Econoline Crush

Econoline Crush was formed in 1992 when singer Trevor Hurst moved to Vancouver from Seattle after he answered an ad seeking a vocalist, in the local Seattle newspaper, The Rocket placed by Chris Meyers. Tom Ferris and Chris Meyers had been advertising and searching for a vocalist before Hurst contacted Meyers from Seattle. Tom Ferris, Chris Meyers and Hurst began writing demos and shortly thereafter, Econoline Crush started to receive frequent airplay, and fan and music industry attention. In 1993, with Hurst at the helm, after Ferris had left the band, Econoline Crush signed a record deal with EMI Music Canada, after playing only 26 shows. At this point, guitarist Robbie Morfitt, guitarist Hack, bassist Dan Yaremko, and drummer Gregg Leask had joined the band.

In 1994, the band released their first EP called Purge,[1] with producer Dale Penner (later famous for Nickelback) and keyboardist/programmer Rhys Fulber. The album garnered them a nomination for a Juno Award in Canada.[2] One year later, they followed it with the full-length album, Affliction, without guitarist Hack. This album was produced by Fulber, and they followed it with an extensive Canadian tour. They also toured Europe three times, with the Young Gods, Die Krupps, and Waltari, culminating in an appearance at the POP KOMM Festival in Köln, Germany with Filter.

In 1996, the band signed with the management group Bruce Allen Talent, and started recording at Sound City with producer Sylvia Massy, who had worked with Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Tool. A year later, they released The Devil You Know. They embarked on a tour with KISS, Foo Fighters, Green Day, The Tea Party and other bands.[3][4] The album was released in the US in 1998 on Restless Records, and they went again on tour with KISS, Stabbing Westward, God Lives Underwater, among others.[5] During the recording of the album and after it was released, the lineup had changed numerous times. Bassist Yaremko left the band during recording and then rejoined late in the touring cycle (with Don Binns, Ken Fleming, and then Thom Christiansen filling in), and drummer Robert Wagner replaced Leask (only to be replaced himself by Nico Quintal and then Johnny Haro during the tours). Also, guitarist Morfitt was briefly in the band alongside new guitarist Ziggy Sigmund, but Morfitt left when the album was released.

Some of band's songs appeared on television shows, including Melrose Place, Psi Factor, and ESPN, among others.[3] In addition, the 1999 Sony PlayStation game Sled Storm featured mix versions of the songs "Sparkle and Shine", "Nowhere Now", and "Surefire".

The band received their second Juno nomination in 1998,[6] and performed live at the televised Juno ceremony.[7][8] The album also received gold and platinum awards.[9]

The band went to California to work on their next album with producers John Travis, Bob Rock and DJ Swamp, which included collaborations with Chris Vrenna (formerly from Nine Inch Nails) and Paul Raven (Killing Joke, Prong, and Ministry). In 1999, the band's song "You Don't Know What It's Like" was released as a single and was included on Muchmusic's Big Shiny Tunes 4. In 2001, the band released Brand New History to mixed reviews, despite some moderate commercial success. The lineup was solidified with Hurst, Yaremko, Sigmund, and Haro, alongside second guitarist Mark Peterson late in the touring cycle.[10] The album contained the singles "You Don't Know What It's Like" and "Make It Right". The reception of their last album caused the band to disband, and each of the members dedicated time to other projects. During this time, frontman Trevor Hurst started working on a band of his own, called Hurst, alongside Collective Soul guitarist Ross Childress.

In 2007, Econoline Crush reformed to play sparodic one-off shows, although only Hurst and Yaremko from the previous lineups stayed. Afterwards, Hurst announced on his MySpace page that he was working on a new Econoline Crush record, while the band started touring with Hinder. The new lineup of the band was drummer Brent Fitz, bassist Scott Whalen, guitarist Kai Markus, and Hurst. Hurst and Markus (who had worked with Noise Therapy and Methods of Mayhem) co-wrote the songs for the new album, which was recorded at Radiostar Studios in California. The album, Ignite, was released on January 15, 2008.[11] Shortly after, the band went on tour with Three Days Grace and Seether.[12] In August 2008, they went on another tour with 3 Doors Down, Staind, and Hinder, followed by a tour with Alice Cooper in September and October 2008.[13][14] In 2009 the band played at festivals across Canada, including the Halifax Rocks Festival, with KISS, on July 18.[15]

In April 2010 it was announced that both Robert Morfitt and Ziggy Sigmund were back playing guitar. The band embarked on a summer tour in 2010, joined by drummer Greg Williamson and bassist Steve Vincent from Alberta's Tupelo Honey.[16] EMI then released Surefire: The Best of Econoline Crush on December 21, 2010. The band released their EP The People Have Spoken, Vol. 1 on April 8, 2011.

On Sunday, September 17, 2017, Hurst performed during Calgary's fifth annual Rally for Recovery Day while also sharing his story of addiction and recovery. This was the 3rd show of a weekend run that introduced drummer Dayvid Swart and guitarist (and the band's 2011 live mixing engineer) Graham Tuson.[17] Original bassist Dan Yaremko also briefly rejoined the band, eventually being replaced by Troy Zak in 2019.

In a Facebook post on August 5, 2019, the band announced new music would be released soon and shared a trailer for a documentary about Trevor Hurst's work as a registered nurse, titled Flatlander.

• Trevor Hurst - vocals
• Ziggy Sigmund - guitar, background vocals (1997 to 2002, 2010 to present)
• Dayvid Swart - drums (2017 to present)
• Troy Zak - bass, background vocals (2019 to present)

• Tom Ferris - keyboards (1994)
• Hack - guitar (1994 to 1996)
• Robbie Morfitt - guitar (1994 to 1997, 2010 to 2014)
• Gregg Leask - drums (1994 to 1996)
• Dan Yaremko - bass (1994 to 1997, 1998 to 2002, 2007, 2017 to 2019)
• Rhys Fulber - keyboards (1994 to 1996)
• Mike Tottrup - guitar (1995 to 1996)
• Robert Wagner - drums (1996 to 1997)
• Don Binns - bass (1997)
• Ken Fleming - bass (1996 to 1997)
• Thom Christiansen - bass (1997 to 1998)
• Nico Quintal - drums (1997 to 2001)
• Johnny Haro - drums (1999 to 2002)
• Mark Peterson - guitar (2001)
• Jay Benison - drums (2007)
• Dave Heese - guitar (2007)
• Mark Gomulinski - bass (2007)
• Harvey Warren - drums (2007)
• Brent Fitz - drums (2008 to 2009)
• Scott Whalen - bass (2008 to 2010)
• Kai Markus - guitar (2008 to 2009)
• Ron Chamberlain - guitar (2009 to 2010)
• Sean McKay - keyboards (2009)
• Adam Percy - keyboards (2009)
• Nik Pesut - drums (2009)
• Greg Williamson - drums (2010 to 2017)
• Steve Vincent - bass (2010 to 2015)
• Alex Varughese - bass (2015 to 2017)
• Kyle Shaw - keyboards (2016 to 2017)
• Aaron Skiba - guitar (2016 to 2017)