Don't Look Down

In a time where the musical landscape is dominated by pop punk bands that are more pop than punk, Don't Look Down has created a niche for themselves by writing catchy, driving, radio ready songs and bringing them to the scene with an old school DIY work ethic. The band was formed in South Jersey around the nucleus of Ryan Ogren on lead vocals and guitar and Matt Emburgia on lead and rhythm guitars. The two had been playing in various bands together since the 8th grade and adopted the name Don't Look Down when the in early '98 around the same time bassist Jesse Rendell joined the fold. The members had become regulars at local punk shows, having been exposed to the music years earlier through their involvement in the surf scene and shared the common goal of making this band their life, no matter how difficult a task this might represent. By late 2000 the band had toured around the entire country a couple of times and was ready to go back into the studio to record their new material. The result was a four song demo that while admittedly "lo-fi" showed enormous growth in their writing and their ability to self produce their own music. It was this demo that prompted New York based indie record label Iguana Records to sign the band.