Control by I-94

i-94’s previous album, “Don’t Get Nervous”, had 2 top 5 hits on Yahoo’s Launch Cast Radio in 2005 and early 2006 on the Adult Alternative station with “Go Back In Time(reached#3)” and “Not Alone” (reached#5) above artists such as Rob Thomas, Maroon 5, Coldplay, Collective Soul, Nickelback, Three Doors Down, Fall Out Boy. i-94 followed “Don’t Get Nervous” with an acoustic cd, “Acoustic Sessions” released in summer 2006, also available on Cdbaby.com and iTunes.

Hollywood has taken notice. The foursome’s songwriting has caught the attention of many Music Supervisors. Among the movies and TV series that have featured the songs of i-94 are, “Men In Tress” (ABC), MTV’s “Laguna Beach”, “The Hills”, “Road Rules” and “Road Rules Challenge” (the band is now featured on MTV.com), A & E’s “Roller Girls”, National Lampoon’s “Half Baked”, ABC’s “Cutting Edge 2”, TLC’s “LA Riding Club”, Showtime’s “Reversal Of Fortune”, “Smallville,” “Six Feet Under,” “Without A Trace”,” “Crossing Jordan,” and multiple Lifetime TV movies.

While the band is thankful to have the support of Hollywood and to see their music on the big and little screen so much, they love fans that see i-94 in their natural habitat: on stage.

On their new record, CONTROL, i-94 reveals the full range of their musical dynamic from the fragile, intimate song, “BROKEN”, to the swaggering sass of “KISS ME” and crunching, energetic rockers like “PHONY SUPERSTAR” and “ALIBI”. With tracks such as “SOMEWHERE ELSE”, “BREATHE” and “LOSING BATTLE” the band serve up powerful anthems with epic style. Yet, they also show a more mellow side to their music as displayed in the haunting guitar of “SOMETHING SO WRONG” and the sweet arpeggio piano of “PLEASE”. These songs have an addictive quality that is further amplified by well annunciated lyrics delivered by Arnell. His velvety, smooth voice sooths the ear, while he adjusts his it slightly to add a bit of grit and kicks it up for higher register crooning, still glowing with intensity.

The name of the album, CONTROL, has great significance for the band because “we felt that this time we had the chance to operate with complete creative independence in every aspect of making this record. Ironically the song ‘Control” is actually the opposite. It’s a very melancholic, emotionally driven song about the loss of control and the feelings of helplessness it brings”, says Cheadle. From being multi instrumentalists with Danny and Matt creating and playing string and keyboard parts and Angelo playing mellotron, to the engineering, production and mixing skills of Arnell to creating the artwork it was completely self contained. They recorded an finished this record for absolutely no money, using no studio outboard gear, just plug ins on Pro Tools MAC OS 9 and 10. “This album shows that all you need is a vision and pair of ears”, laughs Arnell.

i-94 formed in 2002 when band mates Mark and Danny (formally of Bottlefly and signed to Universal)

brought in bassist Angelo, and once they hooked up with guitarist Matt, who was a friend from the U.K., the current line-up of I-94 was born. Despite the fact the band are modern road warriors, having played around the world, and living for the chance to get on stage, the name i-94 doesn’t have a thing to do with the interstate highway. “It’s the immigration/visa waiver form you have to fill out to get into the U.S. as a non-resident. It’s called an I-94.”

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