It seemed like it was a good year to be a member of Kemo for Emo. The quartet narrowly lost to Skeleton Dick for best punk band in the 2010 Houston Press Music Awards - making it their fourth nomination. The group also signed with Space City Records, who currently holds the title as best record label.
However, guitarist/vocalist Larry Sanders announced earlier this week that Kemo for Emo was seeking new members due to the departure of lead guitarist Jake Rawls and drummer Matthew Martinez.
"Matt left all of his bands that I know of to be with his family," says Sanders. "Jake wanted to move on due to a lack of progress and musical direction. We are all still cool, though. We are almost done with the new EP and are looking for some new members to keep it going."
Principal recording save for vocals has been completed for Kemo's new EP, The Straight Line Pt. 1: A Picture Perfect Romance. Replacements are being considered to help the band fulfill its promotional requirements for the album's release, but Sanders and bassist Brian Gibbs are hoping that temporary members will become a part of the core group.
Jake Rawls himself was a replacement for Kemo for Emo's previous lead guitarist Kelvin Baron, who left the band in 2005 after the release of the band's critically acclaimed debut, I'd Rather Have a Broken Neck. With Baron's departure, the band adopted a more lighthearted and humorous brand of pop-punk without sacrificing moments of high emotion and aggression.
Houston musicians interested in joining Kemo for Emo should contact Sanders at lsanders at bakerteamco dot com.
Jef With One F is the author of The Bible Spelled Backwards Does Not Change the Fact That You Cannot Kill David Arquette and Other Things I Learned In the Black Math Experiment, available now.
