Yours For Mine

I never thought that the day would come that I regret seeing the term emo tagged on bands- but alas, I have. Thus, I was skeptical when Yours for Mine claimed to be an emo band. I listened to "12:58" and was instantly set back in my place. The song begins in a nearly ambient vein, with some warm synth noises and a delicate guitar line- but with a machine gun snare fill, the song abruptly turns into a rocker. Then, YFM meshes both the ambient noise and the rock into one elegant, rocking piece. Then, the intro's finally over, and the singing begins (you thought I was talking about the whole song, weren't you?). The vocals aren't whiny, and with the dreamy, complex backing the vocals receive, it's easy to get sucked in. The song grows upon itself, until it ends in a chaotic coda of two screamers, some hardcore guitar action, and some great drumming that doesn't rely on double pedal for the basis of the riff(thank you very much, YFM). This band gives me hope for the emo and- "12:58" shows that there are
still ideas to be had. We just need the right people to have them. - Independent Clauses

Yours For Mine is an awesome band from Virgina. Made up of Jonathan Woods, Joey Testa, Chad Altenberger, and Stephen Minnick, this band is sure to be going somewhere fast. Their sound may remind you of Underoath, and their message is alike. They hope to get God's message out through their music but they don't necessarily have to be just classified as "Christian rock". With a great blend of power ballads, chords, rhythm, and harmonies, Yours For Mine leaves you wanting more. They are recording their EP right now to be out, hopefully next month. These boys love to tour so if you hear they are comming to your town, be sure to stop by.

Interview follows:

Kelly- Hi, and I am here with the band, Your For Mine,
so if you all could just say your name and what you do in YFM.
Jon-Hi, I’m Jonathan Woods and I sing and play guitar.
Joey- Hi, I’m Joey Testa and I play drums.
Chad- I’m Chad Altenberger and I play guitar.
Stephen- I’m Stephen Minnick and I play bass and sing back-up vocals.

Kelly- So how long have you guys been together?
Joey- Like since last February.
Rest of the band- Yeah, so about a year.

Kelly-Where did your name come from?
Jon- Well, there’s a lot of different things we could say it comes from
but the main thing is its basically about Christ giving his life for us so
that we didn’t have to die.

Kelly- Why did you guys change your name?
Jon- Essentially there was like 12 other bands name Red Letter Days
Chad- We kept finding more bands with the same name
Joey- Yeah or like Letterday, hey that’s a good band
Jon- Our original name was actually Each New Day, but there
was a semi-hardcore band outta Canada called Every New Day,
so we were like, well...
Stephen- So it’s actually our third name.
Joey- But it’s a keeper!
Jon- Yeah, this one is the one we are going to keep.

Kelly- And you are recording now right?
Jon- Yeah, actually.

Kelly- And what’s that like?
Chad- Stressful…
Stephen- Yeah
Jon, Yeah, but its, like fun too
Joey- Yeah
Jon- Joey took a long time on his drum tracks and a buncha
stuff ended up going wrong, but it has been a good experience.

Kelly- Are you going to be touring in support of this recording?
Joey- Yeah, like we will play in state on Fridays and Sundays
and we want to try out of states shows on Saturdays like today.
Jon- We just love to tour.

Kelly- Who are some of your biggest influences?
Chad- Like musically?
Kelly- Yeah
Band says a bunch of bands- Saosin, Underoath, Norma Jean,
Jimmy Eat World, Taking Back Sunday…

Kelly- What do you feel has been your biggest accomplishment?
Joey- Well basically, is being able to get out God’s message through our music without forcing it upon people. We hope to be able to help influence people through our music. Like the first time you listen, you might not think our music is related to God’s message but if you listen closely, we hope you can be like “wow that’s some powerful stuff”. We just want to affect people’s lives in a positive way.

Kelly- Well thank you so much for this interview and be sure to check out www.forthesound.com!
Band- Thanks - Kelly Gilbert - ForTheSound.com

Yours For Mine was named the #1 Indie Band on Myspace.com based on votes from over 10,000 friends of Flicker Records.

April 10th 2006 - Flicker Records - Nashville, TN

Yours For Mine take the 10th spot in the PureVolume.com Top 10 Unsigned Progessive bands on July 19th 2005 - independent

"This band knows how to spread their word of Christ without forcing it down your throat." -Kelly Gilbert

The band now known as Yours for Mine originally started out as a solo project by Jonathan Woods. Each New Day, the solo work of Jon Woods later became known as The Red Letter Days, when it was joined by the talent of Chad Altenberger, Joey Testa, and Tyler Dowdy. This new name was chosen to mirror this group’s faith in Jesus Christ. After playing many great shows together, the bands bassist, Tyler Dowdy, left the group to further his education. After losing their bassist, The Red Letter Days were not ready to call it quits. A good friend and exquisite musician (Stephen Minnick) was called in to replace the bands lost bassist. Looking for a new, more original name the band once known as The Red Letter Days became Yours For Mine. Keeping their faith, this new name was also an implication of the bands beliefs.

With strong vocals, a moving bass line, skillful guitars, and a beat you can feel, this band located in the Shenandoah Valley is making its way to the head of C.D. stacks along the east coast. This group has been together for just over a year, but the chemistry that they have on stage, you would think they’ve been performing together for years. These guys are enjoyable to watch, they really get into their performance making each show a joy to watch. Anyone who loves music should check these guys out.

These guys love to travel! They travel with the determination to reach as many people as possible with their music. They have traveled as far as Nashua, New Hampshire, as well as performed in local places close to home. Check out Yours For Mine on these music supporting sites to see when they are playing near you. <http://www.myspace.com/yoursformine> http://www.purevolume.com/yoursformine

And coming soon, check out their band website: http://www.yoursformine.net

Their greatest accomplishments have been thus far the fans and friendships that they have gained. This bands greatest goal has nothing to do with them as a group. "It has to do with letting God use us in a way that can glorify Him and lead people closer to Him." –Yours For Mine - By Sabrina Young