Driving Forward

Launched by vocalist/guitarist Jesse Naul in suburban Chicago, DRIVING FORWARD began gigging and recording as a power trio in 2001. The original drummer left the band in early 2002 and was quickly replaced by Naul's long time friend Greg Ulankiewicz. The resulting combination of their like-minded yet varied influences from prog rock to punk and fusion provided the free-wheeling, hard-rocking direction the band has followed since.

Touring frequently across Illinois, the band drew enthusiastic crowds prompting them to record a demo followed closely by an EP, ?In Motion.? In 2005, DRIVING FORWARD'S first full-length, ?For the Rest of Our Lives,? was released on Carburetor Media. Receiving airplay on major Chicago-area radio stations, the band also garnered interest overseas from the UK and Japan to Brazil and Germany.

Set to tour the Midwest and east coast in 2007, guitarist Naul, began to experience pain in his left arm. Playing guitar for several hours a day, everyday, over the course of 20-plus years had resulted in a serious repetitive stress injury. After a lengthy series of treatments and conflicting diagnoses, Naul was looking at the possibility of never playing the guitar again. Despite the pain, Naul and the band decided to make the most of their situation and explore their experience in musical form.

Limited to playing just a few hours total per week, Naul recorded the guitar tracks that would become the foundation for ?Dissolve Your Resistance? over the course of ten months. While Ulankiewicz and Niziolek laid down their parts and got directly involved in the engineering and production of the disc. The lyrics, penned by Naul, tap into the intense physical and emotional issues he faced when dealing with this difficult period in his musical life, ultimately coming through the darkness to deliver a hopeful message given greater depth by the crunching, multi-layered wave of sound and constantly shifting tempos created by the band.

While Naul's musical prospects are still uncertain, he is working hard to make sure ?Dissolve Your Resistance? isn't the last we hear of DRIVING FORWARD. ?The record was a long, slow process but the three of us stuck together at a time when it would have been easy to go our separate ways. In some ways, ?Dissolve Your Resistance' is proof that while the road to recovery may be long it's always a worthwhile ride.?

For a taste of their distinctive sound, check out ?Reveille,? ?The Pulse? and ?This Time is Real? the band's first singles from the album.