Sugarcult

Formation (1998)

Tim Pagnotta met ex-drummer Ben Davis during a cigarette break at school. Davis (who then played bass) and Pagnotta started to play together on a regular basis. Pagnotta met Airin Older in a music class where Pagnotta was copying Older's work. They became good friends and Pagnotta invited Older to join his band. Davis moved to the position of drummer and Older filled in for Davis on bass. Marko DeSantis was added into the band after meeting Pagnotta backstage at a Superdrag concert. The pair apparently met because Pagnotta was wearing a suit that resembled the one DeSantis wore to the show. Pagnotta asked DeSantis to join the band before even hearing him play a single note on the guitar.

Early releases (1999–2003)

Sugarcult released their debut album, Eleven, in 1999. Their second album, Wrap Me Up in Plastic, was released in 2000. In 2001, the band released their third album, Start Static, which featured the hit singles "Pretty Girl", "Bouncing Off The Walls" (which featured in "Van Wilder." This was a new recording and mix of the song, produced by Mark Trombino at harddrive analog and digital in NoHo) and "Stuck in America". In early 2003, "Stuck in America" won the Los Angeles Regional Poll in The 2nd Annual Independent Music Awards. Start Static featured several songs that had previously been released on Wrap Me Up in Plastic. In May 2002, the band re-released Wrap Me Up in Plastic with a new track listing that included songs from both Eleven and the original Wrap Me Up in Plastic, as well as new artwork. In 2003, Ben Davis officially left Sugarcult. Davis had been regularly missing shows since the release of Start Static, and left Sugarcult to get help for his alcoholism. Pagnotta was close to Davis, and wrote the song "Champagne" about his addictions when he was forced to leave the band. Davis was replaced by Kenny Livingston, the former drummer for the band Lefty. Sugarcult toured with Green Day in Japan for one week in March 2005, but Marko had to miss the final show because his wife was giving birth to their first child.

Later releases (2004–2008)

On April 13, 2004, Sugarcult released Palm Trees and Power Lines and performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. This album featured the MTV hits "Memory" and "She's the Blade". Sugarcult successfully landed a spot on the Warped Tour 2004 main stage and they also supported Green Day on their American Idiot tour and Blink-182 on their 2004 European tour. They released Back to the Disaster, a live album, in 2005. Lights Out, their latest studio album, was released on September 12, 2006. The release of Lights Out was immediately followed by two tours; a fall tour and a winter tour. Their fall tour included So They Say, Maxeen, Halifax, and The Spill Canvas. Their winter tour included such bands as Meg and Dia, Damone, The Pink Spiders, All Time Low, and The Adored. In 2006, Sugarcult song 'Do It Alone' was featured on the CW's show One Tree Hill during Season and in the film Employee Of The Month. Sugarcult played at the Soundwave Tour in 2008.

Hiatus (2009–present)

The band members took a year off in 2009 from Sugarcult for their 10-year anniversary to do their own side-projects. They were neither broken up, nor were known to be working on new Sugarcult material as of mid-2010.

At the end of 2010, they announced that they would play at least two shows in the United Kingdom and then perform at the Belgium music festival Groezrock, all at the end of April.

Sugarcult (with original drummer Ben Davis) played a one-off show at the Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California on December 10, 2011, where they celebrated the tenth anniversary of the release of Start Static.

More recently, Tim Pagnotta has had success as a producer for bands such as Neon Trees and Walk the Moon. After leaving the band, Ben Davis launched a successful career creating music for television. Marko DeSantis has done several shows as a DJ in the Southern California area. For a short time, Airin Older was a producer and played various instruments for Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

Band members

Studio albums

Live albums

Appearances