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Being as an Ocean

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American post-hardcore band

Being as an Ocean
Being as an Ocean live at With Full Force 2018, GermanyBeing as an Ocean live at With Full Force 2018, Germany
Background information
Also known asVanguard
OriginAlpine, California, U.S.
Genres
Years active2011–present
Labels
Members
  • Joel Quartuccio
Past members
  • Michael McGough
  • Tyler Ross
  • Ralph Sica
  • Shad Hamawe
  • Jacob Prest
  • Connor Denis
  • Jesse Shelley
  • Anthony Ghazel
  • Garrett Harney

Being as an Ocean is an American post-hardcore band from Alpine, California, formed in 2011. They have released five studio albums: Dear G-d..., How We Both Wondrously Perish, a self-titled album, Waiting for Morning to Come, released on 8 September 2017, and PROXY: An A.N.I.M.O. Story, released in 2019. How We Both Wondrously Perish was released in May 2014 and charted at number 57 on the Billboard 200 in the U.S.

History

Years as Vanguard and Dear G-d... (2011–2013)

Being as an Ocean was originally named Vanguard, where they played extreme metal with a Christian message, however, as their sound was experimented with more, they began to lose interest in playing metal and instead pursued a more post-hardcore sound. Demo versions of the songs "The Hardest Part Is Forgetting Those You Swore You Would Never Forget" and "Humble Servant, Am I" were streamed on Vanguard's MySpace page on January 4, 2011. The band thereafter changed their name to Being as an Ocean.

Guitarist Tyler Ross wrote the whole first album right after the band's formation. Dear G-d... was tracked in an old hotel called The Palms and was sent to Brian Hood to be mixed and mastered. The first single from the album was its title track, which was released on January 3, 2012, and was met with positive acclaim. Shortly after, Jacob Prest joined the band as rhythm guitarist. Being as an Ocean toured over twenty countries including Canada, Germany, Georgia, Austria, the United Kingdom and Australia with support from bands such as Counterparts, Hundredth, Sierra, Liferuiner, Napoleon, and The Elijah. They released a b-side from Dear G-d... titled "The People Who Share My Name" on August 5, 2013.

Joel Quartuccio live in Trier, Germany in 2014

Line-up changes, How We Both Wondrously Perish and self-titled album (2013–2015)

In 2013, Shad Hamawe and Jacob Prest left the band to pursue lives outside of the band due to the intense touring schedule. The remaining members started recording as well as auditioning for new members. Connor Dennis, of the hardcore punk band Sleep Patterns, joined the band as their new drummer. With this new line-up, they began writing and recording for their new album that would be released sometime in 2014. Michael McGough, of the post-hardcore band The Elijah, was also announced as the new guitarist for the band after initially only meaning to provide guest vocals on one song, "L'exquisite Douleur".

On February 25, they revealed the album art of their second album, How We Both Wondrously Perish and announced its release date. A single from the album, "Death's Great Black Wing Scrapes the Air", was released on iTunes. The band recorded the album in Atlanta, Georgia, at Glow in the Dark Studios with Matt McClellan and released it on May 6, 2014.

Shortly after, the band revealed that they were working on a third album that will be released in 2015. They played the entirety of 2015's Warped Tour. On May 7, they released "Little Richie", the first song from the new album and revealed the cover and release date for the album, which will be self-titled. The band released "Sleeping Sicarii", "Forgetting Is Forgiving the I", and "Sins of The Father" as additional singles. Being as an Ocean was released on June 29, 2015.

Waiting for Morning to Come and Proxy: An A.N.I.M.O. Story (2015–2021)

On October 11, 2015, Tyler Ross revealed on his Twitter account that he was working on a new Being as an Ocean song. In a series of tweets, he confirmed that he was still working on that song, as well as another new song for the band. It has yet to be confirmed if these songs will be part of a fourth album, an EP or be released as stand-alone singles. On November 21, it was revealed that Connor Dennis was parting ways with the band in order to pursue a career as a professional session and touring drummer.

On February 25, the band released "Dissolve" as a stand-alone single, announcing their signing to Equal Vision Records and using Jesse Shelley (Sleepwave live drummer) as their new drummer.

During the last weeks of 2016, Being as an Ocean announced that their fourth studio album Waiting for Morning to Come would be released on June 9, 2017, however, the album did not meet this release date. It was met with an unexpected delay with no explanation given at the time by the band or Equal Vision why the album hadn't been released. On August 14, 2017, Tyler Ross confirmed that he had bought and secured the rights to the album and that the band would be releasing it independently on September 8. The band officially stated on their Facebook account on August 19 that they have become an independent band after buying out their contract with Equal Vision. The band would release two singles from the album in the weeks that followed, the first of these being "Thorns" and the second being "Black and Blue", which had been performed live prior to its release. On July 20, 2018, the band released the single "Alone".

In an interview with Dead Press! on November 4, 2018, whilst touring in London as part of the Impericon Never Say Die! Tour, Michael McGough confirmed that the band had recorded a new album with 11 tracks, and expect to release it early 2019.

On September 13, 2019, Being as an Ocean released their fifth full-length album, PROXY: An A.N.I.M.O. Story independently.

Line-up changes and Death Can Wait (2021–present)

On October 30, 2021, it was announced that Being as an Ocean had parted ways with founding members Tyler Ross and Ralph Sica. On the same day, the band released a new single, titled "Lost" in conjunction with Out of Line Music.

On October 21, 2022, Being as an Ocean released the Dear G-D... (10 Years Anniversary Tracks), which included an unreleased track "Those Who Share My Name", as well as two acoustic tracks from their album, Dear G-D....

On June 29, 2023, Being as an Ocean announced their Swallowed by the Earth headlining European tour, with support from Of Virtue and Senna, beginning August 25, 2023.

On February 2, 2024, Being as an Ocean released their sixth full-length album, Death Can Wait on Out of Line Music. During their tour across the UK and Europe supporting Currents in February, Joel Quartuccio was unable to attend whilst dealing with family matters at home. Ithaca vocalist Djamila Azzouz provided guest vocals for that tour.

On September 17, 2024, the band confirmed that they and long-time guitarist/vocalist Michael McGough had mutually decided to part ways, leaving vocalist Joel Quartuccio as the only remaining full-time member. In his statement, Joel confirmed that he intends to continue on with the band, stating "BAAO IS MY BABY AND WILL CONTINUE ON."

Musical style and influences

The band's musical style has been described as post-hardcore melodic hardcore, post-rock, and spoken word. AllMusic writer Gregory Heaney characterised them as a "post-hardcore band with a melodic and plaintive sound punctuated by outbursts of aggression" while Indie Vision Music stated their music blended "melodic hardcore, Explosions in the Sky-esque atmospheric rock, and spoken word "talk music" similar to La Dispute, Listener, or MewithoutYou". Vocalist Joel Quartuccio has been noted for a "passionate vocal delivery" with his "mix of spoken word and traditional pained yelled/screamed vocals paint passionate tapestries". The addition of Connor Denis and Michael McGough to the line-up marked a transition in their style, while their first album Dear G-d... "showcased a lot of human emotion through its ultra-personal lyricism, How We Both Wondrously Perish unleashed much of its emotion in shining musicality, as the group tightened up their instrumentation and added new dynamics to their sound – the biggest being the addition of guitarist/clean vocalist Michael McGough".

The lyrics for their debut album, referred to as "heartfelt", talk about life experiences, emotions, ideas and conversations Quartuccio "had about G-d, hope, love, humility, strength, pain, depression, loss and Life". Throughout the later albums, these continue to be the principal inspiration for the lyrics. Although they are often considered a Christian band, they denied that, saying that they are "Christian people who love to write music" and would prefer not to be placed under the "Christian band" tag.

Some of the early influences to their sound were MewithoutYou, Sigur Rós, Oceana, Bring Me the Horizon, Listener, Verse, Comeback Kid, Underoath, Touché Amoré, and La Dispute. The band's name was influenced by a quote spoken by Mahatma Gandhi; "You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty".

Members

  • Being as an Ocean live at With Full Force 2018, Germany
  • Singer Joel Quartuccio Singer Joel Quartuccio
  • Lead guitarist Tyler Ross Lead guitarist Tyler Ross
  • Rhythm guitarist, vocalist Michael McGough (right) Rhythm guitarist, vocalist Michael McGough (right)
  • Bassist Ralph Sica Bassist Ralph Sica
  • Drummer Anthony Ghazel Drummer Anthony Ghazel

Current members

  • Joel Quartuccio – lead vocals (2011–present)

Current touring musicians

  • David Baqi – guitars (2021–present)

Former members

  • Michael McGough – vocals (2013–2024); bass (2021–2024); rhythm guitar (2013–2021)
  • Tyler Ross – lead guitar (2011–2021)
  • Ralph Sica – bass (2011–2021)
  • Shad Hamawe – drums, percussion (2011–2013)
  • Jacob Prest – rhythm guitar, vocals (2011–2013)
  • Connor Denis – drums, percussion (2013–2015)
  • Garrett Harney – drums (2018–2021)

Former touring musicians

  • Anthony Ghazel – drums (2017–2018)
  • Jesse Shelley – drums (2015–2017, 2021–2022)
  • Djamila Azzouz - vocals (2024)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Year Title Label Chart positions
US 200
 		US Indie
 		US Alt.
 		US Rock
 		AUS
 		GER
2012 Dear G-d... InVogue Records — 115 — — — —
2014 How We Both Wondrously Perish 57 9 10 17 — —
2015 Being as an Ocean — 11 17 25 99 56
2017 Waiting for Morning to Come Independent — 38 — — — —
2019 Proxy: An A.N.I.M.O. Story — — — — — —
2024 Death Can Wait

Other releases

  • "The Hardest Part Is Forgetting Those You Swore You Would Never Forget" and "Humble Servant, Am I" - Dear G-d... demos (2011, self-released)
  • "The People Who Share My Name" - Dear G-d... B-side (2013, InVogue Records)

Music videos

  • "Dear G-d" (2012, Dear G-d...)
  • "The Hardest Part Is Forgetting Those You Swore You Would Never Forget" (2012, Dear G-d...)
  • "Salute e Vita" (2013, Dear G-d...)
  • "Nothing, Save the Power They're Given" (2013, Dear G-d...)
  • "L'exquisite Douleur" (2014, How We Both Wondrously Perish)
  • "Mediocre Shakespeare" (2014, How We Both Wondrously Perish)
  • "Little Richie" (2015, Being as an Ocean)
  • "Death's Great Black Wing Scrapes the Air" (2015, How We Both Wondrously Perish)
  • "Dissolve" (2016, Waiting For Morning To Come)
  • "This Loneliness Won't Be The Death Of Me" (2017, Dear G-d...)
  • "OK" (2018, Waiting For Morning To Come)
  • "Alone" (2018, Deluxe Edition of Waiting For Morning To Come)
  • "Know My Name" (2018, Deluxe Edition of Waiting For Morning To Come)
  • "Play Pretend" (2019, PROXY: An A.N.I.M.O. Story)
  • "Lost" (2021, non-album single)

References

  1. "Being As An Ocean". MTV. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  2. "InVogue sign Being As An Ocean; debut album out September 18". Altpress.com. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  3. "How We Both Wondrously Perish - Being As An Ocean - Billboard.com". Billboard. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  4. "How We Both Wondrously Perish - Being As An Ocean - Facebook.com/InvogueRecords". InVogue Records. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  5. "Demo Songs 2011". January 4, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  6. "EP 107 - Michael McGough (Being as an Ocean / Heart of Gold / Ex-The Elijah) | It's Not a Phase". YouTube. June 20, 2024.
  7. "Tyler William Ross on Twitter". Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  8. "Tyler William Ross on Twitter". Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  9. "Tyler William Ross on Twitter". Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  10. "Instagram post by Connor J. Denis • Nov 21, 2015 at 3:18 pm UTC". Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  11. "Instagram post by michael • Nov 21, 2015 at 4:30 pm UTC". Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  12. "-... .- .- --- on Twitter". Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  13. "NEWS: Being As An Ocean leave Equal Vision; will self-release fourth album!". Dead Press!. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  14. "Being as an Ocean debut striking new song, "Black & Blue"". Alternative Press. August 31, 2017.
  15. "INTERVIEW: Being As An Ocean (04/11/2018)". Dead Press!. Archived from the original on November 14, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  16. "PROXY: An A.N.I.M.O. Story by Being As An Ocean". September 13, 2019 – via music.apple.com.
  17. "ALBUM REVIEW: 'PROXY: An A.N.I.M.O Story' by Being As An Ocean". The Soundboard. September 6, 2019.
  18. "BEING AS AN OCEAN Part Ways with Two Founding Members, Premiere New Single". lambgoat.com.
  19. "Dear G-D... (10 Years Anniversary Bonus Tracks)". October 21, 2022 – via open.spotify.com.
  20. "What's your favorite pump up song right now that gets you ready for the show? All genres welcome 😉😎#beingasanocean #baao #rock #metal #hardcore #emotionalhardcore #emo #rockband #metalband #tour #swallowedbytheearthtour #touringband | Being As An Ocean | Being As An Ocean · Thorns". www.facebook.com.
  21. @inappodcast (January 30, 2024). "Being As An Ocean (@beingasanocean) vocalist Joel Quartuccio (@JoelQuartuccio) has announced he won't be able to make it out for this tour whilst he tends to family matters at home. Ithaca (@ITHACABAND) vocalist Djamila Azzouz (@djamilayasmin) will fill in for this tour" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. @inappodcast (September 17, 2024). "Being As An Ocean (@beingasanocean) and long-time guitarist/vocalist Michael McGough (@michaelrmcgough) have decided to part ways. The band shared the news via a statement on their socials" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. Heaney, Gregory. "Being as an Ocean: How We Both Wondrously Perish". AllMusic. Retrieved May 8, 2015. On their second album, Being as an Ocean ... listeners a more refined take on their brand of post-hardcore. ...the band a sound that few of its post-hardcore brethren even come close to touching.
  24. ^ Heaney, Gregory. "Being as an Ocean Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved October 6, 2016. Melodic hardcore outfit from Alpine, California merge drifting atmospheres with aggressive outbursts. ...Being as an Ocean are a post-hardcore band with a melodic and plaintive sound punctuated by outbursts of aggression.
  25. Kraus, Brian (June 22, 2014). "16 Modern Precursors of Melodic Hardcore". Alternative Press. Retrieved April 27, 2015. Before the likes of Defeater, Touché Amoré, the Ghost Inside, Counterparts, Being As An Ocean and many more became the new faces of melodic, emotional hardcore, there were upperclassmen who were setting the stage.
  26. ^ Scordilis, Dean (July 8, 2015). "An Interview with Being As An Ocean: A Celebration's At Hand". theaquarian. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  27. "Being as an Ocean - Dear G-d... | Reviews | Indie Vision Music". Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  28. Senior, Nicholas (July 2, 2015). "Album Review: Being As An Ocean – "Being As An Ocean"". New Noise Magazine. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  29. "Being As An Ocean: Being As An Ocean - Mind Equals Blown". Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  30. "Dreambound: Interview with Being As An Ocean (May 2012)". Facebook. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  31. ^ "Being As an Ocean - Chart history". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 10, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  32. Ryan, Gavin (July 11, 2015). "ARIA Albums: John Farnham And Olivia Newton-John Have No 1 Album For 2nd Week". Noise11. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  33. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  34. "Being As An Ocean performance filmed days after Paris attacks featured in French film - Features - Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  35. "Being As An Ocean - Lost (Official Music Video)". October 29, 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
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