New Threads (Band)

New Threads (stylized as new threads) is an American rock band based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 2016, the band's primary members are Jacob Keplinger and Justin Siegel, although the band has seen numerous other members.

The band released their first album, Death in the Afternoon, on March 24, 2017, via Mesa Dog Records. Over a year later, they released NEW THREADS via their new label, Pink Hat Records. They have since released two more albums, Felonious Wilma and Threadsboro, both in 2019. Following Threadsboro 's release, Keplinger and Siegel relocated to Boston, where they worked under the moniker for a little over a year before rebranding everything post-move to The Free Rock Trio.

History
The band was formed between Keplinger and Siegel at Middle Tennessee State University in the fall of 2016. At the time, they became known as Seymour Butts and even released a self-titled album under the name. The album was popular among friends and classmates, and it promoted Keplinger and Siegel to take the project more seriously. They began with a name change, and they settled on new threads. According to Siegel, it's about new beginnings.

They quickly found band members in Robby Angelotti and Nick Cheater, who played bass and guitar, respectively. After the recording & release of Death in the Afternoon, Angelotti left for personal reasons that are unknown to the public. He was replaced in October 2017 by Daniel Suarez, and the lineup was solidified all the way through their second album, NEW THREADS. With the release of this album, the band created their own record label known as Pink Hat Records.

However, following the release of the album, both Suarez and Cheater left, and Keplinger and Siegel had to scramble to find new people. Daniel's brother Will Suarez played lead guitar briefly after Cheater's exit in April, but he left the project with his brother in May. Keplinger met Jake Burdock and Eric Chalifour through a Facebook ad, and they became the new members of the band for the album to come, Felonious Wilma, which was defined by the success of the lead single Alone, Leave Me.

After the album came out, internal differences led to the firing of Chalifour, and he was swiftly replaced by Daniel Suarez. Suarez never played on the band's fourth album, Threadsboro, however. That album was released on July 12, 2019, and is the only album to feature just 3 musicians- Keplinger, Siegel, and Burdock. Suarez was eventually added officially in June. The band lived out this final lineup until Keplinger and Siegel made the decision to relocate New Threads to Boston, Massachusetts, shortly after Threadsboro 's release.

New Threads quickly announced their relocation to Boston, and that members Jake Burdock and Dan Suarez would not be coming along. Founding members Jacob Keplinger and Justin Siegel added bassist James Siegel to the fold, and played as New Threads for another year after this album's release. However, following the release of the newfound trio's third album Gone Wild in October of 2020, the group underwent a serious rebrand, changing the name of everything released post-Threadsboro from New Threads to The Free Rock Trio.

During the final year as New Threads, they debuted the Bootleg Series, a YouTube-exclusive that features the band performing music from the Threadsboro Saga alongside new songs live in PINK HAT® Boston.

After the conclusion of the series' first season, the band released all 8 performances on digital outlets on their debut live album Bootleg Live, Vol. 1. They re-emerged into the Boston live scene in January 2020 alongside the announcement of their first studio album Free Rock. The album featured an increased amount of instrumental sections, most of which were improvised. Many of the musical elements introduced on this album were further explored in the group's surprise follow-up, their 2-track second studio LP Buford. Buford was released with no pre-promotion or singles on April 10, 2020. The album featured only two tracks, but its' complete runtime is just over 40 minutes.

On Memorial Day 2020, the group released "Schlitz," a single recorded in complete isolation during the COVID-19 crisis. The recording style seen here was further explored in the second season of Bootleg Series and on the second volume of the Bootleg Live collection, but wasn't fully taken advantage of until the group's fourth LP.

The release schedule of Bootleg 2 directly led up to the release of "Racket," the first single released from the band's upcoming third studio album Gone Wild. The announcement was preceded by the release of the single "Next Step." The album was released in full on October 2, 2020. Along with the album's release, a podcast of the same name was started by the trio as well, featuring topics such as politics and the simulation theory and guests like Dan Suarez.

In Spring of 2021, the decision to rename Massachusetts-era New Threads releases as The Free Rock Trio became apparent, and the New Threads legacy lives on solely focused on the Tennessee years. However, due to the year that the Trio spent under the New Threads moniker, the albums Free Rock, Buford, and Gone Wild are typically represented as both New Threads and The Free Rock Trio releases. The trio's fourth album is titled New Threads is Dead in an attempt to pat down any confusion, and with this album's release (and the subsequent name change), the New Threads story has come to a halt.

Discography
Studio Albums


 * Death in the Afternoon (March 24, 2017)
 * NEW THREADS (May 11, 2018)
 * Felonious Wilma (January 1, 2019)
 * Threadsboro (July 12, 2019)

Singles


 * "18 Years" (February 17, 2017)
 * "Calvin Klein" (February 23, 2017)
 * "Fraternity King" (March 24, 2017)
 * "Alcohol" (January 5, 2018)
 * "Body" (March 9, 2018)
 * "Now & Then" (April 13, 2018)
 * "California Bound" (May 4, 2018)
 * "KEEP'EMOUT!" (May 11, 2018)
 * "Alone, Leave Me" (July 13, 2018)
 * "House Show" (September 21, 2018)
 * "America" (November 9, 2018)
 * "I Don't Care About My Neighbors Anymore" (December 31, 2018)
 * "Strawberry Shake" (April 14, 2019)
 * "Clean" (May 17, 2019)
 * "There Goes My Mind" (June 7, 2019)
 * "Sunburn" (July 5, 2019)

EPs


 * Bootleg EP #1 (January 20, 2017)

Music Videos


 * "18 Years"
 * "Alcohol"
 * "Body"
 * "Now & Then"
 * "America"
 * "I Don't Care About My Neighbors Anymore"
 * "House Show"
 * "Alone, Leave Me"
 * "Strawberry Shake"
 * "There Goes My Mind"

Members

 * Jacob Keplinger (December 2016 - March 2021*)
 * Justin Siegel (December 2016 - March 2021*)
 * Robby Angelotti (January 2017 - September 2017)
 * Nick Cheater (January 2017 - April 2018)
 * Daniel Suarez (October 2017 - May 2018) (May 2019 - July 2019)
 * Will Suarez (April 2018 - May 2018)
 * Jake Burdock (May 2018 - July 2019)
 * Eric Chalifour (May 2018 - January 2019)
 * James Siegel (September 2019 - March 2021**)



* Keplinger and Siegel never explicitly quit New Threads, but with the band renaming to The Free Rock Trio in March '21, the door has shut on future New Threads releases, thus ending their time in the band.

** James Siegel was in the group during their time under the moniker New Threads prior to their name change to The Free Rock Trio.