Lead singer Noah Grimes and band behind him at a show. photo courtesy of switchSYNDROME. Click to enlarge

Over the course of two years, as a two-man band, the unnamed garage band spent all day and all night writing new material and attempting to perfect it. Soon they realized that they needed more than just a guitar-drum sound. They reached out and grabbed a hold of Derek’s brother David, who had been learning bass lines from their dad. He learned the bass lines for their songs quickly; they officially had a bass player.

They began practicing together and figured out that they were missing a key part when starting a band, vocals. So in their school year of 2003, they began their search. Dave, as determined as he was to start a revolutionary band, began asking anyone and everyone if they were interested. Alfredo and Derek got a little annoyed by this and told Dave to calm down. Luckily, that year they all had R.O.P. video class together and found “some interesting specimen” as stated by now keyboardist Roy Harrison. The one that stood out most to them was classmate Noah Grimes, who was the vocalist and guitarist for now defunct band Flapdoodle. They offered him a spot, and he was a little “iffy,” but decided that Flapdoodle wasn’t going anywhere and accepted their offer.

The next day Dave came to the rest of the guys with some band names, some being Suffocation Sensation, Breaking Point, and Unlabeled. They thought about it as a group and decided to use Unlabeled. In November of 2003 Noah came to a rehearsal with some new lyrics and guitar riffs, and they we unlike anything the band had ever heard. With these factors, Derek’s heavy metal drumming, Dave’s tasty bass licks, and Alfredo’s fresh riffs, they had an original sound, at least to them. Now it was time to play a gig. Unfortunately, in April of 2004, they found a famous band in the UK with the name Unlabeled, so it was time for yet another change. Their name could not have been more random, as stated by Roy Harrison, “We got our dictionary out and tried to find two words that go together, and it happened to be switch syndrome.”

They were offered a spot to play at a school fundraiser for the Snowboarding club. The band felt like they were in heaven. When the time came to actually play the show, they were pumped. They played their set and some students who attended the show said that they sounded good. But Unlabeled (now switchSYNDROME) knew different. But, on a more positive note, the benefit raised four hundred dollars for the snowboarding club.

After the show they knew that they had to fix their sound so their next show didn’t go the way their first had, so they started writing new material and reconstructing their previous songs. In doing this, they gave their sound more of a crunch, and ultimately came up with 7 gut-busting songs, such as “Black and White,” “La Hora,” and “Dreams of You.”

Some time later, Noah decided that he was going to stop playing rhythm guitar and just focus on his vocal skills. Down a rhythm guitarist, they sought out the help of friend Angelo F. who was released from the band shortly after, he was quickly replaced by friend Chris Wong, who now has a permanent position in the band. He also plays for other local band, Rumor has It. Also, in late 2005, their was another addition to their band, a second vocalist. They invited David Disalvo, but it didn’t last long, he was kicked out due to personal reasons. In early 2006, they added a new kick to their sound, keyboards. Their sound was now fueled by the melodic techniques of Roy Harrison.

Now that they have a permanent lineup, they have begun to play more shows and improving their sound. They have even played with big name bands like Bleed The Dream and Jeffree Star. They are scheduled to release a full-length some time early next year.