Marianas Trench

Biography

Not only is Marianas Trench the deepest known spot in any ocean (located in the floor of the North Pacific Ocean), but it's also a Vancouver-based rock band that is the brainchild of vocalist/guitarist Josh Ramsay. Ramsay -- whose dad once owned the Little Mountain Sound studio that recorded bands like Aerosmith and AC/DC in the '80s and whose vocal teacher mom recorded and toured with Leonard Cohen for two years -- had been writing and recording since his teen years. He unsurprisingly learned to track his own songs early on, crafting music under the influence of rock and pop-punk bands as well as vocal groups with an ear for bright harmonies. Still a teenager, he began shopping his solo stuff around and took plenty of advice for improvement over the next several years. The rotating cast of musicians comprising the band that eventually appeared around Ramsay settled down by the early 2000s with people from the local scene: guitarist Steve Marshall, keyboardist Matt Webb, bassist Morgan Hempsted, and drummer Ian Casselman. Initially, they were called Ramsay Fiction and the frontman's persistence paid off when the band finally scored a deal with 604 Records (co-founded by Nickelback's Chad Kroeger) in early 2003. By the 2006 release of their debut, however, the group -- now called Marianas Trench -- was comprised of Ramsay alongside Casselman, now guitarist/vocalist Matt Webb, and bassist/vocalist Michael Ayley. Their label debut, Fix Me, surfaced in the fall of 2006, and the single "Say Anything" soon broke into the Top Three on the Canadian singles chart; "Decided to Break It" also did well on radio and MuchMusic. Marianas Trench then contributed a song ("Alibis") to the spring 2007 soundtrack for ABC Family's popular teen sci-fi show Kyle XY. ~ Corey Apar, All Music Guide