As Friends Rust

As Friends Rust is an American melodic hardcore band based in Gainesville, Florida. The original line-up, which included vocalist Damien Moyal, guitarist Henry Olmino, bass guitarist Jeronimo Gomez, and drummer Matthew Crum, formed in Davie, Florida in September 1996. After recording a demo tape but failing to secure a record deal, the band parted ways in February 1997. Following his move to Gainesville, Florida, Moyal reformed As Friends Rust in June 1997, with a new line-up made-up mostly of then-members of his other band Culture, ultimately stabilizing the band with drummer Timothy Kirkpatrick, guitarists Gordon Tarpley and Joseph Simmons, and bass guitarist and backing vocalist Kaleb Stewart. The band released its debut EP, The Fists of Time, via Good Life Recordings in 1998, prior to which Tarpley was replaced by Peter Bartsocas. After an American tour, Bartsocas was replaced by James Glayat and As Friends Rust released a split with Discount, also on Good Life in 1998, supported by a European and British tour. The band signed with Doghouse Records and released the 1999 EP, As Friends Rust, ensuing a series of American, European, and British tours for the next two years, along with reissues of early material. Inner tensions caused line-up changes in 2000, culminating with Glayat, Kirkpatrick, and Stewart quitting. Moyal and Simmons reconstructed the band by recruiting guitarist and backing vocalist Christopher "Floyd" Beckham, drummer Zachary Swain, and bass guitarist Thomas Rankine. The new line-up recorded As Friends Rust's debut full-length album, Won, for Doghouse / Defiance in 2001, and embarked on extensive American, European, and British tours. As Friends Rust signed with Equal Vision Records and released the 2002 EP A Young Trophy Band in the Parlance of Our Times, by which time tensions had again surfaced, resulting with Moyal quitting the band at the peak of its popularity. Beckham quickly took up lead vocals, until Adam D'Zurilla was welcomed as Moyal's replacement a month later. With D'Zurilla, As Friends Rust toured the United States, Canada, Europe, and the United Kingdom several times, before Beckham, too, quit the band. In September 2002, the remaining members of As Friends Rust announced their continuation under the new band name of Salem. As Friends Rust reunited in March 2008, with Moyal, Kirkpatrick, Stewart, Simmons, and Glayat reprising the 1998–2000 line-up. The band embarked on a European and British tour in 2008, followed by a Japanese tour in 2014. As Friends Rust has since performed a series of American and European festival dates in 2015 and 2019, supporting its compilation albums Greatest Hits? and The Porch Days: 1998 to 2000. In 2019, Stewart was dismissed; the band has since been without a permanent bass guitarist. In 2020, As Friends Rust released the EP, Up from the Muck, through Unity Worldwide Records and Stick to the Core Records, containing its first-recorded material in eighteen years. The band's second full-length album, Any Joy, was released via End Hits Records in 2023. The material features contribution by bass guitarist Andrew Seward, who also accompanied the band during its European tour promoting the release. 2024 saw the band release another EP, Lightless, which coincided with another European tour.