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BiographyLeighton Antelman, William Bradford, Evan Arambul, and Steve McGraw started writing music and booking shows when they were in 7th grade.
The band really got their start as Rolo 15 while attending Greenfield Jr.
High.
They then went on to change the name to Nextabest.
After that band broke up, Antelman and McGraw continued to write and play music.
They then soon added drummer Loren Briton and bassist Dustin Forsgren.
They won a contest and were able to get a song on the Atticus: ...Dragging the Lake, Vol.
3 compilation CD.Lydia was signed to the Arizona based record label HourZero, through which they released their debut album This December; It's One More and I'm Free.
Since then, they have toured extensively throughout the country and participated in the Zumiez Couch Tour, Vans Warped Tour, and The Bamboozle festival.
They also played on the first annual Bamboozle Roadshow with Saves The Day, Armor For Sleep, Set Your Goals and Metro Station in 2008.They released their second album, Illuminate on March 18, 2008.
They went on a late summer tour with The Dear Hunter, Eye Alaska and You, Me, and Everyone We Know.
It was announced on August 25, 2008 that the band had signed to Low Altitude Records and re-released Illuminate on October 21, 2008.
They went on tour with Copeland, Lovedrug, and Lights in November.They shot a video for the song "I Woke Up Near The Sea" in December and released it online on February 24.
The band went on their first headlining tour, called the "Illuminate Yourself Tour" in February with Black Gold and also did a West Coast headlining tour with PlayRadioPlay!, Eye Alaska and Brave Citizens.On October 12, 2009 they released a tour only EP titled Hotel Sessions which features 4 acoustically re-recorded songs off their first album.2010-HiatusIt was announced on March 10, 2010 that Mindy White had decided to leave the band.
The band finished recording in the studio with producer Matt Malpass for their next release which was given a tentative release date of July 2010 On May 11, 2010 a version of "We Clean Up So Well" was posted on their Myspace page with a note announcing that the band will break up after a nationwide tour in July.
The tour was titled "The Lydia Finale: A Goodbye & Farewell Tour"."I am anxious to say this, in that I do not like disappointing anyone.
But I do need to get this off my chest.
The new music that is set to come out this July 2010, under the name Lydia, is going to be the last recordings ever put out by the band.
We are very grateful to have been able to put out as much music as we have and to reach so many people.
I assure you this is not something I’ve decided over a few months, but more so in the past year.
This has been something I’ve been thinking about for quite some time now and it’s just the right place and time for me to move on to other things and projects."In a later interview, Leighton explained the breakup a little bit more:"It's quite simple, the two original band members don't want to put out music together anymore.
Simple as that.""Right before we went on the farewell tour, about a week before we went, it kind of just came to heads with me and Steve, the two dudes that started the band.
And so that was a little bit not what I wanted the band to end like, but shit happens and I’m sure every band has some bad turmoil that happens.
Overall, I don’t have any regrets about it at all."Their third album, Assailants was released to online retailers on July 20, 2010.
The album stayed in the Top 15 albums sold spot for over two days.It was announced on July 12, 2010 that guitarist Steve McGraw had decided to leave the band and would not be playing on their final tour.On September 15, 2010 a trailer was released for their first ever DVD, Lydia: A Goodbye and Farewell.
It was announced on December 22 that all of the footage for the DVD was lost in a hard drive crash.On September 30, they made announced plans to take their farewell tour to Australia in late November.
The band also released a music video for their song, "I've Never Seen A Witch".Return from hiatus-PresentThe band returned in September 2011 with a new song, "Dragging Your Feet in the Mud".
An album, Paint it Golden, was released in October, 2011.
The band released a cover of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" on December 20, 2011.The band supported The Maine on their 2012 Spring/Summer tour.
They were featured with Arkells and The Maine on a cover of The Beatles "With A Little Help From My Friends" that was released on May 1, 2012 on Spotify and featured two live tracks on The Maine's The Pioneer North American Tour Live EP.They spent the end of 2012 recording their new album and going to a west coast winter tour.
To accompany the tour, they released the Acoustics EP.On January 28, 2013, they announced new tour dates and a March 19, 2013 release date for their new album Devil.
They released their first single from the album, "Knee Deep" the next day.
Following this, the band re-released Devil as a deluxe edition with a bonus disc of b-sides on October 15, 2013.On December 17, 2013, the band announced plans to play Illuminate from start to finish across North America in the spring of 2014.Related bandsMindy White formed a band with Bryan and Stephen Laurenson (formerly of the band Copeland) called States.
Their first release, the Line 'em Up EP was released on October 12, 2010.
They released their first full length album, Room to Run on October 18, 2011 and released it on June 19, 2012 via Tooth & Nail Records.Leighton Antelman and producer Matt Malpass created a project called The Cinema.
They released their debut album, My Blood Is Full of Airplanes on September 13, 2011.
They also released a collaborative EP with rapper Somnous titled, Postcards on June 15, 2012.Ethan Koozer is currently playing guitar for the New Jersey-based band Gates which contains former members of Bears & Bright Lights.
Their debut EP, The Sun Will Rise and Lead Me Home was released on January 25, 2011.
They released their second EP, You Are All You Have Left to Fear on May 29, 2012.Steve McGraw plays under the name The Saturn Hands.
They released their first song "Silver Spoon-Fed Sleep Part 1" on January 11, 2010.
On March 30, 2010 they released another song titled "Junk Brain Pie".Maria Sais de Sicilia joined the band Bears of Manitou with touring member Matt Funderburk.
They released their debut album Origins on March 14, 2012.Loren Brinton has played drums for A Rocket to the Moon, Brighten and Austin Gibbs and the States.