THE SANDBOX SESSIONS For just over five years now, Billy Grubbs and Aaron Hooper have been writing music together. About one year ago, the guys decided to begin an instrumental project that soon came to be known as the sandbox sessions. That is when the official composing for Underscore's debut album began. Many songs have come and gone, and these are the eleven of those that managed to make the cut. Although the writing began two years ago, the official sandbox sessions studio time did not start until September of 2005. Here we are now, after three tedious months of recording, with the Underscore's debut release -- the sandbox sessions. The sanbox sessions is a very diverse cd ranging from piano, to acoustic guitar with some folk influence, to ambient music, etc. Overall, it is a very peaceful and relaxing record, yet it still carries some energy. BIOGRAPHY Billy Grubbs and Aaron Hooper first met in August 1999. Billy was selling magazine subscriptions in his neighborhood for a school fund-raiser. He had already sold many subscriptions when he came to the house directly across the street from his own. There he met Aaron. The two talked for a while, and then parted with Billy gaining another subscription, and both gaining a new friend. Their friendship grew quickly over the next few months. On most days they could be found riding their bikes around the neighborhood, working on the fort they had built in the woods behind Aaron's house, cooking up strange and often messy science experiments, and playing video games (super nintendo, in particular). Gradually they discovered that they also shared a love of music and began to experiment musically, laying down the roots of what was to become Underscore. Early in 2000 Billy, Aaron and Scott Aguiar formed their first band. Brad Wampler, Tyler Bushnell, and Jason Boudreaux joined shortly thereafter. The band never really went anywhere; everyone had lost interest, except Billy, Aaron and Brad. They decided it was time to move on, and so they formed a new band. Eventually Tyler returned, and Paul Kunsman joined. The five of them would often get together at Billy's where they would write songs, perform for whoever happened to be around, and doing the usual things that teenagers who think they have talent do. After a year or two, Brad and Tyler began to move on to other things. Billy, Aaron, and Paul kept the band going, and began to actually record some of their songs, instead of just performing them. Over the next several months, they wrote and recorded many songs. Gradually, Paul began to lose interest, leaving just Billy and Aaron (Later, Paul and Billy, along with Byron Keeling and Craig Hatcher, would form Phoenix 5) It was then that they considered recording instrumental music alone. Both of them loved instrumental music, and much of the music they had recorded lately had been instrumental. So they decided to devote themselves solely to instrumental music. Underscore was born. Over the next couple of years, they composed and recorded many songs, and they began to grow in skill as well. Beginning in 2005, they began working on their debut album, the sandbox sessions, which will be released around Christmas 2005. The album explores several different styles and genres as Billy and Aaron begin to discover their own sound. Next year, the guys plan to begin work on the next album and a possible Christmas project as well. Stay tuned.