> From left to right - Jamie Kennedy, Jacob Santino, Tyler James Sawyer, William Dawson <Name: Pierced Souls Burn Brightest
Origin: Phoenix, Arizona
Genres: Pop-Punk, Alternative Rock, Synthpop, Pop-Rock
Years Active: 2011 – present
Labels: Songs to Love and Die By
Influences: Riot! In The Boulevard, Reported Failure, The Cure, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, The Cult, Nirvana
‘Pierced Souls Burn Brightest’ are a pop-punk band from Phoenix, Arizona, formed in 2011. The band consists of lead vocalist/guitarist ‘Tyler James Sawyer’, guitarist ‘Jacob Santino’, bassist ‘William Dawson and drummer ‘Jamie Kennedy’. The band started out as a group of friends playing together in a garage, purely just as a release from the stresses of everyday life, both Tyler and Jacob had always harboured ambitions of becoming musicians and both studied music theory whilst at college. William and Jamie however never had such lofty ambitions, preferring to just play bass guitar and drums recreationally as a hobby. But Tyler and Jacob met William and Jamie one day at a record store, they spoke in depth about their love of music and trading numbers, hoping to “jam together sometime”, a couple of weeks after that initial meeting, all four of them met up and played a few songs together at Jacob’s garage and it became evident pretty quickly that all four of them were on a similar page musically. They agreed to meet up and perform together more often which then led to them forming the band that they are today.
They have tried on a number of occasions to break into the music industry, sending demo’s to labels and coming close to signing to a major rock label last year but never quite came to fruition. They have also played regularly at low-key events around the west-coast and have a small but loyal fanbase that is slowly building. There was interest from ‘Songs to Love and Die By’ dating as far back as June and just as it appeared that they may not be acting on that interest they received an offer of a two album contract with the label, appropriate perhaps given the influence that their new boss’s band has had on ‘Pierced Souls Burn Brightest’.
The ambitions of ‘PSBB’ are on a similar level to that of Riot! In The Boulevard when they started out in the industry, although they have roots in alternative and underground rock music they have made it clear that their ambition would be to achieve as much as they possibly can within the music industry and state both Riot! In The Boulevard and Reported Failure as the benchmark for what they hope to emulate.
All four of the band members live together and have done for the past year, this has helped them develop a unique familiarity with one another which they bring to the stage whenever they’re performing. Having signed a two album recording contract with ‘Songs to Love and Die By’ the band intend to begin planning their debut album before heading into a studio in the next few weeks, a debut single from the band is expected sometime in November.
Band MembersName: Tyler James Sawyer
Age: 21
Role: lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, piano
‘Tyler James Sawyer’ was born on August 12, 1992 in Phoenix, Arizona to parents Robert (a roadie) and Elizabeth (a hairdresser), he is the oldest of four children. His siblings are Sara (12), Grace (14) and Callie (17) and he has a very close bond with his younger sisters. He has always had a passion for the performing arts from a very young age, his earliest memory was of being onstage in a local production of the musical ‘Cats’, it was a background role but remained etched in the memory of the lead singer. At the age of eight, his parents enrolled Tyler in after school piano lessons which enhanced his interest in the performing arts and more importantly increased his interest in music as a whole. By the age of 11 he was already quite accomplished with a piano and had started to turn his hand to other instruments, most notably the guitar. It wasn’t just the hands on learning of instruments but hours of studying live concert performances on TV that fascinated and helped Tyler realize what he really wanted to do with his life.
Name: Jacob Santino
Age: 20
Role: lead guitar, keyboards, piano, synth, backing vocals
‘Jacob Santino’ was born on July 14, 1993 in Phoenix, Arizona to parents Alessandro (a chef) and Mary-Anne (a housekeeper). The middle child of the family, with older sister Kaitlin (22) and younger brother Felix (14), he has very strong family roots and remains very close with not only his immediate family but also with distant relatives too. He has a very large family that goes further than just the United States. He’s of Italian and Irish origin and has a fascination with Italian culture, having spent three months with family in Rome after leaving high school. He has a wide-range of interests, from water-sports to painting, but his deepest love is both music and literature, a passionate writer and guitarist, he blends both interests in his work with the band as he’s the primary lyricist. He learnt the guitar from the age of fourteen which his parents bought him as an outlet for his energy, which could prove to be a worthwhile investment.
Name: William Dawson
Age: 23
Role: bass guitar, guitars, backing vocals
‘William Dawson’ was born on September 4, 1990 in San Diego, California to parents Jack (teacher) and Michelle (nurse). He is an only child and has little contact with his family, he fought with his parents a lot during his teenage years. He left California at the age of 18, where he moved to Phoenix, Arizona to live with his older girlfriend Nina who was 22 years old at the time. They fell for each other while Nina was spending a summer in California and the two began a relationship, after about seven months in the relationship Nina convinced William to move out to Arizona and live with her. His parents tried to fight against this but failed in their attempts, this led to a big falling out with his family and he is yet to patch things up with his parents. He is an accomplished musician and has done a lot of session work in the past.
Name: Jamie Kennedy
Age: 22
Role: drums, percussion
‘Jamie Kennedy’ was born on February 17, 1991 in Phoenix, Arizona to parents Neil (mechanic) and Rachel (cleaner). He has three younger sisters Chloe (12), Lauren (16) and Amelia (19). He was born and raised in a small town in Phoenix and his parents despite both working, struggled to earn enough money to give their children a privileged life. When Jamie was 11 his parents had to move the family into their grandparents home for 6 months. He struggled with education and found himself alone a lot at school, because of this he was bullied quite often. His strong-willed nature shone through though as he never missed a day of high school. He didn’t graduate with remarkable grades, but he made it through high school despite huge difficulties and dark obstacles that he faced on a daily basis. He was given a drum kit from his grandparents at the age of 14 after they heard about the problems at school, they bought him the drum kit as a way of letting out his frustrations rather than getting himself into trouble.
DiscographyStudio AlbumsTBA (2014)
SinglesGirls Like You Should Stick To The Bedroom (October 27, 2013) [#14]
EP’s/Live Albums/CompilationsN/A
