Grey Daze And The Rise Of Chester Bennington

Rough copies of this cassette, originally produced in 100-200 copies, can be found online in different qualities. They are one of the earliest recordings of Bennington’s career, showcasing the potential of the vocalist he would later become.

Despite performing a few live shows in the spring and summer of 1993 in their hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, this early band’s existence was short-lived due to Chester’s lack of punctuality during rehearsals. After facing drug-related issues at school and subsequently getting grounded, the band had to find a new singer.

This led to the dissolution of Sean Dowdell and His Friends?, with Goad and Cekoric shifting focus to their other project, Genocide, while Dowdell began searching for members to form a new band.

Returning to square one, Dowdell teamed up with bassist Jonathan Krause, who later recruited guitarist Steve Mitchell.

Mitchell proposed reintroducing Bennington to the fold for their new band, initially named ‘Gray Daze’.

While Steve was involved in early gigs and a recording session with the band, it was guitarist Jason Barnes who featured on their debut album ‘Wake Me’ released in 1994.

The album included Grey Daze classics like the opening track “What’s In The Eye” and “Sometimes.”

“Wake Me” was recorded and mixed by David Knauer, with production handled collaboratively by Grey Daze.

The band’s music during this era was characterized by the 90s grunge sound.

However, Grey Daze also incorporated acoustic elements into their music. Some compositions even originated from the ‘Sean Dowdell and His Friends?’ era.

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