Todd Weinstock

Glassjaw is an American post-hardcore band from Hempstead, New York.

After recording a number of EPs and demos throughout the 1990s, Glassjaw came to the attention of producer Ross Robinson, who helped the band secure a deal with Roadrunner Records.

It was formed in 1993 by vocalist Daryl Palumbo and guitarist Justin Beck.

The band is known for their intense live shows, as well as their frequent line-up changes.

Despite their limited commercial success and small discography, they are considered to be one of the most influential bands in the progression of the underground music scene in the eastern United States and United Kingdom for the post-hardcore genre.

The band formed in the summer of 1993 after Palumbo and Beck met each other at camp.

Of the band name, Beck has said: "We had a list of names, and we were just like, let's pick one of these band names which ones the coolest. At the time there were a bunch of bands coming out with two names in one like that, like Mouthpiece, Curbjaw, stuff like that. We were going down the list, and the first name that I liked was Swiftkick. I'm all like, that's a sick name. But for some reason Glassjaw stuck. There's really no reason behind it; it just sounded cool."

Upon first founding, the band's name was xGlassjawx, which was then followed by the Glassjaw, and eventually simply Glassjaw.

The band played their first show in 1994 in Oceanside, New York.

In the early days, Beck and Weinstock were also playing with Jewish straight edge metalcore band, Sons of Abraham.

Sons of Abraham constitute an important influence on Glassjaw, songs such as "Hurting and Shoving (She Should Have Let Me Sleep)" by Glassjaw drawing particularly on earlier Sons of Abraham releases.

Palumbo was in his own straight-edge band called XbustedX.

The group's line-up changed constantly in their early years while they played in the local New York hardcore scene.

From 1994 to 1999 the band did several demo recordings of some songs that would eventually appear on their official releases, as well as several other compositions that would not see official release.

The band recorded the five-song Kiss Kiss Bang Bang EP in 1997.

Beck's primary instrument throughout this time was drums, but switched to bass guitar when Ariel Telford left the band in 1998, and then switched to lead guitar when Kris Baldwin left and Manuel Carrero joined the band in 1999.

A significant recording came in 1999 working with Don Fury (Quicksand, Snapcase, Orange 9mm, The Hearing Aides), showcasing songs that appeared on their debut LP Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence.

In 1999, the band entered the studio at Indigo Ranch in Malibu, California, with producer Ross Robinson (At the Drive-In, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, among others) to record their first full-length album titled Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence, which saw release in 2000 through Roadrunner Records.

On being signed, guitarist Justin Beck said: "Ross showed up at a practice, we start a song; 5-4-3-2-1. Ross stands up, waving his hands and he's like, 'It's over, it's done. I want to do this, you've got a deal! The line-up on this record was Palumbo, Beck, Todd Weinstock, Manuel Carrero and Sammy Siegler (who left the band prior to the subsequent tour). Robinson has said of it: "Our goal at the time of that record was to destroy Adidas rock", a self-deprecating reference to the Adidas-sponsored bands (Korn, Limp Bizkit) Robinson had produced and championed as part of the nu-metal movement. The music was aggressive and unrelenting, but also included spacious songs like "When One Eight Becomes Two Zeros", "Her Middle Name is Boom", "Piano" and the epic "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence", the latter of which deals with Palumbo's problems with Crohn's disease. The music, along with Palumbo's lyrics—which were often bitter and resentful towards particular characters he was discussing—and his singing style—powerful and aggressive guttural screaming with a melodic touch—created a unique dynamic.

Although Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence is often cited as a milestone post-hardcore album, it saw little push from Roadrunner, making the band disillusioned with the label.

Matters were somewhat worsened when Palumbo started to have bouts with his Crohn's disease on tour, as his aggressive performance style sometimes triggers a relapse, which has the potential to be fatal.

It is alleged that Roadrunner would not allow Palumbo to leave the tour to rest.

Larry Gorman of Orange 9mm officially took over drumming duties partway through touring, which saw dates with Deftones and a six-week European tour with Soulfly.

The line-up continued to rotate following the conclusion of the tour when Manuel Carrero was kicked out by Roadrunner for being the only member to have date conflicts with touring.

Robinson went on to produce Glassjaw's debut album, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence (2000), which helped the band cement a following in the United Kingdom.

Although the group continued to tour semi-regularly, Glassjaw's studio activity was sporadic for the rest of the 2000s whilst Palumbo and Beck focused other projects.

The record was released independently on the label 2 Cents a Pop, and saw a re-release in 2001 without label affiliation.

The line-up on this record was Daryl Palumbo, Justin Beck, Todd Weinstock, Kris Baldwin and Ariel Telford.

"Star Above My Bed", from the EP, is still in the band's set lists to this day.

In 2001, the band entered the studio in secret with Ross Robinson and began recording their follow-up album Worship and Tribute, which would see release the following year.

The album was engineered and mixed by Mike Fraser.

They left Roadrunner in December 2001, finding them problematic, and shopped the album to other labels and ended up signing a deal with Warner Bros. Records.

The line-up on this record was Palumbo, Beck (who also provided bass duties), Weinstock, and Shannon Larkin of Amen and later Godsmack, who provided drumming duties due to recording time constraints, as he had worked well with producer Ross Robinson in the past, although Larry Gorman was composing parts and officially the drummer of the band.

After parting ways with Roadrunner following a feud, Glassjaw signed with Warner Bros. Records, who issued the group's second outing Worship and Tribute (2002).

The album reached number 82 on the Billboard 200 chart and brought Glassjaw to mainstream attention, although its supporting tour was negatively affected by Palumbo's struggles with Crohn's disease around this time, leading to the cancellation of several dates.

The album was pressed onto vinyl in 2009, limited to 10,000 copies.

After parting ways with Warner Bros., Glassjaw self-released a series of 7" singles throughout late 2010, which were later compiled into the EP Our Color Green (The Singles) in January 2011.

One month afterwards, the group released another EP, Coloring Book.

In 2017, Glassjaw released their first album in 15 years, Material Control, through Century Media Records.

During 2022, the band performed a series of concerts commemorating the 20th anniversaries of the band's first two albums.