It's angry just like all the other music, but the bigger parts are bigger and the powerful parts are more powerful and the slow parts slower."

On December 4, 2012 the band revealed via Facebook that they are currently writing and demoing material for their next album. The band had the following to say: "In case some of you don't already know, we are currently home from tour for the remainder of 2012 and are now back in our studio working on our brand new album! YES! An entire album of all brand new material is being written and demoed RIGHT NOW! We will be updating our Facebook more and more in this process and reaching out to YOU guys, our amazing fans from all over the world, to make this album really something special!! Make sure you spread the word, share our posts, keep the likes/comments coming and keep checking back with us cause you never know when we could throw some new material your way."

The band entered the studio in June 2013 to begin pre-production on the album with producer David Bendeth.

On October 1, 2013 it was announced that the band has finished tracking for there new album, having spent the Summer in New Jersey recording the album, with David Bendeth, who is currently in the processing of mixing the album.

On October 14, 2013 Rock Sound released an interview with Austin Carlile about their upcoming third album. Carlile stated in the interview that the album will have more of a focus on the lyrics and "enhanced the melodic aspects" of the album and will sound like a "...fusion between Meshuggah and Nickelback". He also spoke about what the vocals on the new album explaining that "...it’s a whole new step in the evolution of my vocals. There’s a really cool contrast between my voice and Aaron’s voice, and I think we’ve made great use of that."

On October 17, 2013 Alternative Press released the first studio video and announced the completion of the band's third album, the band posted this statement on the completion of the album; "Over the past few months, we've been in the studio writing & recording our third full length album with producer David Bendeth. We are excited to announce that after the most in-depth recording process we have ever experienced, the album has been completed & we can't WAIT for you to hear it! This is our most ambitious release to date & will be the first album with our newest member, Aaron Pauley. The dynamics in the band have never been stronger & we are so proud of the music we have created together. Keep your ears open for new music coming soon!"

The band has also reached over one million likes on Facebook.

Band name

When asked about the band's name origin, vocalist Austin Carlile responded with;

"The book Of Mice and Men says 'the well laid plans of mice and men often falter.' You make plans, and they get screwed up. and I both had plans for life, and they both got screwed up, so now we're making the most of what we can."

Former bassist Jaxin Hall also commented stating;

"The main theme of is the American Dream and being self sufficient As a band, I was thinking about that when Austin and I were thinking about forming this band that we wanted this to be our American Dream, especially considering that I'm not from America So this was to be our self sufficient thing that we could live off and make our own and achieve this dream. So I looked at things that happened with and that everyone had the best intentions with things, and that they didn't quite work out the way we wanted it to."

Band members

Current members

• Musical groups established in 2009
• American metalcore musical groups
• American post-hardcore musical groups
• Musical groups from Orange County, California
• Musical quintets
• Rise Records artists
• Kerrang! Awards winners