Die Trying formed in 2001 in Sacramento, California, as a four piece rock band based in Sacramento, California. The original lineup came together around vocalist Jassen Jensen, guitarist Jack Sinamian, bassist Steve Avery, and drummer Matt Conley, playing an aggressive, riff driven brand of rock that fit squarely within the early 2000s post-grunge and nu metal wave. Their earliest recorded output came via a self-released EP called Sparrows in 2002 , which helped the young band build a following in Northern California before they set their sights on a major label deal.
The band's breakthrough came quickly. After signing a contract with Island Records in 2002, they released their first single, "Oxygen's Gone", followed by their self-titled debut album on June 10, 2003. That album, produced by Neal Avron and recorded in late 2002 at Ocean Studios in Burbank, California, and Sunset Sound in Hollywood , blended punk, hard rock, and alternative influences into a tight, hook filled package. Notably, Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach appears on the song "Conquer The World" from that album , a collaboration that raised the band's profile considerably given Papa Roach's own Sacramento roots and mainstream success at the time. The record found real commercial traction, as it reached the Billboard Top Heatseeker Albums chart for 10 weeks with a peak position at #14, while the lead single "Oxygen's Gone" received heavy video airplay on MTV, MTV2, and Fuse . The single also performed well at rock radio, landing spots on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks for 8 weeks with a peak position of #35, along with Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks for 6 weeks with a peak position of #29 .
Riding that momentum, Die Trying spent much of 2003 on the road, sharing bills with heavier hitting acts of the era. Their tour history includes dates alongside Papa Roach and Nonpoint, placing them squarely within the rock touring circuit of the day. Despite the promising chart run and strong radio and video presence, the band never followed up with a second full length studio album; their only other release was a demo tape called Die Young in 2007 . Lineup changes touched the band throughout its run, and members who passed through included Joey Cunha, who went on to join Burn Halo, Jack Sinamian, who fronted 80 Proof Riot, Quentin Garcia, who joined Hero's Last Mission, and Matt Conley, who moved on to Raushi. By the mid to late 2000s Die Trying had quietly gone their separate ways, with the band's status listed as split up, having formed in 2001 and separated in 2007 . There has been no reunion or new music since, and the band is largely remembered today as a snapshot of the early 2000s post-grunge and nu metal moment, a hard touring, radio friendly act that briefly broke through with the help of a Papa Roach cameo and an MTV friendly single before fading from the scene. For fans of that era, Die Trying remains a footnote worth revisiting, a band that captured a specific sound and time in American rock radio.
That era is exactly what this archive was built to preserve. Wayne Dennon photographed Die Trying at one show back in 2003, right in the thick of the band's brief chart run, and those images, 28 photographs in total, live on here as part of his broader body of concert work. Visitors to the site have returned to this small but vivid slice of rock history again and again, racking up 22,295 views of the band's photos over the years, a quiet testament to how memorable that touring circuit of the early 2000s still is for those who were there.
