Marianas Trench was formed in 1999 by Josh Ramsay (lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist) and guitarist Steve Marshall, with Ramsay's sister Sara on keyboards and vocals, Erik Scott on drums, and Trev Spilchen on bass. Originally called Ramsay Fiction, Marshall suggested a name change when Ramsay's high school friend Matt Webb, drummer Ian Casselman, and bassist Morgan Hempstead replaced Scott, Spilchen, and Sara Ramsay.[10] The band recorded and released a self-titled EP in 2002.[11] It contained songs that would later appear on their debut album, Fix Me. The group performed at the NewMusicWest festival in May 2002 as well as shows in Toronto at Tequila Lounge in June.[12] They soon attracted the interest of several record labels, before eventually signing with Chad Kroeger's 604 Records in January 2003.[12] Mike Ayley, a longtime friend of Casselman, took up bass responsibilities when Hempstead and Marshall left the band in 2004, taking the five-piece down to four.[10]
Marianas Trench released their debut, full-length studio album, Fix Me, on October 3, 2006,[13] with the first single, "Say Anything", coming out on June 13, 2006.[14] The song reached number three on the Canadian Singles Chart.[15] Their second single, "Decided to Break It", was released on October 3, 2006, and found some radio success,[16][10] peaking at number 14 on the Canadian Singles Chart.[17] "Shake Tramp" was released in September 2007 as the third single and peaked at number 65 on the Canadian Hot 100.[18] The song also earned a Juno nomination for Video of the Year in 2008.[19]Fix Me was engineered and mixed by Mike Fraser,[20] with recording taking place at Factory Studios and Mushroom Studios in Vancouver and at the Umbrella Factory in Richmond, BC.[20] Despite its lack of chart success, the album sold 35,000 copies and was certified Gold in Canada.[21][22]
Masterpiece Theatre: 2008–2010
Masterpiece Theatre, the band's follow-up album, was released on February 24, 2009.[23] It debuted at No. 4 on the Canadian Albums Chart and sold 5,000 copies in its first week.[24] The first single, "Cross My Heart" came out on November 24, 2008,[25] peaking at number 15 on the Canadian Hot 100.[18] The song was nominated for four MMVAs in 2009 and was certified triple platinum in Canada.[26][22] "All to Myself" was released in May 2009 as the second single and peaked at number 11 on the Canadian Hot 100;[18] it was also certified triple platinum in Canada.[22] In 2009, the band went on the Beside You tour with Carly Rae Jepsen.[27]
Marianas Trench performed several free concerts during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, at the LiveCity Yaletown stage and Richmond O Zone.[28] Their first US show took place on September 23, 2010, at The Bowery Electric in Manhattan, New York.[10] On November 30, 2010, a director's cut of Masterpiece Theatre was released and included bonus acoustic tracks of the songs "Celebrity Status" and "Cross My Heart", an alternate version of the song "Good to You" (feat. Jessica Lee), as well as a cover of "And So It Goes" by Billy Joel.[29] "Beside You" was first released as a digital promotional single on February 24, 2009,[16] before it was issued for radio airplay on August 17, 2009, as the third single from the album.[30] The song reached number 28 on the Canadian Hot 100 and was certified double platinum.[18][22] "Celebrity Status" came out on February 12, 2010, as the fourth single and peaked at number 24 on the Canadian Hot 100.[31][18] In 2010, the band held a contest for fans to send in a video of them singing "Good to You", where the winner would perform with them on stage at Massey Hall in Toronto.[32] The eventual winner was Jessica Lee, who was included in the single version of the song, whereas the album version features Kate Voegele. The track was released on September 21, 2010, as the fifth and final single from Masterpiece Theatre.[33] The song peaked at number 38 on the Canadian Hot 100.[18]Masterpiece Theatre was certified double platinum in Canada.[22]
Josh Ramsay also took part in a project called Young Artists for Haiti to raise funds to support the victims of the 2010 earthquake. Marianas Trench participated in UBC's Lip dub event on March 26, 2011. The video featured approximately 1,000 students and community members lip-syncing to the band's song "Celebrity Status" and "Raise Your Glass" by Pink.[34]
Ever After: 2011–2013
The band's third studio album, Ever After, was released on November 21, 2011.[1] It was produced by Ramsay and recorded at his studio, Umbrella Factory, in Richmond, British Columbia. Ramsay stated that there would be no breaks between tracks on the new record: as soon as one track ended, the next would begin without pause, essentially making the album one extended song.[1] The first single, "Haven't Had Enough", was released on July 19, 2011,[35] and was later certified triple platinum.[22] Through a series of studio updates on their YouTube page, the band released recordings of the gospel choir for their song "Stutter" as well as a track with some of the band members' vocals on other songs from the album.[36] "Fallout" was issued as the second single from the album on November 14, 2011,[37] and peaked at number 26 on the Canadian Hot 100.[18] "Desperate Measures" came out on July 4, 2012, as the third single,[38] and peaked at number 20.[18] "Stutter" was released as the fourth single, on December 4, 2012.[39] The song reached number 28 on the Canadian Hot 100 and was certified triple platinum in Canada.[18][22] "By Now" was issued as the fifth and final single, on June 10, 2013.[40] It peaked at number 50 on the Canadian Hot 100 and was certified gold.[18][22]Ever After peaked at number eight on the Canadian Albums Chart and was certified double platinum.[41][22] The album also reached the US Heatseekers Albums chart, at number five.[42]
On March 20, 2013, the group headlined the Canadian Radio Music Awards at Koolhaus in Toronto.[54] In the spring of 2013, a second part of the Face the Music tour took place across Canada. Named Face the Music: With a Vengeance, it included supporting acts Down with Webster and Anami Vice.[55] On April 21, Marianas Trench performed an a cappella version of "Fallout", leading straight into "Stutter", at the 2013 Juno Awards.[56] In May and June 2013, they completed their first headlining coast-to-coast US tour, called the Noise Tour.[57]
On April 10, 2013, Marianas Trench announced that they had signed with Cherrytree Records and Interscope, who would handle their releases outside of Canada while 604 Records continued to handle Canadian publications.[58] A four-song EP, titled Face the Music, was released on May 14, 2013, containing the album versions of "Haven't Had Enough" and "Desperate Measures" as well as acoustic versions of "Haven't Had Enough" and "Fallout."[58] The EP peaked at number 43 on the US Heatseekers Albums chart.[42] At the 2013 Juno Awards, Ever After was nominated for Album of the Year.[53] The band also won Group of the Year.[59]
Astoria: 2014–2017
The single "Pop 101" (featuring Anami Vice) was released on July 28, 2014.[60] The group toured in Australia and New Zealand in the fall of 2014.[61] On October 30, they performed a new song, titled "Here's to the Zeros", in the first show of the tour. It was officially released as a single on December 25, 2014,[62] in Canada and the United States, with an international release on December 29, 2014.[63] On May 26, 2015, Marianas Trench released an EP called Something Old / Something New, which included the two singles as well as two previously unreleased tracks.[64] The group toured across North America in support of the EP in the summer of 2015.[65]
On May 28, 2015, they announced that their fourth studio album would be released later in the year and would be titled Astoria.[64] Originally, "Pop 101" and "Here's to the Zeros" would be included, but the album ultimately contained only new tracks.[64] Ramsay stated that the record was inspired by 1980s fantasy and adventure films, and The Goonies (1985) in particular.[66] The album title comes from Astoria, Oregon, the hometown of the Goonies.[67] On September 14, 2015, Marianas Trench released the lead single from Astoria, called "One Love".[68] It peaked at number 50 on the Canadian Hot 100 and was certified platinum.[18][22] The song also reached number 35 on the US Adult Top 40 chart, marking the group's first charting song in the States.[69] On October 2, 2015, "Wildfire" was released digitally as a promotional single.[70]Astoria was released on October 23, 2015, and peaked at number two on the Canadian Albums Chart;[7][41] it also debuted at number 53 on the US Billboard 200.[71] The album reached the Australian Albums Chart at number 56.[72] The group headlined the Hey You Guys Tour, across the United States in November 2015 to support the record.[73] They subsequently toured across Canada on the Never Say Die Tour from March to April 2016, with support from Walk off the Earth.[74]
"This Means War" was released on February 16, 2016, as the album's second single,[75] followed by "Who Do You Love" on September 8, 2016.[76] The song peaked at number 56 on the Canadian Hot 100 and was certified double platinum.[18][22] Marianas Trench was nominated for Group of the Year at the 2016 Juno Awards.[53] In summer 2016, they started their SPF 80s Tour, which included cities in US.[77] They followed this in November with another Canadian tour, the Last Crusade, with Shawn Hook,[78] as well as the Final Countdown Tour in Europe the following year.[79]
Astoria was certified platinum in Canada[22] and was nominated for Pop Album of the Year at the 2017 Juno Awards.[53]
Phantoms: 2017–2021
In the fall of 2017, the single "Rhythm of Your Heart" was released.[80] The band performed at New Year's celebrations in Niagara Falls, Ontario, later that year.[81] The lead single off their upcoming fifth album, "I Knew You When," was released on November 16, 2018.[82] On December 3, 2018, the band announced the US Suspending Gravity Tour to promote their upcoming album, Phantoms.[2] On February 1, 2019, "Only the Lonely Survive" was issued as the album's second single.[83] On February 7, 2019, "Echoes of You", featuring Roger Joseph Manning Jr., was released digitally as a promotional single.[84]
Marianas Trench in 2022
Phantoms came out on March 1, 2019,[85] and follows the theme of "being haunted by the ghosts of former love". Ramsay described the new record as "modern songwriting, but very organic, old-school approaches and trickery... done in a way that you haven't heard us do before."[86] The album peaked at number four on the Canadian Albums Chart.[41] The group toured across North America from March to June in 2019.[87] "Glimmer" was released on June 5, 2019, as the third single from the album,[88] followed by "Don't Miss Me?", on October 3, 2019.[89]
On June 17, 2022, Marianas Trench released a live album of their performance in Milwaukee, titled, Live at the Rave Milwaukee.[92] In July 2022, they announced on social media that they had begun working on their sixth studio album.[93] The group toured Australia in September 2022, after having to postpone their 2020 and 2021 shows.[94] They toured across Canada in 2023.[95] In April 2024, the band released the single "A Normal Life",[96] followed by "Lightning and Thunder" on May 24.[97] In July, the group released "I'm Not Getting Better" as the third single from their forthcoming album.[98]
On May 28, the band announced the Force of Nature Tour. Set to begin in September, it will feature support from Cassadee Pope and Grayscale in the US and LØLØ in Canada, among others.[99]
On July 26, Marianas Trench announced on social media that their upcoming album would be titled Haven,[100] and that it draws inspiration from Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey.[101] According to Ramsay, he used one of the plot points in the story, Campbell's observation in every hero's journey, to guide each track.[101] On August 16, the band released the album's fourth single, "Down to You".[102]Haven came out on August 30.
