3 (American band)

History

The band was founded in 1994 as a three piece: Joey Eppard on guitar and lead vocals, Josh Eppard on drums and Chris Bittner on bass. They came to the attention of Universal Records after well-received performances at the Woodstock festival in 1994, eventually getting signed in 1998, but following an unstable relationship with the label through its series of corporate mergers, the band was left with little chance of releasing their album. Eventually, the band decided to release it on Planet Noise Records, a small indie label, and thenceforth managed themselves independently, until their 2005 signing with Metal Blade, on whose label they re-released Wake Pig in late 2005. Their career has been marked by several line-up changes, most notably Josh Eppard's departure to join Coheed and Cambria—the two bands used to be regular touring partners. The band has toured nationally several times, and have appeared on radio stations throughout the United States. Joey Eppard also has an active solo career and released a solo album, Been to the Future, in 2002.

When questioned about the band's name in an interview with Rock Something, Joey Eppard stated that they considered changing the name of the band several times, but always decided to keep the name 3. According to the same interview, the name of the band originally stems from Joey Eppard's own "fascination" with the number: "It is a reference to the construct of our reality as having predominantly 3 aspects. For example, we live in a 3 dimensional universe on the third planet from the sun, experiencing time as past, present and future in a form that consists of mind, body and spirit."

In separate tours in May and October 2007 the band toured with the British progressive rock group Porcupine Tree, on their Fear of a Blank Planet North American tour. 3 also went on the road with hard rock band Scorpions, and later finished up the second leg of the Fear of a Blank Planet tour with Porcupine Tree.

The music video for the song "All That Remains" was voted the No. 16 Video of 2007 on MTV2's Headbanger's Ball. It was directed, shot and animated by David Brodsky.

They were a part of the "Progressive Nation '08" tour with Dream Theater, Opeth, and Between the Buried and Me.

Their fifth studio album, Revisions, a compilation of re-recordings of never before released songs as well as selections from their first two studio albums, was released on October 27, 2009. At the time it was planned to be their final release on Metal Blade Records. They have already started to play a couple of their new songs ("One with the Sun" and "You are the Alien") at their live shows dating back to tours from late 2008. The band was due to record and release their next studio album for Roadrunner Records, but were subsequently dropped before any production began.

They have since re-signed with Metal Blade Records and released their sixth studio album The Ghost You Gave to Me on October 11, 2011.

Style

In an interview, Joey Eppard explained the band's name, '3', originated from his interest in the number's recurring significance. He cited examples such as the three dimensions of space, Earth being the third planet from the sun, the three aspects of time (past, present, and future), and the mind-body-spirit connection. Eppard views these instances as evidence of the number three being a fundamental aspect of reality.

The band themselves describe their music as "dark yet uplifting, spiritual without any connection to religion". Their music is punctuated by dark, sometimes incomprehensible lyrics, often rather detached from the accompanying music. Joey Eppard is considered a highly competent guitarist with a unique, primarily self-taught flamenco/slap hybrid guitar technique. Over the course of 3's discography, the band has explored a wide variety of musical genres, such as hip hop, R&B, rockabilly, blues, reggae, funk, psychedelic music, heavy metal music, pop rock, acoustic rock, punk, progressive, flamenco, experimental progressive, rock 'n roll, soft rock, pop, folk, experimental, progressive funk, and progressive metal.

Members

;Current

• Joey Eppard – lead vocals, acoustic & electric guitars (1994–present)
• Billy Riker – guitars, effects (1999–present)
• Chris "Gartdrumm" Gartmann – drums, backing vocals (1999–present)
• Chris Heitzman – bass (2025–present)

;Former

• Josh Eppard – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1994–1999)
• Chris Bittner – bass (1994–2003)
• Jason Foster – guitars (1999)
• Joe Cuchelo – bass (2003–2004)
• Joe Stote – keyboards, percussion (2003–2008)
• Daniel Grimsland – bass, backing vocals (2004–2025)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:22 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:90 top:10 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1994 till: ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1994 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1994 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3

Colors = id:LVocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Percussion value:claret legend:Percussion id:BVocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:Album value:black legend:Studio_album id:EP value:gray(0.5) legend:Other_release id:bars value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData = layer:back color:EP at:12/17/2002 at:05/08/2007 color:album at:03/16/2000 at:10/07/2003 at:10/25/2004 at:07/24/2007 at:10/27/2009 at:10/11/2011

BarData = bar:Joey text:"Joey Eppard" bar:Jason text:"Jason Foster" bar:Billy text:"Billy Riker" bar:Bittner text:"Chris Bittner" bar:Cuchelo text:"Joe Cuchelo" bar:Daniel text:"Daniel Grimsland" bar:Heitzman text:"Chris Heitzman" bar:Josh text:"Josh Eppard" bar:Gartmann text:"Chris Gartmann" bar:Stote text:"Joe Stote"

PlotData = width:11 bar:Joey from:01/01/1994 till:end color:Lvocals bar:Joey from:01/01/1994 till:end color:Guitar width:3 bar:Jason from:01/01/1999 till:07/01/1999 color:Guitar bar:Billy from:07/02/1999 till:end color:Guitar bar:Bittner from:01/01/1994 till:07/01/2003 color:Bass bar:Cuchelo from:07/02/2003 till:07/01/2004 color:Bass bar:Daniel from:07/02/2004 till:07/07/2025 color:Bass bar:Daniel from:07/02/2004 till:07/07/2025 color:Bvocals width:3 bar:Heitzman from:07/07/2025 till:end color:Bass bar:Josh from:01/01/1994 till:07/01/1999 color:Drums bar:Josh from:01/01/1994 till:07/01/1999 color:Percussion width:7 bar:Josh from:01/01/1994 till:07/01/1999 color:Bvocals width:3 bar:Gartmann from:07/02/1999 till:end color:Drums bar:Gartmann from:07/02/1999 till:end color:Bvocals width:3 bar:Stote from:01/01/2003 till:03/01/2008 color:Keys bar:Stote from:01/01/2003 till:03/01/2008 color:Percussion width:3

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Extended plays

Singles

Compilation appearances

Videography

References

References

1. (February 20, 2008). "3 – The End Is Begun: Special Edition Review". 411mania.com.
2. (August 27, 2008). "3 Announces More North American Tour Dates". metalunderground.com.
3. (August 16, 2008). "The Governor's Ball". puregrainaudio.com.
4. "Three". cduniverse.com.
5. "Progressive Rock Review – Three". prog4you.com.
6. (July 24, 2008). "Planet Noise Inc. - Record Label located in Kingston NY carrying diverse musical styles including hip hop, alternative rock, Acoustic, rap, folk, and adult contemporary plus many performing acts. Including Rex Fowler, Tongue n Groove, Three, 3, Joe Marchetti".
7. (October 4, 2006). "Rock Something | Home | Rock and Metal Reviews and Interviews".
8. "Interview with Joey Eppard".
9. (August 10, 2013). "MyGoodEye : Music Visuals | David S. Brodsky : Director : Editor : Animator : Shooter".
10. "The Forum @ mikeportnoy.com".
11. "Featured Content on Myspace".
12. (December 10, 2009). "Be a part of 3 – 3's MySpace Blog".
13. "New "3" record: "Revisions" to be released on October 27th / upcoming "3" related performances von 3 bei Myspace".
14. . (August 23, 2011). ["3 Finishes New Album "The Ghost You Gave To Me""](http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=71066). *Metal Underground*.
15. (July 24, 2008). "Planet Noise Inc. - Record Label located in Kingston NY carrying diverse musical styles including hip hop, alternative rock, Acoustic, rap, folk, and adult contemporary plus many performing acts. Including Rex Fowler, Tongue n Groove, Three, 3, Joe Marchetti".