Bio / History

2008 marked the release of DAMAGE, a harder and darker sound for the band that had originally started out as a trio of Keyboardist. During the writing stages of Damage, founding Anti-M member John (Wedge) Wardlaw had been listening to metal bands like Disturbed and Godsmack when he discovered a new genre of female fronted goth rock bands (The Gathering, Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation, Evanescence). Wedge and Ruston (Slager) then asked Barbara Moseley, who had been a guest vocalist on the more Depeche Mode influenced POSITIVELY NEGATIVE, to join the band and take on the bulk of the lead vocals. Jon Moseley was also asked to join the band on guitars and Derek Poultney on Drums. The result was a mix of styles and influences that created a truely unique sounding album.

Anti-m was formed by Mark Rumer, John (Wedge) Wardlaw and Ruston Slager in Santa Barbara, Ca. Portland Oregon guitarist and college friend, Steve (Salty) Weber, was brought in during the final stages of the recording of the bands first album, NO WAVES IN HELL, to play the bulk of the guitars. The CD was a concept album with a surfing theme and several music videos were made to go along with the music. This caught the eye of surfing film maker Jimi Berlin who started using songs from Anti-M projects in his surf films.

The second Anti-M album, POSITIVELY NEGATIVE, featured guest guitarist Ronnie Montrose of the band MONTROSE. Known more for his work with bands like Gamma, Edgar Winter Group and Van Morrison, Montrose had also released a string of all instrumental guitar based albums. His guitar work added to the quirky keyboard based songs brought the songs to a new level and also helped the band get much needed exposure. Other guests included Steve Weber on guitars, Steve Schoepp on Sax and Scott Wardlaw on Bass. Jimi Berlin again used songs from the album in his surf films and the band also made a few music videos to help promote the new album.

Anti-M has also released a remix album of mostly instrumental tracks titled IT H-HURTS "THE INSTRUMENTALS. This album also featured tracks from the film YOU ONLY DIE ONCE, a James Bond Spoof that was soundtracked by Anti-M and included a remix of Security featuring Ronnie Montrose. Surf film maker Jimi Berlin also released a compilation of his surf films on DVD titled HAWIIAN SURF STORIES. This nearly 4 hour dvd features several Anti-M Tunes.

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