A native of Queens, New York,
Anthony Raneri got on the music radar of punk fans in the early 2000s as the lead singer and guitarist of the band
Bayside. The group -- who had chosen their name as a nod to the neighborhood of their youth -- formed in 2000 and excelled in making moody and emotional pop-punk that bore the influence of bands like the
Smoking Popes and
Alkaline Trio. By 2012, they had earned themselves a steady following over countless tours, five studio albums, and a handful of EPs and splits. As one of the principle songwriters,
Raneri was always writing, though not everything he came up with seemed like the right fit for
Bayside. Ultimately, he took some of those songs and began using the downtime between recording and shows, when he'd otherwise just sit around getting restless, to step out from the group and play the occasional solo acoustic gig. Though
Bayside always remained
Raneri's first priority, a few years of doing these sporadic performances passed and he eventually felt ready to put a few songs to tape.
Bayside released the album
Killing Time in February 2011 -- their first for Wind-Up Records after years on Victory -- and thus spent most of the following months supporting it out on the road. It wasn't until the year's end that
Raneri got the chance to enter a recording studio; he sat down at California's Hurley Studios and (along with the help of some musical friends) quickly finished his debut EP, titled New Cathedrals. Deciding to go the D.I.Y. route for his solo work, the album was self-released in January 2012 on his own Gumshoe Records.
Raneri supported the album's release with live dates on the Where's the Band? tour, alongside other pop-punk frontmen-gone-solo like
Saves the Day's
Chris Conley and
the Get Up Kids'
Matt Pryor. ~ Corey Apar