Against The Element

Perseverance is not giving up,​

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 it is persistence and tenacity. The effort required to do something and keep doing it until the end even if it’s hard. In this life, we discover things that make us go the distance. We develop passion in ways that we will sacrifice almost anything to see it through. Against the element's journey began in 2010 when Chris Willis (lead guitarist/backing vocals) and Travis Williams (lead singer/rhythm guitarist) paths met in the town of Lakeland Florida. With Travis’s full-toned vocals, creativity in songwriting and Chris’s tailored and Precision musicianship they formed a flagship collaborating immediately with song ideas. With much excitement and determination, they did not foresee their long-awaited journey to find their place in the world of music. They soon realized the struggle that faced them of acquiring the right members to complete the band. Over the next eight years, Chris and Travis formed relations with other musicians that gave them much insight but we’re only temporary. Musicians such as Ryan Hampton (drums), Mark Hoffman and Mike Richards on the bass guitar. Against the Element has a very demanding overcast of sound with its catchy melodies and heavy gravitational riffs a full band was necessary. These players inspired the project and provided a clear view of what could be. Chris and Travis did not let this get them down but instead, they met together over the years to come and created music, talked about ideas and recorded various tracks while also searching for the two remaining members. Together they reached out to their community and beyond seeking online and off to the point of feeling like they were in a desert searching for water. It wasn’t until 2017 that they started to feel like the waiting was finally over, alas two well-qualified musicians with very like-minded personalities came out of nowhere it seemed. Alec Wixson on the drums and Jason Broderick on the bass guitar have completed the circle. Allowing the band to start setting new sights for themselves. These two members are a breath of fresh air for the project and already after performing one show together just recently in March of 2018, they have become tightly knit. Through many layers of different genres of music, Jason has been playing his bass in several bands over the course of his musical life. Jason draws his inspiration of playing from a long road of the history of jazz musicians from Miles Davis to Jaco Pastorius. Whether it’s a classic upright bass or an electric bass, Jason has a deep knowledge of the historical figures of jazz music that has invoked a passion in him over the years of his musical career. Jason’s career on stage began as the bass player for the Sofa Kings almost 20 years ago and is a staple for Lakelanders to this day. Alec Wixson started playing drums around 13 years old and played almost 3-4 hours a day, every day for the next 7 years. As an introduction to rock/metal music, his first inspirations were bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Rise Against and other mainstream rock artists. However, after about 4 years of playing he began to get into heavy progressive metal and djent genres, he was drawn by the rhythmic and melodic complexity of the music. His favorite bands now include Intervals, Periphery, Tool, Plini, Volumes, Tesseract, Killswitch Engage, and Animals as Leaders to name a few. His focus and drive on this journey are inspiring. You can really tell that he puts in the time even on his own accord. Individually these members have experience touring the nation and opening for acts such as Kansas, Eddie Money, LA Guns, Lamb of God, Zack Hexum, Copeland and more. Now that the machine is up and running the band is pushing to book more shows, record more tracks and record videos together as well as planning a tour. The buzz has been created the spark has been ignited and I don’t foresee this train stopping anytime soon but instead gathering momentum and creating its own way.