HOT CROSS - risk revival

It is a rare but wonderful occurrence when a band can form out of friendships and last more than a few months. Greg Drudy (drums, formerly of SAETIA and INTERPOL), Matt Smith (bass and guitar, formerly of OFF MINOR), Casey Boland (guitar, formerly of YOU & I) and Josh Jakubowski (guitar and bass, formerly of Neil Perry) formed HOT CROSS in the winter of 2000. With a desire to play music on the weekends, the band was originally formed with the intention of being a casual project amongst friends who had known each other from the early to mid-90's tri-state area hardcore scene. As a 4-piece, the band wrote a handful of songs and played some shows to test out their live chops. Soon, a practice demo was mailed off to Billy Werner (vocals, formerly of SAETIA), another close friend and hardcore scene alum who was studying abroad in the UK. He was into the songs and alternately the members of HOT CROSS were into the work he had done in the past. In a whirlwind of hyperactivity, Billy returned to the States on a Monday, practiced with HOT CROSS for the first time on a Wednesday, and played his first show as the vocalist of HOT CROSS on that Friday.