The Uprise of a Downfall

The Uprise of a Downfall has a common story, but with uncommon talent at very uncommon ages. At the age of 15 and 16, The Uprise of a Downfall have already comprised over an hour of original music and played for thousands of people. They have shared the stage with The Crying Spell, Tsavo, Endless Grey, Point One, Underride, Surface Tension, The New Affair, Mr. Orange, Peratus, Kill the King, NinthGate and Shotty. There is no limit to what they can accomplish in the next 3 years, and they’re ready to work for it.

Sawyer Whalen and Ty Vanherweg were introduced to each other through Junior League Football when they played on the same Woodinville Falcons team. Their fathers, while watching practice one day, got to talking about their 12 year old sons’ talents. Sawyer had been playing several instruments from an early age and writing / recording since he was 6. Tyler had been taking piano lessons from the age of 7, guitar and music theory at 10, and writing songs at 11. Their dads agreed the two should get together, and soon Ty and Sawyer began jamming and writing songs. The result was a 3 piece band (the third piece being a drum machine) called “Yeah for Diversity”.

Yeah for Diversity played their school’s Battle of the Bands at Leota Junior High in Woodinville that year. They placed second to a band called “Buried Alive” with Tyler Hovatter playing Bass. The 3rd place band, “The Aquacadets” was another 2 piece band with Nolan Derr playing Drums. Later that year, The Aquacadets went their separate ways and Nolan began jamming with Whalen and Vanherweg. Needing a bass player, Nolan suggested Ty Hovatter from the just disbanded Buried Alive. “Parental Guidance” was born, and the band recognized there was a special chemistry with the four of them and within months were writing their own songs.

Parental Guidance played and won Leotta Junior High’s Battle of the Bands the following year. Weeks later while still in Junior High, they entered the Cedarcrest High School Battle of the Bands at the Kirkland Teen Center. They placed 3rd at Cedarcrest, beating out other High School and College aged bands. In an effort to shed their adolescent image, the band changed their name to “The Uprise of a Downfall”. It was a name that Ty Vanherweg had been working on since elementary school.

The Uprise of a Downfall played their first show with their new name at a Sunday Showcase at El Corazon in Seattle in mid September 2008. Placed second in the lineup, the boys played for musicians and audience members almost twice their age. Everyone were amazed at the quality of songs, stage presence, and overall performance from such a young band. It was when the crowd was informed that the band they were watching was comprised of 14 year olds (Vanherweg was 15), that everyone new they were seeing stars in the making.