Description:
Chris Carrabba, Dashboard Confessional's singer, songwriter, and guitarist, grew up in Boca Raton, Florida.
As a teenager, he lived for skateboarding and punk rock, but he has always had a real passion for music. He sang in the high school choir, and when he was fifteen, his uncle gave him a guitar to which he devoted a great deal of his time. However, it was not until he graduated from high school that Chris became serious about his music. Just after graduation, Chris joined his first band, The Vacant Andys.
Chris went on to college to procure a degree in education while simultaneously playing with The Vacant Andys, and l
Chris Carrabba, Dashboard Confessional's singer, songwriter, and guitarist, grew up in Boca Raton, Florida.
As a teenager, he lived for skateboarding and punk rock, but he has always had a real passion for music. He sang in the high school choir, and when he was fifteen, his uncle gave him a guitar to which he devoted a great deal of his time. However, it was not until he graduated from high school that Chris became serious about his music. Just after graduation, Chris joined his first band, The Vacant Andys.
Chris went on to college to procure a degree in education while simultaneously playing with The Vacant Andys, and later with The Agency. For several years, Chris taught at an elementary school in South Florida and played with the group, Further Seems Forever. Dashboard Confessional was born when Chris recorded the "Drowning" EP with Fiddler Records. "I started (Dasboard) as a side project from the band I was in," says Carrabba, "I was going through something really tough at the time and since I don't write in a journal, this is what I did with it. It was a good way to get it out of my system. I never thought anyone would hear these songs, but I played some for my friends and one of them who owned a little label talked me into recording." The name Dashboard Confessional comes from the song The Sharp Hint of New Tears. The line "On the way home, this car hears my confessions," brought to mind the phrase "Dashboard Confessional."
Since leaving Further Seems Forever and his career in education to devote himself entirely to Dashboard, Carrabba has tasted success. Following the release of the "Drowning" EP, Dashboard recorded "The Swiss Army Romance," on which Chris sings with the accompaniment of only his acoustic guitar. With these first albums, Dashboard developed a cult-esque following of underground music lovers. Many of these devotees normally listened to punk and hardcore, a far stretch from Carrabba's acoustic melodies, illustrating the universal appeal of Dashboard's music. In 2001, Dashboard recorded their most well-known disc, "The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most," with Vagrant Records. The new version of "Screaming Infidelities" won air time on many American radio stations and earned a prize at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. However, in spite of his newfound success, Carrabba remains devoted to his fans. "(When I was a teacher,) I had...kids looking to me all day for something," says Carrabba, "This isn't any different (having fans looking up at me) but what these kids need is a little different from what those kids needed...Kids put you on such a weird pedastal. It's my objective to break that down a little bit. I want them to know that they could do this or whatever else it is that they want to accomplush. They just have to do it."
Dashboard's songs are full of sadness, angst, regret, and candor. Carrabba's voice alternates between a whisper and a scream, and it is always full of emotion. In concert, the audience is captivated and everyone sings along as loud as they possibly can. The meaning of each song is subjective and each person in the audience has his own interpretation. "One girl (gave)...me a poem she'd written after a show, " says Carrabba, "There was a line about everybody resenting everybody else in the room for being a part of what was going on there. I think that sums it up. They're there, all in that room singing along together, but the songs mean something so particular to each of them that it is theirs and no one else's. It's hard for me to sit there and play those songs and relive those feelings constantly. But it's also rewarding and pacifying to have people sing back. It makes those feelings hold less weight when you understand that they're universal."
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