Of all the bands leading the nu-metal revival, Islander has probably made the most noise. In their six years as a band, they signed to Victory, put out two albums in 2014 and 2016, and toured pretty extensively. However, change is inevitable, and the band have overhauled nearly their entire lineup, with singer Mikey Carvajal the only remaining member of the original lineup, with David Sharpe, Chris Carvajal, Eric Pedersen, and Andrew Fleming joining the lineup. Speaking to AltPress, Carvajal says that money and logistics are the reason behind the lineup split:
“Some of them had kids and wives, and it just didn’t financially make sense anymore,” he says. “The new guys are killing it, [and] I couldn’t have asked for a better group of dudes.”
That’s not the only change in the Islander camp, either. After those two albums on Victory established them, they’ve chosen to part ways with the label, and are currently without a label. However, unlike other bands that have left Victory, it appears to be an amicable and mutual departure.
“We don’t have a vendetta out against Victory, and we still encourage people to support the bands on the label,” frontman Mikey Carvajal tells AP. “It just wasn’t a good fit for us anymore. I think people are waiting for us to have some kind of crazy Spinal Tap story, and it’s just not like that.”
In the meantime, the band have released a single, “Summer” with the new lineup, and it’s a little more P.O.D.-sounding than their earlier stuff, with a catchy enough chorus that if a new label did pick them up, it’d probably be able to do some damage at radio. That being said, they have problem just dropping a single for now, with Carvajal pointing to standalone singles by the likes of Lil Yachty and Blink 182 as proof that you don’t necessarily need an album with the industry changing.
Check out “Summer” below.
