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? Stretch Arm Strong is a South Carolina based hardcore band. The band has been active in the
surruonding hardcore / punk scene for four years now. Their has been a few line-up changes since the
band originated. With the line-up changes comes a newer sound with each new memeber. Here's how the
band formed. Matt McCarty, Chris McLane and Scott Dempsey were in a punk band called Strait Up.
Matt McCarty was also in a metal band called Zero Hour with John Barry. Chris McLane went away for
college so that was the end of Strait Up. That left Scott and Matt looking to start a new project. Scott and
Matt asked David Sease if he wanted to start a band so now they needed a drummer. Zero Hour was not
doing much at this time so John cut off his mullet and went to play with them. So that was the line-up.
Stretch Arm Strong was a four piece with Matt playing bass and singing, Scott playing guitar, David
playing guitar and John playing drums. The band progressed and released their first split 7inch with a
band called Bedlam Hour. After that, the band was asked to do a full-length CD for a local label. They
recorded for it and it never happened. The guy who was doing the label wasn't very straight with the
whole thing, so there were a lot of wasted songs and wasted money in that project. The band memebers
wanted a front man so the stage presence and the live shows could be better so Matt went to just vocals
and Chris from Strait Up moved into the bass position. This meant a lot to everyone in the band cause
Chris was family to the band already. Meanwhile Scott had started a label called Insurgent Sounds so the
band did a six song CD ep themselves which sold out in less than 4 months with 1000 press. After that
the band started touring through Florida and playing out a lot more. At this point Matt decided to get
married. It was a tough experience. It was decided by Matt and the band that it would be better that he
quit. So he did and is doing well and still comes out to sing a long at shows often. This put another
damper on things. Chris took over the vocals position and we got a guy named Donnie Raines to play
bass. Chris' singing changed the overall style of how the band sounded. That happens when you change
singers. The next release was a split 7inch with buddies, Prevail on Insurgent. This line-up was just the
begining of the outlook of how our new sound would be. We were very happy with the way things were
coming together. The band started touring more up and down the East Coast. Things started going down
hill with bass player Donnie so the band decided to kick him out. Now the band faced another blow. The
band was ready to record for a new CD so Shawn Williams (guitar player for Prevail) stepped in and
learned the songs and helped write a bit. The band recorded 10 songs for a new CD entitled "Compassion
Fills the Void". It was released on Rise records which is a division of Uprising based out of Laguna
Beach, California. The CD sold out very fast of the first press of 1000. 2000 more copies were repressed
for a second press. Things with our new bass player Shawn didn't work out cause it was too hard for him
to be in two bands at once. A good friend of ours, Jon Rej filled in the spot for a tour with us and then
Jeremy Jeffers took the duties. This is where the line-up is now. Jeremy has added a fresh and whole
new outlook to the band and fits in like the missing piece they were always trying to find. This is Stretch
Arm Strong. Together the band is very excited with this line-up and this is how it will always be from
here on out. With this, the band has progressed beyond and grown more together. Chris, Scott, David,
John and Jeremy are all the best of friends and love how things are going and are more busy than ever.
The band has toured more and covered new ground than ever before
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