Bio
Few bands have made such a killer intro into the high school rock scene as Finding Lenny.
In the summer of 2003, four guys met in the band room of their high school to have the first ever meeting of what would eventually become known as Finding Lenny. The group consisted of Alex Crowson on guitar and vocals, Jason Bernert on guitar and backing vocals, Curtis Oaks on bass, and Chase Stonehocker on guitar.
When Finding Lenny first began, no long term goals were set. The band experimented with alternative, acoustic, punk, and rock sounds. Their first album, Looking For Direction (Lenny Records), reflected this fact. In the seven-song EP, the band demonstrated their diversity by distinctly combining alternative, punk, and acoustic sounds.
Although happy with the turnout of their first album, Finding Lenny wanted a more distilled sound. While they still bring influences from several genres, there is more focus now on polishing the pop-punk rock sound that they have become known for. According to Crowson, much of their inspiration comes from bands such as Switchfoot and Relient K.
A temporary respite came for the band in the summer of 06 when drummer Chase Stonehocker went to Costa Rica for two months. Although the motivation to keep improving was still there, the band found it difficult to make much headway without their drummer. When Stonehocker returned from Costa Rica, the band decided that it was time for some permanent change. In August of 2006, the band decided to part with bassist Curtis Oaks. Stonehocker decided to replace Oaks on bass, and Eric Dauenhauer was added to fill the new drummer opening. Kevin Carroll was recruited as the bands first keyboardist/guitarist. Dauenhauer and Carroll had played with Crowson and Stonehocker in a side project band called The Darts.
The band released their second and final album in the summer of 2007, Nursery Rhymes for Modern Times. Though there were efforts to continue the band, at the end of that summer it was found in best interests to end the band and begin with new aspects of their lives.
They are all currently enrolled in different universities on the west coast.
Sweet Merch
Looking for Direction
$5
Track List
1. Intro
2. Awkward Moment
3. Song for Trying
4. Sweater Made for Two
5. Here I Am
6. Tin Man
7. Looking for Direction
Nursery Rhymes for Modern Times
$10
Track List
1. Introduction
2. Said and Done
3. Something That I Fear
4. There's Something Rotten in This State of Mine
5. R.I.G.
6. Pocketbook Glory
7. Everybody Merge
8. 7 AM
9. Black and White
10. Oh, Love
If you would like a CD contact us and we will send you one as soon as possible.
Contact
Booking: findinglenny@yahoo.com
October 2
Hey Folks!
It's with inevitable remorse that we would like to inform everyone that we are no longer a band (obviously).
We had an amazing time playing music with each other for all of you people. We loved making our records and playing all the shows. We have a few people we want to thank:
we thank the former members of this band, Joseph Campos-Furber and Curtis Ochs. Also we thank our families for support, emotionally and financially. We thank everyone who listened to our music and came to our shows. As cliche as it sounds, we really wouldn't have played as many shows as we did if people didn't come see us play. And thanks to Kevin Hahn for producing two of our albums.
Although we're no longer a band, I'm sure it wont be long until all of us are in other bands :)
Thank you friends, and God bless Finding Lenny
Leave a Comment
April 10
It's moments like these, my friends, that are the bittersweet. We see the end of Finding Lenny. We don't like it, but some things are inevitable without our choosing. But we won't disperse until we've rallied one more time in the studio and created an album that pleases us all. "Nursery Rhymes for Modern Times" is the name of our next (and perhaps last) album. It's a group of songs that document that last couple years of our lives as musicians and human beings. We love music more than anything, and we'll be sure to deliver our friends and family a great product that will keep you humming throughout the day. If you've come to any of live shows lately, you'll recognize a few songs on the album already, such as "Said and Done," "Something That I Fear," and the frustration-focused song "There's Something Rotten in This State of Mine." We hope you love the new songs as much as we do, and we'll be sure to play plenty of live shows this summer to showcase them :)
Thanks for the love,
Finding Lenny
Leave a Comment
March 13
Here it is, 4:01 on a Tuesday afternoon.
I've been thinking about life in general lately. Some things have drastically changed for me in the last couple of days. I've been dwelling on FL, and thinking about the journey we've taken together. There have been 7 people in this band from the beginning. In fact, we weren't even called finding lenny in the beginning, but The Crown Vics...hmm.
At first the songwriting was so painstaking because we didn't know enough about the guitar to find chords that sounded good together. We're fine now. I remember a long time ago Sam's brother Isaac was in a band called Deal Victoria, and Jason and I asked him how to rehearse. He said that they had enough material to simply play through a thirty minutes, about seven songs. I remember thinking, "There's no way we'll ever have seven full songs." These were in the days of practicing in Chase's tiny room. Awkward Moment was the first real song that came from our rehearsals. And then Sweater, and then Here I Am.
The first time we performed in front of a live audience was at the talent show :) I remember before we went on hearing someone yell "Go Lenny!" I think it was our friend Caity.
When we started working on LFD, it was incredible how fast the time went. We all really miss the studio because we had not a clue of what we were doing there. We were almost literally like deer caught in headlights, with the absence of actual deer or actual headlights. It's very scary to be in a situation which entails playing something near perfect as you can, and then walking into a room full of people who know you didn't play it well.
Kevin and Eric will be fun to have in the studio. The mood during LFD was way too dark and serious. Now that we have some experience and a good sense of humor about things not going well (i.e. recording "We Sing Acoustic Songs" e.p.), I think it will be a great time. Too much arguing before. That's the nice thing about FL now, we never argue. We're so close that it feels like playing songs with four of your brothers.
If I had to think of the dominate food for us over that last couple of years, I would have to say pizza. We have ordered a lot of pizza. It's the ultimate group food; everyone gets the same food, and you can all talk about how good it is, it's handheld, it's hot and delicious. Whenever we sit and eat together, the subject of music usually comes up. We either talk about guitars or new songs or old songs or new shows or old shows. It's great fun!
"I will punch you fifteen times."
We really really really love to play on stage. It's loud, hot, sweaty, three things that instantly create good times. I really love seeing the crowd's reaction. If we play a brand new song, it's neat to see them sort of bob around like bobble-heads. If it's an old song that most of them know, it's fun to see them rock and out and sing along. We get that with Sweater. It's one of the only older songs we still play live. Hannah loves this song, and whenever we start playing it, it's easy to recognize the girl jumping up and down, and having a good time. There's nothing better than to see a giant wave of Leonards (thank you KEEL) crash into each other. I really like lights...stage lights. It's an amazing feeling to hit a shout chorus and have the whole place light up in a hue of red or green or blue. It's good for the crowd too. The new songs are getting a good response from people, especially Black and White. That song is about the standard human response to individuality: it's wrong. The fact that there are billions of mindsets shouldn't exempt those who don't share yours. There's a line in that song: "Prides of lions aren't afraid to step inside, and hunt down and kill every golden word that's ever come from our black and white paradigms." That's the gist of the tune right there. Excessive pride leads to destroying bridges between people. We've gotten several people asking when that song is going to be on a cd somewhere. Answer: The next album coming out sometime before July!
Nursery rhymes always seem to be completely random stories "a kind mother made up for her son," but if you look close enough, there's always a message. That's what's nice about nursery rhymes: they're fun to sing along to, but you have to do a bit of digging to get the real meaning. :)
Thanks for reading this unnecessarily long and rambly entry.
Finding Lenny
Leave a Comment
February 27
Hello friends,
We are very excited to announce we won 2nd place out of around 30 bands at the Concerts First Battle of the Bands last saturday. We want to thank each and every one of you that bought a ticket and came because you all contributed to us getting this prize.
It's not just the $250 we're excited about (although we'd be lying if we said we didn't care), it's finally getting recognition for all the work and love we'll put into our music. Thank you all for being amazing people and friends.
Love,
Alex, Jason, Kevin, Chase and Eric
Leave a Comment
January 9
Hi folks,
For the past couple of months we've been writing up a storm. I think the new songs we have are our favorite, because they challenge us the most not only musically, but lyrically. These new tunes have a lot to do with our place as humans, our place with God, our place as friends, our place as lovers and fighters. Every time we play them I seem to realize something new in them, something I didn't hear before to, or listen to before. Sometimes after we write a song, I sit back and realize that what we've just written reveals a lot about my place as a human, and my emotions are let free through the words we're singing, and thats really something we were challenged with on LFD. I really love the new songs; they're fun, emotional, and they have a way of making me think about their subjects every time I sing them. We have a new song called "There's Something Rotten in This State of Mine," (a little literary pull from Hamlet), and it's about talking to empty responses, talking to walls (shouting at walls, even). It has something for everyone, I think, because every person at one point or another in their lives has said something and gotten no response, whether that be literally or metaphorically. It could be to God, to your girlfriend, to your parents, to your friends, to the government, to your neighbor, to your enemy or to your ally, but we all have shouted at a thing that we feel is incapable of responding. Response is crucial to confidence. The subject may be about dreary circumstance, but the song itself is fun and good to sing along with.
"Black and White" is probably one of my favorite songs. It's about black and white conflict. To say "This is my way, the only way," is corrupt and disturbs me, because there are so many possibilities in this endless world of ours, it's a shame to disregard all but your own. B&W basically says open your eyes to the worlds of others, leave your world temporarily and see how the minds of others run. It's incredible when you find something that you've been missing out on because your eyes and ears have been closed. The line "Words don't have to be all black and white," implies that religion, politics, world affairs, film, cereal... are all subjective to multiple stands. What would happen if a Christian and an Atheist sat toghether and had a conversation, or talked about the weather without fighting. What would happen if a Republican and a Democrat sat together and talked about problems our country faces, or their favorite soups. The point is that every person has a point of view, and to deny the existence of your neighbor's point of view because it's simply not your own is a shame.
Thank you to anyone who's read this. have a great day.
Alex
Leave a Comment
view all 10 posts
Peter-Kagey
What happened to Curtis?
posted Aug 30