Tonight Alive

Formation (2008)

Guitarist Jake Hardy and bassist Cameron Adler already had an existing rock project covering other bands' material. Later, they met Whakaio Taahi through mutual friends, and asked him to join in on keyboard and lead guitar.

Jenna McDougall was writing her own acoustic music at the time, and had Adler helping her record and produce a demo. After the demo was finished, Adler gave McDougall a song the band had written and asked her to record her vocals over it. On May 31, 2008, the day before her sixteenth birthday, McDougall joined as lead vocalist, forming the first version of the band.

With shows booked and no band name, the band got together and cut out words they thought described livelihood and the band, coming up with the name Tonight Alive.

After the first year, the band lost their original drummer. Matt Best, a high school friend of Taahi, joined on after finding out they needed a drummer from Taahi's mother. Best travelled three to four hours to band practice.

The band started to make a name for themselves, opening for metal bands, playing small festival type shows, and spent plenty of time playing local shows at youth centres around the Sydney area.

All Shapes & Disguises and Consider This EP (2009−10)

In 2009 the band entered the studio to record their debut self-funded EP All Shapes & Disguises with producer Greg Stace and producer Dave Petrovic, which was released in June 2010, with their music video and debut single "Wasting Away" being released that same month. McDougall was still in school at the time. She took time off school to record, and her parents covered her share of the cost to rent studio space- a fact which the guys continue to tease her about.

The track "Closer" was featured on season six of the US reality TV show The Hills.

In November 2010, the band released a three track EP Consider This, before heading on a national tour with Australian band Sienna Skies.

What Are You So Scared Of? (2011−12)

After being noticed by some large record labels, Tonight Alive was invited to play a showcase. Where both guitarists, Taahi and Hardy, snapped a string each on the first song, however, they continued to play. The band was signed anyway.

In late 2010, a demo of Tonight Alive's new material landed on producer Mark Trombino's desk. He then contacted the band, wanting to take part in producing their debut full-length record.

"For him to contact us, and say he was interested, was a big deal," says Jenna. "We couldn't believe he'd put himself out like that. He's amazing. Mark created the albums we all grew up listening to - the albums that launched the careers of all these great bands."

In the early months of 2011, Tonight Alive flew to Los Angeles and recorded their debut full-length at NRG Studios over two months.

The band also played their 2011 Australian tour with supporting bands such as Skyway and For This Cause.

The track "To Die For", originally from the band's first EP All Shapes & Disguises and "Thank You and Goodnight", originally from the band's second EP Consider This, was re-recorded on this record. "Thank You & Goodnight" features guest vocals from Blink-182's Mark Hoppus.

The first single "Starlight" was released 1 July, and a music video was released three days later. The second single, "Let It Land" was released along with a music video for the track on 19 September.

Tonight Alive toured the US and took part on the annual Bamboozle festival, playing the 1 May date on the Zumiez stage alongside New Found Glory, Valencia, Thrice, The Downtown Fiction and more.

The band is featured on the Punk Goes Pop 4 compilation CD, covering "Little Lion Man" by British indie rock band, Mumford & Sons, which was released on 21 November.

McDougall was part of Good Charlotte's song "Like It's Her Birthday" and was also featured on Simple Plan's song "Jet Lag" during the Australian leg of Simple Plan's most recent tour. She was also featured on the Divided by Friday song "Face to Face".

What Are You So Scared Of? was released under Sony Records Australia on 14 October 2011, however in November 2011 Tonight Alive signed to Fearless Records, and re-released the Consider This EP on 8 November and their debut record What Are You So Scared Of? 4 months later in the US.

The band released their Consider This EP in the UK through Banquet Records on 2 April 2012.

Tonight Alive appeared on the 2011 Fearless Friends Tour alongside blessthefall, The Word Alive, Motionless In White, and Chunk! No, Captain Chunk.

The band was set to play on the Lucky Street Tour with Go Radio and This Providence and SXSW until they had to pull out due to medical issues, writing on their Facebook page: "We're very sorry to announce that we are having to cancel our upcoming tour with Go Radio and SXSW appearances due to serious medical issues." Their singer having a severe case of eczema, making it hard for her to move. They later headed to Japan for the shows with Young Guns and also they had a first headline show at Shibuya-AX. Tonight Alive played the entire Warped Tour 2012.

During their time on The Vans Warped Tour 2012, the band began video production of "Listening", their third single release from What Are You So Scared Of? Despite the fact that "Breaking and Entering" had previously been released as a digital download and music video, according to McDougall, "Listening" served as the third official single from WAYSSO?. The music video for "Listening", released on YouTube on 12 October 2012, was used to document the band's final few days on the summer-long tour in a montage music video.

The Other Side (2013−14)

Tonight Alive released a stand-alone single called "Breakdown" on 12 March 2013 which featured Good Charlotte's Benji Madden. The band recorded their next album, The Other Side, in Coffs Harbour, Australia, which was released on 6 September 2013 through Sony and Fearless Records. The first single is "The Ocean", which premiered on Radio 1 in the UK on 11 July to coincide with the announcement of the album. "The Ocean" was later released to iTunes on 22 July. A teaser for the band's next single, "Lonely Girl" was released 24 July. The single was fully released later that night. An accompanying music video was premiered on 15 August. The track "Come Home" was released as a single in late September, along with the music video on the band's Vevo channel.

Tonight Alive toured the US as part of the 2013 Vans Warped Tour. They played a few dates in Australia before touring again in support of the new album, along with two Rolling Stone Live Lodge acoustic shows. They were also part of Warped Tour Australia lineup in November 2013.

They then went on The Other Side tour to promote their new album in Australia and later the U.S, playing with The Downtown Fiction, For the Foxes, and Echosmith. The tour ended on 23 November.

The band announced in mid-December that they would be supporting All Time Low on their A Love like War: UK Tour. It was announced in late January 2014 that the band would be supporting Taking Back Sunday and The Used on their co-headlining North American tour. The tour began in March 2014.

Tonight Alive contributed their original song "The Edge" for Sony and Marvel's film The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and it was featured on the deluxe edition of the soundtrack in Australia, New Zealand, UK and Ireland. They toured with Mayday Parade, PVRIS, and Major League. They also played The Other Side in its entirety while on tour in the UK.

Limitless (2015–present)

In January it was announced the band would be supporting All Time Low on their upcoming spring tour with Issues and State Champs.

The band began working on their third album in March 2015, with producer David Bendeth They played at Soundwave 2015 in Australia. They released a statement in April cancelling two headlining shows in the US due to the drummer, Best, needing surgery for tendinosis. Tonight Alive completed work on their third album in July 2015.

On October 30, 2015, the band announced that their third studio album, Limitless would be released on March 4, 2016 The announcement coincided with the release of the first single, "Human Interaction". On November 21, the band released the second single from Limitless, entitled "To Be Free". The band streamed "Drive" on Spotify on December 11, and made it available with preorders for their album.

The third single, "How Does It Feel?", and its accompanying music video were released on January 12, 2016.

Musical style

Tonight Alive are described as pop punk, pop rock, power pop, alternative rock and emo by music sources. The band are often compared to fellow alternative rock/pop punk band Paramore. Regarding the comparison, guitarist Whakaio Taahi stated "People are going to compare, it's human nature but we don't really let it affect us. We just do what we love to do and hope people like it."

Discography

Compilation appearances