Formed in the dead of a New England winter as simply ‘RUMBLE’, the Massachusetts group slowly rose to near dizzying heights through grass roots marketing & hard work; cracking the music industry’s glass ceiling but never quite breaking through.


The RUMBLE Syndicate coalesced when Bass player ‘Gutterboy’ (Sean Parsons) urged singer ‘D2e’ (Roger Burke) to check out a new project he had ready to go minus a singer. The lineup consisted of guitarist Jamie ‘The Skank’ Adams & a drummer named Pakrat (Ronnie Young). Immediately after D2e’s arrival in 1993 the group began playing local clubs, debuting the single ‘Dirty Money’ that summer on the Harvey Warfield show on 94.5 FM WCGY. Their 1st release “Face Down, Bottoms Up” in ‘95 saw Stain Fontaine (Mike Prefontaine) taking over the drum throne. Face Down finally gave local fans a recording of long time live staples like ‘Father Chester’, ‘Cash Cow’ & ‘Kick in the Head’.
Playing mostly local shows, the band’s following continued to grow as their songwriting developed. As they readied a full length album, outside issues forced Skank's exit & newcomer ‘Skunk’ (Dave Gatulis) was brought in to fill the void. With Skunk on board there were no limitations on the new musical directions that had long been forthcoming. D2e began incorporating rap elements into the music & vocals; something he had been angling to do for some time. The full length CD “Mutate” released in ‘97 made this fusion of Rock & Rap evident on tracks like ‘Absolution’ & ‘Powertrip’. The band parted ways with Stain before live dates to support Mutate album began. With the addition of Gutterboy's former high school band mate Malcolm Collins on drums, the band’s core chemistry was secured firmly in place.


The next year saw the band’s live footprint expanded to include regional dates building on their existing fan base foundation. Multiple engagements supporting Godsmack, Reveille, Tree, Sam Black Church & many other acts pushed the group’s draw even further on the club circuit. During this time the band name was expanded to ‘RUMBLE Syndicate’ (due to the UK band also called Rumble). The “Powertrip EP” which included remixes & radio edits of the Mutate singles as well as previously unreleased studio tracks was released in ‘98.
RUMBLE Syndicate was now functioning as a self-contained DIY machine. Equipped with a 3000+ mailing list, robust website & full merchandise line, their own in house promotion/booking & indie label resources were all in place to capitalize on their popularity. The band’s signature rapcore sound had now been fully incorporated into the songwriting for their next CD that would soon push them out of the local scene & into a regional touring act.


“Liquor Store, Laundromat, Chinese Restaurant” was released in ‘99, selling out the 1st pressing within months. The band toured non-stop for the next 2 years racking up 200+ shows per year canvassing 14 states. Sharing the stage with a diverse roster of acts including Primus, Living Colour, Staind, System of a Down, Sebastian Bach et al, the RUMBLE Syndicate live show was now beyond reproach. They cultivated a live following throughout the east coast tour circuit. Liquor Store went into additional pressings & continued to sell in multiple markets. Several tracks from Liquor Store were featured in film & syndicated television releases which boosted the national awareness & web traffic for the group as well. Through SoundScan sales tracking & Pollstar touring reports, record labels finally began to take notice. After initial interest from Sony, RUMBLE Syndicate began working with a Boston entertainment lawyer to handle the prospects. The band was selected for live showcases at music festivals NEMO, CMJ, SXSW & Atlantis. Live in-studio radio interviews & appearances peppered their already full schedule. An EP was quickly recorded at Boston’s New Alliance Studios as a stop gap between releases. Dubbed “The New Alliance Sessions”, the songs were offered as free downloads to fans on the RUMBLE Syndicate website in 2000. The track ‘Americulture’ from these sessions garnered radio airplay on college & commercial radio, helping to satiate the large following they had now amassed.


After showcasing for several major labels including Sony, RCA, Roadrunner & MCA the band was still very much an independent entity as they returned to the studio to record their next EP simply titled ‘The RUMBLE Syndicate’ in ‘01. Under the guidance of famed producer Anthony J. Resta, the band’s sound matured as they pulled away from the rap vocal style now saturating the market to focus on a more melodic sound with D2e’s full vocal range taking the forefront. Due to legal/political issues at the time, the recording could not be released commercially upon completion. (It was distributed a year later with little fanfare) However, the singles ‘Dry’ & ‘Sever’ both received considerable airplay on commercial radio, most notably New Hampshire Rock Stations Rock101 & 100.3 WHEB, the latter of which awarded the group 1st place in the ‘Best Regional Band’ contest sponsored by MCA records. Driven by listener feedback & voting, the campaign offered a showcase for a potential record deal with MCA to 1 band from each region. Despite this victory, the illusive record deal would remain just that. During this time RUMBLE Syndicate was also chosen as finalists for the Vans Warped Tour 2 years in a row & the Jim Beam Emerging Artists Tour.


After years of the incessant write/record/tour schedule, mental burnout & financial pressures finally saw the group’s productivity decline. An acoustic recording called ‘Stripped Down’ was done in ‘02 but the band dissolved before it was ever released. The group would remain dormant for several years until their brief re-emergence under a new moniker…

Source : Facebook.com/rumblesyndicate