Conquer Divide

2013

The band was formed in Michigan by guitarist and songwriter Kristen Woutersz along with guitarist and vocalist Suzie Reagan. The lineup initially began as a five-piece with the addition of bassist Sarah Stonebraker, drummer Tamara Tadic and singer Kiarely Castillo in 2013. On March 1, 2014, Conquer Divide announced that they had recruited Liverpool based YouTube guitarist Izzy Johnson to become a member, making it a six piece. A short time later, Suzie was let go due to irreconcilable differences and was replaced by Janel Duarte.

2013-2016

On December 2, 2013, Conquer Divide released a lyric video for their first single "Eyes Wide Shut" via YouTuber BryanStars channel. After the release, they received multiple offers and eventually signed to Artery Recordings in mid 2014. The band worked with producer Joey Sturgis (We Came as Romans, Asking Alexandria, The Devil Wears Prada, Blessthefall) on their debut self-titled album. It features guest vocals by Denis Shaforostov (known by his stage moniker Denis Stoff) formerly of Asking Alexandria. It also features a collaboration with Andrew Oliver of I See Stars on the song "Lost". They later posted a video about the process of making the band and the album.

On July 24, 2015 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, Nevada, their album was officially released. The same day, the album reached #4 on the iTunes Metal Chart and ranked #13 on Billboard's Top HeatSeekers chart. On May 24, 2016, the band released a video for their song 'What's Left Inside' which held steady on Billboard's top 40 Mainstream Rock chart for over six weeks, peaking at #30 in August 2016. They were the first band on Artery Recordings to have a song in active top 40 rock rotation according to a statement made by the label's president Shan Dan Horan on his personal Facebook page.

The band went on to support the release of their album on the Allstars Tour, which went across North America. They also played festivals such as South By Southwest, South By So What and Treasure Fest supporting Crown The Empire, Beartooth, In This Moment, Motionless In White, Attila, The Color Morale, For Today, Sirens and Sailors, Like Moths To Flames, Marmozets, Chiodos, Palisades, Kublai Kahn, and Enter Shikari. The band has also toured across North America with Upon A Burning Body, Dance Gavin Dance, iwrestledabearonce, Capture The Crown, Slaves, Outline In Color, Alesana, Dayshell, A Skylit Drive, Oceano, Myka Relocate, Within The Ruins, The Browning, It Lies Within and The Funeral Portrait. On December 25, 2015, the band announced on their Facebook page that bassist Sarah Stonebraker would leave on good terms and that her replacement was Ashley Colby. On March 10, 2016, vocalist Janel Duarte announced that Izzy Johnson was temporarily unable to tour with the band due to wrist surgery. She was replaced by former Hopeless Records's SycAmour member Blake Howard for one tour.

During the month of October 2015, their music video for "Nightmares" was featured daily in Journeys stores nationwide. "What's Left Inside" was also featured nationwide in Journey's stores in 2016. Guitarist Kristen Woutersz released a playthrough video of their single "Nightmares" via Guitar World on August 4, 2015. The band has also seen success on Japanese charts after partnering with Japanese label Five One Inc in February 2016. They released a lyric video for the unplugged version of "Eyes Wide Shut" exclusive for Japan, on May 24, 2016. "Sink Your Teeth Into This" was featured in an NHL commercial for the Detroit Red Wings hockey team via Windsor-Detroit's 89x CIMX-FM radio station.

Style, influences and lyrical content

The band's style has been described as metalcore, post-hardcore, screamo and rock. Among the band's influences are August Burns Red, We Came as Romans and Parkway Drive, while Demi Lovato is one of Castillo's favorite singers. Others have noted similarities in the band's sound to older metalcore bands such as Attack Attack! which has led them to be labelled "scenecore" by MetalSucks.

The lyrical content of the band's music is inspired mainly by personal experiences, which include dealings with prior band members, family, addiction, and relationships.

Collaborations

Vocalist Kiarely Castillo collaborated with The Plot In You's vocalist Landon Tewers on his self-titled solo project. On December 14, 2015 they released a song together titled "Waste of My Time". She also performed a cover of "Scream" by Michael Jackson with German band Annisokay Guitarist Kristen Woutersz wrote a vocal hook for Miss May I's song "Turn Back The Time" from their 2015 release Deathless. She also did vocal engineering, gang vocals and translation work on Chunk No Captain Chunk's album Pardon My French in 2013.

Awards

Their song "At War" was nominated for "Best Song" at the 2015 Relentless Kerrang Awards

Members

Discography