Quietdrive

Quietdrive is a musical revolution band. It was formed in 2002 with two SJU students, Kevin Truckenmiller (’04) and Matt Kirby (’04). During Kirby’s first year, he played poker in the computer lab as did Truckenmiller. There they found out they shared music interests, so they started a band Sneaker2Bombs. Truckenmiller was also the lead singer of Quietdrive which needed more vocalists and another guitar player. Other members of Quietdrive were Minneapolis musicians, guitarist Justin Bonhiver, percussionist Brandon Lanier, and Bassist Droo Hastings. After Kirby sent in a good audition and record labels started scouting them, they combined bands under Quietdrive. Quietdrive’s name comes from the silent momentum within everyone to succeed. The band still uses the name Sneakers2Bombs as their record label, since 2009.

They created a MySpace.com page and landed as the top artists for over a week. They signed with Epic Records in December 2004 and released their first major label, When All That’s Left is You in 2006. They started touring for this album on December 23, 2006.

Most of the members began playing before they were ten years old which is the reason, they are so good. Truckenmiller played open-mic nights in London while studying abroad, which is what lead him to a career in music.

Quietdrive premiered their self-titled album at the LaPlayette (La) in 2003. Their album was recorded at OarFin Studios in Minneapolis. The event at the La was organized by Truckenmiller and La events coordinator CSB senior Jenny Conway. Quietdrive then went to do another CD release in Maplewood.

In 2004, Campus Groove Recordings’ released its third album. The Release Party took place at Brother Willie’s Pub. Quietdrive was on the album and played at the release party. A few hundred people attended and nearly 200 CDs were sold. A Campus Groove Recordings’ album is produced every two years. The album is recorded in St. Joe in collaboration with Rockhouse Recording Studios. Proceeds go to production costs and the leftover is used for a concert of the artists on the album. The goal of the album is to give an accurate representation of the music scene at CSB+SJU.

In 2004, Quietdrive was traveling across the country and played at the 2004 Vans Warped Tour.

They played at CSB+SJU twice in 2005, once in October and the other in November. They also came back the next year to play a concert in February. They were in the midst of their North American tour at this time. Their cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time,” appeared on the John Tucker Must Die (2006) movie soundtrack. They can be heard in the video game NHL 2007 which was released in September 2006 by EA Sports for PlayStation and Xbox. The game features their song, “Rise From the Ashes.”

Quietdrive played in Minneapolis on Dec. 29, 2007. At this point, they had been non-stop touring for three years. Following the tour, they took a week off and then went back to the studio to write songs for the album they were working on. In December they had eight songs complete and wanted twenty-five by February. The last listed concert they played at CSB+SJU was in 2008, at Brother Willie’s Pub.