Armed with a disarming vulnerability and a strong melodic instinct for combining crunchy guitars with overt hip hop and reggae influences, Dave Tosti (vocals), Jesse Craig (guitar), Josh Auer (bass & bgv's), and Aaron "Skwid" Tosti (drums) didn't go unnoticed for long.
Produced by Howard Benson (P.O.D., Ice-T & Body Count, TSOL, Bang Tango, Zebrahead, etc.) and engineered by Bobby Brooks (Michael Jackson, Rick James, Stevie Wonder, Motorhead, etc.), PAX217's Forefront debut displays a polish and maturity unexpected for a band who's oldest member is college-aged and who's youngest is still a sophomore in high school. Part of that maturity comes from their talent and tenacious work ethic, but a big part of it seems to come from the inner stability and unity of the group.
"We spend a lot of time praying and worshiping together as a band," explains Dave, who writes as well as sings most of PAX217's lyrics. "What we do on stage is really just a result of the unity we share as believers in Christ. We want to be as real and down-to-earth as we can. Even if someone walks into a show who doesn't understand our music, we want them to be able to see right through us and see a light and see something different about our lives. We want them to see Christ in us."
A close identification with Christ not only figures heavily in the band's personality, but in their name. "'PAX is Latin for 'peace,'" Dave explains, "and '217' is a reference to Ephesians 2:17 which states 'He [Christ] came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.' We look at that verse almost as if it said 'We' rather than 'He.' We're here to preach God's peace, in our music and in our lives. People all around us are looking for something to give them hope and peace of mind. We want to point them to the right place."
The hybrid musical texture of PAX217's energetic 12-song release weaves from the bright and moody atmospherism of songs like "Shalom" through the emotive acoustic harmonies of "Til the Sun" to the aggressive mellow/heavy overlay of tunes like "Killjoy Holiday." But it finds its clearest expression in the project's cut "Prizm." Within the first sixty seconds of "Prizm," the members of PAX217 seem determined to mark off the full boundaries of their musical territory, melding turntable scratches and a gritty guitar line with reggae verses and power pop choruses. When the song transforms into an ethereal U2-ish guitar riff followed by an all-out-aggressive hip hop bridge, you suddenly realize that what you took for a zippy merry-go-round was in reality one of those screaming amusement park rides where the floor drops out and you find yourself plastered to a spinning wall.
"'Prizm' was a monumental song for us to write," Dave explains. "It was kind of an indescribable experience. If there's one song that really defines us musically, that's it. It's been catching the attention of our audiences, too. It amazes me when we start to play 'Prizm' and people who have just been dancing around in the concert suddenly go into 'freeze' mode and really start to listen."
The turned-down reggae groove of "Free To Be" is an attention grabber as well, no less for the lyrical content than for the music. Written a few hours after Dave and Josh were almost killed in a house fire, "Free To Be" is a song of praise and trust in God as the sole source of life and provision. "It was July 4th at about four in the morning," Dave says. "Some people made a wrong turn onto Josh's street and saw that his house was on fire. They banged on the door until we woke up. About thirty seconds after we got out, the whole roof collapsed. We had practice later that day and 'Free To Be' just kind of came out as an immediate response of praise to God for saving us, and as a recognition that nothing lost in the fire was of eternal importance anyway."
Other songs that seem to foster an immediate emotional connection with listeners are likewise written out of the difficult experiences of the band member's own lives. "I want to be a writer who can look inside as well as outside for song material," Dave says. "A lot of what I write comes from the things that Christ has carried me through. The song 'Skwid' is about almost losing my younger brother when he was a baby, but it's also a song of praise that God sustained his life and gave him his talent and is using him in this band. He can't always tour with us right now because of school but he's still a huge part of what we do."
The intensity of the record approaches its zenith in "No Place Like Home," an honest expression of the pain caused by the divorce of Dave and Skwid's parents. "We're upfront about the damage it causes when a family is torn apart," Dave says, "but the song is also a prayer for God's redemption in our family, and it's a song that can help kids whose families are still together to be thankful for what they have. When we play it live, a lot of people start singing the words along with us, and I can see in the faces of kids that they're really connecting with it."
The greatest thrill for PAX217 is when that "connectedness" spills out beyond the confines of the performance. "I was standing in a circle of kids after a show recently," Dave remembers, "and they were just kind of asking me about the band and wanting autographs and stuff, when all of a sudden this girl pushes her way through and says 'Do you really believe in God? Are you for real?' I got the biggest smile on my face. Here was this girl who didn't know the Lord and didn't understand where I was coming from, but she saw something that she had to know more about. We talked about God for awhile and we got to pray with her before she left. That's one of the greatest things that can happen, to have someone see through the songs and into our hearts, and to be drawn toward God."
