* En anglais uniquement
The Belton, Texas-based heavy rock quintet
Flyleaf formed in 2000 when frontwoman
Lacey Mosley played a string of the dark, hard-edged songs she consistently wrote as a brooding teen for drummer
James Culpepper. After a brief period of playing together, they recruited guitarists
Sameer Bhattacharya and
Jared Hartmann, members of a local outfit that had recently called it quits. In 2002, bassist
Pat Seals joined, and the band, initially known as Passerby, was born.
The road to
Flyleaf's 2005 self-titled debut on Octone Records was dotted with more green lights than red: the band played wherever they were invited around their home state at first, gradually building the kind of fan base that allowed them to open for acts such as
Bowling for Soup,
Fishbone, and
Riddlin' Kids. By 2003, with word of
Mosley's arsenic-laced lyrics and blowtorch-style delivery spreading through Texas and beyond,
Flyleaf earned a spot at the annual South by Southwest Music Conference. A contract from Octone was rushed to the signing stages by 2004.
An EP, issued in early 2005 and also called
Flyleaf, benefited from the production team of
Rick Parashar (
Pearl Jam,
Blind Melon) and
Brad Cook (
Foo Fighters,
Queens of the Stone Age). Key tracks such as the roiling "Cassie" and the emo-tinged "Breathe Today," both of which appear on the full-length, furthered
Flyleaf's reputation, as did raging live shows alongside
Saliva,
Breaking Benjamin,
3 Doors Down, and
Staind. For the fall 2005 release, producer
Howard Benson (
My Chemical Romance,
Papa Roach,
the All-American Rejects) joined
Flyleaf in Los Angeles. A batch of 20 songs was winnowed to 12, with
Mosley's searing vocals and
Bhattacharya's and
Hartmann's storming guitars offsetting each other to affect a sound by turns morose, compassionate, hopeful, and bitter.
Following the release of
Flyleaf, the band toured heavily on the festival circuit. They hit the main stage on the 2006 and 2007 Family Values Tour, as well as the Soundwave festival and
Disturbed's Music as a Weapon III tour. They also made a jump to the world of video games when their single "I'm So Sick" was put in the first installment of the Rock Band series and their single, "Tina," debuted in Guitar Hero 3. After taking some time out of their hectic touring schedule to record,
Flyleaf released their sophomore album,
Memento Mori, in 2009. In 2010
Flyleaf delivered the EP
Remember to Live, featuring stripped-down, reworked versions of some of the band's early songs.
In 2012 the band released its third studio album, the
Howard Benson-produced
New Horizons, after which
Mosley (then going by the name
Lacey Sturm) and the band amicably parted ways.
Kristen May, former lead singer for the band Vedora, was recruited as a vocalist, and the
May version of
Flyleaf recorded a single, "Something Better" (again produced by
Benson), which was part of the 2013 EP
Who We Are.
Between the Stars, the band's fourth long-player and first outing for Loud & Proud Records, arrived the following year. After four years with the band,
May announced her departure in August 2016. ~ Tammy La Gorce