The Wage of Sin
The Wage of Sin was an American all-female hardcore punk band from New York City.
History
The Wage of Sin was formed in Brooklyn in 2000 by Rachel Rosen on guitar (formerly member of Indecision, Milhouse, SFA, Tapeworm, currently of Most Precious Blood.)When Indecision had broken up in the summer of 2000 Rachel put out word that she was looking to start an all-female hardcore band. Melissa Fornabaio (vocals) sent her an audition tape and the two decided to start auditioning other members. Vanessa Newsted (drums, formerly of In Times of War, Blood Oath), a fan of Indecision heard about the band from Dyami Bryant vocalist for Locked In A Vacancy, and tried out. The three automatically clicked, and were later briefly joined by Jennifer Christiansen on bass and Barbara Convertino on second guitar. The Wage of Sin accidentally released a secret 3 song practice demo on Napster, and a 4 song demo recorded at Fastlanes in Brooklyn, before releasing their first album "The Product of Deceit and Loneliness" on Immigrant Sun Records in March 2002. (recorded and produced by Bumblefoot) (this album was later released in Europe on Burial Records, and on cassette in Thailand on Elephant Eye Records and in Lithuania on Kablio Muzika)
In May 2002 Jen left the band due to musical and personal differences. Bryan Quackenbush, a former Blood Oath bandmate of Vanessa's and coincidentally a friend of the Melissa's from high school, temporarily filled in on bass for the band's first East Coast Tour in the summer of 2002 with 7 Angles 7 Plagues and A Death For Every Sin. Laura Zaino (formerly of All for Nothing) joined the band in 2002 as the permanent bass player. After playing Monster Fest and Hellfest 2002, the band asked Barbara to leave the band, also due to personal and musical differences.
Rachel quickly took on responsibilities of two guitar players, and The Wage of Sin went on to do a full US tour in the winter of 2002–2003 with Undying, Misery Signals (former members of 7 Angels 7 Plagues and Compromise), and The Judas Cradle.
The Wage of Sin then released their second album "A Mistaken Belief In Forever" in September 2003, again released on Immigrant Sun Records and recorded by Bumblefoot.
In 2004, The Wage of Sin released a music video for "Severed" directed by Joshua Katcher, which was played on MTV2's Headbangers Ball, and Much Music. The video was nominated as one of the best metal videos on Headbangers Ball of 2004. The video was also included on a European version of "A Mistaken Belief In Forever" released on Beniihana Records in 2004.
The Wage of Sin toured Europe in the winter of 2004–2005 playing some dates with Turmoil, and Crisis Never Ends.
Breakup
In May 2005 The Wage of Sin played their final shows in Lexington KY and then at ABC No Rio in NYC.
Official statement from the band here:
After 41⁄2 years of being in The Wage of Sin, I can honestly say I have made some truly great and unforgettable memories and friends. And while I wouldn't give up the time I spent in this band for anything, at this point it does not make sense for us to keep the band going any longer. The girls have become very busy with their other bands: Rachel full time w/Most Precious Blood, Vanessa w/Infidel (formerly Rebel Alliance), and Laura w/All for Nothing. Laura is also currently getting her Masters and working part-time, Vanessa is working, and I am currently working and traveling as a TV producer. Needless to say this has left us with very little time to dedicate to The Wage of Sin. We have so many amazing, dedicated fans asking us to play shows, do interviews, and be on compilations-anything to help our band out. While we are completely grateful and flattered that people are going out of their way to support us, I feel it is unfair for us to continue the band when the fans are currently dedicating more time than the actual members. There are so many other bands working their asses off, making huge sacrifices to write and play music to as many people as possible which deserve and need your support so much more than we do at this point. While we do have so much fun when we do play shows, unfortunately those moments are very few and far between lately. We have been lucky to have shared some wonderful experiences and are happy about the things we have accomplished together- releasing two CDs, touring the US and Europe, having a video on Headbangers Ball and Much Music, and most importantly having built friendships with the people we have met along the way. But being that we have all committed to touring with other bands or working for the rest of the year, we feel we would just be dragging on if we continued to go out this rate of trying to squeeze in shows on those rare occasions when our four worlds happen to collide and allow us to do so. To all of our fans, friends, anyone who has booked us, played with us, shared equipment with us, given us a place to stay, or cooked for us, and to the labels that have put out our music (Immigrant Sun, Beniihana, Burial, Elephant Eye, Kablio Muzika), and all our fill-ins (Bryan, Nick, Jerry, Chino) - we thank you so much for making our time in this band so amazing and for affording us so many great opportunities! Because this band is more than just the 4 people in it, we all felt it would be very unappreciative to NOT play some final shows. We want these shows to be THANK YOUs to everyone who has supported us, and final celebrations of the fun times we have had together these past few years. There are no bad feelings between us- we just all have our hearts in different places and support each other in each of our endeavors. Since we cannot give this band our full attention any longer, it's time to end it while we are still smiling.
Post-breakup
- Melissa Fornabaio works as a freelance TV/Video producer. www.melissafornabaio.com
- Rachel is currently playing guitar with Most Precious Blood. www.mostpreciousblood.com
- Vanessa is playing drums for In First Person (former members of The Assistant/You and I).www.myspace.com/infirstperson and is a member of the Hawthorne Caballeros Drum and Bugle Corps.
- Laura is a writer and is currently playing bass for a new band with former All for Nothing bandmate Nick Gambacorta.
External links
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