Dead by Sunrise is an American rock band from Los Angeles, CA [United States]. It is the side project of Linkin Park's lead vocalist and songwriter, Chester Bennington. The band also features Amir Derakh, Ryan Shuck, Brandon Belsky, Elias Andra, and Anthony "Fu" Valcic from Julien-K and Orgy. Dead by Sunrise's debut album, Out of Ashes, was released worldwide on October 13, 2009 through Warner Bros Records.

Band members

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From the left: Anthony "Fu" Valcic (keyboards, synthesizers); Ryan Shuck (rhythm guitar, backing vocals); Elias Andra (drums); Chester Bennington (lead vocals); Brandon Belsky (bass guitar); Amir Derakh (lead guitar).

History

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Dead by Sunrise started to form in 2005 while Chester Bennington was writing songs for Linkin Park's album Minutes to Midnight. According to Bennington, "I came up with a few songs that felt and sounded really good, but I knew they weren’t right stylistically for Linkin Park. They were darker and moodier than anything I’d come up with for the band. So I decided to work on them on my own rather than turn them over and have them transformed into Linkin Park tracks." However, the foundation for Dead by Sunrise was laid much earlier, when future bandmate Shuck met Bennington during the recording of Linkin Park's first album Hybrid Theory. In an interview, Shuck states that "I always used to go to his house and hear him play acoustic guitar. And I always thought to myself, 'Oh my God, these are such good songs.'"

The band's name, which was previously "Snow White Tan", reflects the time during the album's recording. In an interview, Bennington stated that:
“ I came up with the band name because in the beginnings of making this album, I was partying ... we'll call it partying. It wasn't much fun, but we partied a lot. And there was a lot of times where I was kind of in a really self-destructive place, and sometimes it felt like you weren't sure if you were going to make it to the next day. The name kind of evolved from that lifestyle, and the title of the record, Out of Ashes, is kind of coming out of that self-destructive path I was on, and rising from the ashes, so to speak.”

Out Of Ashes (2005 - 2009)

First Dead By Sunrise appearance of any kind was the 10 October 2005 at ReAct Now: Music & Relief; it featured just Chester on vocals and Amir and Ryan on acoustic guitar. It was advertised as just "Chester Bennington" and was the live debut of 'Let Down'. On May 10, 2008, Dead by Sunrise performed three songs ('Walking In Circles', 'Morning After' and 'My Suffering') at the 13th anniversary party for Club Tattoo in Tempe, Arizona. The song titled 'Morning After' was written by Chester Bennington and originally performed on December 9, 2001 at the Live in Berlin concert. This was the first time that Chester had "officially" performed the song under a new name: Dead by Sunrise. In addition, this band has recently started touring with Linkin Park in Europe, Japan, and America. In an interview with MTV, Bennington stated that "we're actually going to be jumping in the middle of Linkin Park's set, playing a few songs, then jumping out and letting LP finish out the set."

Recording of the band's debut album began in July 2008 after touring for Linkin Park had finished. Working simultaneously on his solo album and Linkin Park's next record, Bennington recorded Out of Ashes with producer Howard Benson (who has also worked with Three Days Grace, My Chemical Romance, Daughtry, and simultaneously Full Circle by Creed) and bandmates from Julien-K. Bennington wrote most of the songs on an acoustic guitar before working with his band to reshape the track into hard rock, a ballad, or even removing all rock influence and creating a synth-driven track. Linkin Park bandmate Mike Shinoda confirmed that Out of Ashes is "much more of a rock album (than Linkin Park's albums)." Also of note, Bennington participated in all aspects of creating the record, including programming and production.

Videos have been filmed for 'Crawl Back In' (September 8, 2009) and 'Let Down' with the songs serving as the album's first two singles. 'Crawl Back In' has reached the 11th spot on the Mainstream Rock chart.

crawl back in videolet down video

Possible second album (2010 - present)

In a 2009 interview with Billboard, Bennington said that "This isn't a one-time thing for us. Every five years or so I could imagine there'd be a Dead By Sunrise record." Despite this, in 2010, he has stated there was a small chance a new album may be created. The frontman also noted that because of Linkin Park's new direction "it becomes very difficult to choose where the songs that he writes will go."

 

DEAD BY SUNRISE DISCOGRAPHY

Album

OUT OF ASHES
Released: October 13, 2009.
Format: Compact Disc, LP, Digital download.
Certifications (sales threshold): US sales: 50.000.

PEAK CHART POSITION:
US Billboard 200: 29 (3 weeks)
US Billboard Hard Rock Albums: 5 (2 weeks)
US Billboard Top Rock Albums: 12 (2 weeks)
US Billboard Alternative Albums: 9 (1 week)
US Billboard Top Digital Albums: 9 (1 week)
UK Album Top 75: 74 (1 week)
GER GfK Media Control Charts: 5 (4 weeks)
AUT Ö3 Austria Top 40: 11 (4 weeks)
CHE Album Swiss Hitparade: 18 (3 weeks)
FRA SNEP Top Albums: 109 (2 weeks)
NLD Album Dutch Charts: 82 (1 week)
JAP Oricon Album Chart: 16 (15 weeks)
JAP iTunes Rock Albums: 1.

Singles

CRAWL BACK IN
Released: August 18, 2009.
Format: Compact Disc, Digital download.

PEAK CHART POSITION:
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks: 11 (16 weeks)
US Billboard Rock Songs: 22 (17 weeks)
US Billboard Alternative Songs: 23 (14 weeks)
GER GfK Media Control Charts: 66 (3 weeks)
GER Radio Charts Top 100: 48 (6 weeks)
Danish Boogie Chart: 16.


LET DOWN
Released November 24, 2009.
Format: Compact Disc, Digital download.

The single could not chart in any of the lists for several occasions.

Promotional tracks

FIRE
Released: September 1, 2009 by iTunes Store.
As promotional single on December 4, 2009 (Australia); June 30, 2010 (Japan).
Format: Digital download, Promotional CD.

PEAK CHART POSITION:
Japan Hot 100: 47.
It charted due to digital downloads.


INSIDE OF ME
PEAK CHART POSITION:
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks: 40 (2 weeks).


TOO LATE
PEAK CHART POSITION:
US Billboard Adult Top 40 (2010): 39 (2 weeks).