Priding themselves on being difficult to classify, Virginia's
Far-Less create their individual sound by merging elements of rock, metal, and pop together with a positive edge. The band's five members --
Brandon Welch (vocals), Ray Felts (drums),
Joseph Powers (bass),
Jordan Powers (guitar/vocals), and
Mark Karsten (guitar) -- claim influences across the board from
Shadows Fall to, strangely enough,
Huey Lewis. They first formed in 2001 as a trio with Felts and the brothers
Powers coming together following the demise of other area bands. They independently released the Emerge EP that same year, and fan-turned-vocalist
Brandon Welch entered the lineup soon afterwards.
A more sonically focused EP, Apossibility, was released in 2002, and
Far-Less continued to build a solid fan base across Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. About a year after
Welch's arrival, the group yielded its first full-length, Broken Hearts Unite, issued on Silent Uproar Records and produced by
Jamie King. Label heads showed interest upon the album's release, and the guys wound up signing with Tooth & Nail in the fall of 2004. Not wasting any time, they quickly released the
Turn to the Bright EP that November, a more mature songwriting endeavor that consequently brought raised expectations for February 2006's
Everyone Is Out to Get Us. A Toast to Bad Taste followed in 2007. ~ Corey Apar