Trust Company (file)
Photo: Geffen

Back in mid-2002, life was good for Montgomery, Alabama, outcasts Trust Company. The band's first single, "Downfall," was a summer hit, and it seemed like its debut LP, The Lonely Position of Neutral, would be another one of those melodic, neo-grunge chart-toppers. Unfortunately for Trust Company, hard rockers can be a fickle bunch.

The band's second single, "Running From Me," failed to connect with the strength of its predecessor, and the group struggled to retain the confidence of its record company, even though the album ultimately went gold. And now, with the release of their second disc, True Parallels (which came out late last month), Trust Company find themselves playing the role of underdogs.

"When that first album didn't sell as well as it was expected to, suddenly we weren't their precious little band anymore," singer Kevin Palmer said. "We had to really struggle to be noticed, and it became extremely frustrating."

To regain momentum, Trust Company entered the studio with producer Don Gilmore in July 2003. But while the material was powerful, expressing the genuine uncertainty of a band fighting to make it to the top, it took nearly two years for the band — Palmer, guitarist James Fukai, bassist Walker Warren and drummer Jason Singleton — to get back on the map. While the band was in the studio, its label merged with other companies, leaving Trust Company just one of many similar groups at the new corporation. Soon after, their record was put on hold.

"We heard 50 million rumors that we were gonna get dropped," Palmer said. "That gave us a glimpse of the whole other side of the music business. Everything's about writing the big single, and that creates a lot of stress when you're just trying to make a good album."

The harsh realities of the music industry were sometimes enough to make them long for the time before they had a major-label record deal. "We named the album True Parallels because that was the name of our first album — which we recorded for an indie label — that never came out," Palmer said. "It was a tribute to the days when we used to ride around in a van and live on peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches. Everything was so cool back then. We didn't have to worry about how many records we were going to sell in the first week. We just did our thing because we loved music and we couldn't think of life without it."

During the long months that Trust Company were waiting for their new label to schedule a release date for True Parallels, they went back into their Alabama practice space, where they wrote a few more songs and restructured "Stronger." Then, last year, they re-entered the studio with producer Howard Benson, who helped them mold "Stronger" into their comeback single. The track features a churning main rhythm intercut with a more restrained verse and a soaring, harmony-filled chorus that's as melodic as Crossfade and as heavy as Linkin Park.

"The song is all about the hurdles I had to get over from the last record," Palmer said. "And not just with this band getting back into the public eye. A lot of the first record was about the horrible divorce I went through before we got signed. Once you survive something like that, it makes you stronger as a person" (see "Trust Company Rev Out Of Neutral With New Single, Video").

Overall, True Parallels is heavier and more multifaceted than The Lonely Position of Neutral. The songs are more dynamic — constructed with passages that surface, build, then fade out again — and the guitars are so sharp they leave bite marks. Also, instead of hiding beneath a fortress of invulnerability, Trust Company expose themselves with songs equally fueled by fear and anger.

"We just decided to be honest with this album," Palmer said. "We weren't gonna pretend life was peachy and write a party record. I wrote about a lot of the things that weren't going well in our lives, and it allowed me to get some of that stuff off my chest."

Nowhere is this more clear than on "The War Is Over," the second Benson-produced number, which sounds like a collaboration between Saliva and Stabbing Westward and features lyrics as hopeless as the song is catchy: "There's nothing left to believe/ The end is now, I surrender."

"People think that song is about the war in Iraq, but it has no political overtones, and it's not about a relationship," Palmer said. "It's really just me expressing every ounce of frustration I have. I'm saying, 'This is my last effort. I'm gonna give you everything we have and lay it all out, and if this doesn't pan out, then we're moving on.' "

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Coldplay, Eric Clapton, Richard Ashcroft, Doves, Supergrass and Madness are among the artists scheduled to play the third annual Teenage Cancer Trust benefit concerts from March 24 to 29 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Teenage Cancer Trust aims to serve the needs of teenagers and young adults in the U.K. with cancer, leukemia, Hodgkin's and other related diseases. ... Eric Clapton, meanwhile, is going back to school Tuesday night (March 18), playing solo and answering questions at the Birkdale School in Sheffield, England, to help raise money for the school orchestra. ...

Alabama's Trust Company opted to begin work on their sophomore album, the follow-up to 2002's The Lonely Position of Neutral, over performing on the second stage of Ozzfest. A replacement has not yet been named. ... Craig David has chosen the next single from his Slicker Than Your Average LP: "Rise & Fall," which features Sting. On Thursday, David will give a special concert at Adrian High School in Adrian, Michigan, as an appreciation for students who brought clothes, food and other aid to the poverty-stricken town of Los Olivas, Mexico, whose residents must forage though a landfill for daily necessities. ...

Jesus Mezquia, the man accused of murdering Mia Zapata, singer for Seattle's the Gits, has abandoned his fight against being extradited to Washington. The Florida man was arrested in January and is being held without bail in Miami on first-degree murder charges, nearly a decade after 27-year-old Zapata was found beaten, raped and strangled on a Seattle street. ...

Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler suffered a broken collarbone and six broken ribs on Monday after the Honda motorcycle he was driving collided with a Fiat Punto in London's Belgravia district. Knopfler was rushed to St. Thomas' Hospital in Central London, treated for his injuries then discharged. Knopfler is scheduled to tour Europe in April. ... Slayer have delayed the release of their DVD "War at the Warfield" until sometime in April. The concert was recorded in San Francisco on December 7, 2001 during the band's God Hates the World Tour. It marks one of the final performances with drummer Paul Bostaph, who left the group to join Systematic. ...

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sent 300 letters to companies whose employees are allegedly involved in illegally downloading music and films on company computers with file-sharing software including Kazaa and Morpheus. The RIAA pointed out that this is blatant copyright infringement and warned of possible fines and seizure of equipment. Most of the letters were sent to technology firms (35 percent), medical firms (20 percent) and manufacturing companies (20 percent). ...

Pete Yorn has tapped Grandaddy for his U.S. tour set to kick off April 21 in San Francisco and ending June 2 in Santa Barbara, California. Yorn's new album, Day I Forgot, hits stores April 15, while Grandaddy's album Sumday is slated for release on June 10. ... New York rockers the Liars have hit the studio to record the follow-up to their 2001 LP, They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top. The band will showcase some of its new songs during a string of concert dates beginning April 28 in Northampton, Massachusetts, and wrapping up June 1 in New York. ...

03.17.03

Ginuwine has even more people to yell "Hell Yeah" with. For the remix of his current single, Gin teams with the song's writer and producer, R. "The Pied Piper of R&B" Kelly, Baby and the Clipse. ...

B2K will play the Temptations and sing "My Girl" in an episode of "American Dreams" filming this week in Los Angeles. Duncan Sheik and Vivian Green are also slated for appearances on the NBC drama, which has featured Vanessa Carlton, Nick Carter and others since it debuted last fall. ...

Detroit punk legend Iggy Pop will reunite with his Stooges bandmates Ron and Scott Asheton and for the first time in 28 years onstage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 27. The group will presumably play Iggy and the Stooges tunes, as well as a sample from the four songs the trio cut for Pop's upcoming solo LP, due this summer. Taking over the bass role for David Alexander, who died in 1975, will be former Minutemen/ Firehose bassist Mike Watt. Sweden's the Hives have also been added to the two-day festival, headlined by the Beastie Boys and Red Hot Chili Peppers. ... A year after it launched, indie label Sub Pop Records released Nirvana's debut, Bleach, and the rest, as they say, is history. Brush up on your knowledge of the Seattle imprint's chronology with Terminal Sales, a retrospective of the label's legacy from 1988-2003, due June 3. The double-disc set will include tracks from Kurt Cobain and company, Sebadoh, the Shins, Soundgarden, Sunny Day Real Estate, the White Stripes and Bright Eyes, many of which have never before been released on CD and/or were featured in the Sub Pop Singles Club. ...

The Flaming Lips, who surprised fans by performing with Justin Timberlake recently, are continuing their pop aspirations, covering Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head" (a live favorite for the band) for an EP due April 22. Fight Test will also feature a cover of Radiohead's "Knives Out," a live performance of Beck's "The Golden Age" with the singer, a remix of "Do You Realize??" and two new tracks, "The Strange Design of Conscience" and "Thank You Jack White (For the Fiber-Optic Jesus That You Gave Me)," an ode to the White Stripes frontman. ... If the rumors of friction in the supergroup were true, apparently Gerald Levert, Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill have set aside their differences long enough to record another LSG album. The trio's follow-up to their 1997 self-titled LP is due in June. The first single, "Just Friends," samples Whodini's classic "Friends" and features Loon. ...

Currently on the SnoCore Rock tour through March 25, El Paso's Sparta will gear up for their two-week opening slot (April 19-May 3) on Pearl Jam's North American tour by priming crowds for Bad Religion from April 4 in San Bernardino, California, to April 13 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The band, composed of three former members of At the Drive-In, continues to support last year's Wiretap Scars. ... The Goo Goo Dolls and Hootie and the Blowfish have been added to the Dale Earnhardt tribute concert on June 28 at Daytona International Speedway. Sheryl Crow and several country bands are also performing at the concert, the first non-racing event to be held at the legendary speedway. ...

Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta, the guitarist for death metal bands Impaled Nazarene and Finntroll, died March 16 in Finland. He was 25. A post on the Finntroll Web Site said, "This is an extremely heavy blow for us. We hope the fans and public won't speculate. More information will be available when things calm down." ... Frost, the drummer for Norwegian black metal band Satyricon, broke a bone in his foot during soundcheck in Milan, Italy, on March 12, but that didn't stop him from taking the stage that night. He also performed the band's next show two days later in Treviso. "Frost was in excruciating pain during our show," said a note on the band's Web site. "But he played remarkably well despite his break." ...

• Coldplay
• TRUSTcompany
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Sting
• Craig David

Trust Company
Photo: MTV News

Trust Company only just released the second single from their debut, but they're already working on album number two.

Singer Kevin Palmer said the Montgomery, Alabama, rockers have logged several ideas for the follow-up to The Lonely Position of Neutral, which has yielded the singles "Downfall" and "Running From Me" (see "Trust Company Rev Out Of Neutral With New Single, Video").

"We constantly write," Palmer said. "It's just something that we will always do, whether we are out touring or we are just sitting in our bedroom at home. ... It's a little bit harder than in the olden days to practice them and hammer them out. We used to go in the band room and just set up and hammer out these ideas, and now we are always on the road and we never get a lot of practice time. But we are definitely sitting in the back of the bus and we have our little four-track and we are recording all of our ideas."

As for what the new music is sounding like, Palmer said to expect more of the same Southern fried nu-metal they're known for, but with new twists.

"I think it's going to sound like us definitely, and it's going to have our sound, but I hope that we can take it to a new level and keep growing and keep growing and make it last as long as possible," Palmer said before performing at a recent radio station show.

Trust Company, who opened on Korn's Pop Sux Tour, will hit the road on their first headlining outing in February. "We plan on staying out as long as we can," Palmer said. "The road is where it's at."

Drummer Jason Singleton, who co-founded the band with Palmer, is looking forward to putting into motion some of what he learned from sharing the stage with Korn.

"Just watching the way they handle the crowd is an amazing thing," Singleton said. "And just getting them pumped up and keeping them going. You pick up on little subtle things like that and also just how to maintain yourself on the road, like little tricks not to wear yourself out."

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Trust Company
Photo: MTV News

Trust Company nearly killed the extras with high-force gales in their last video, so for their latest clip, "Running From Me," the bandmembers opted to be the ones to put themselves at risk — this time, for getting pneumonia.

The band took a break from its current run on the Pop Sux tour with Korn in October to film the clip, which singer Kevin Palmer describes as being more abstract than "Downfall" (see "Trust Company's Debut Video Blows"). "We're wearing wetsuits under our clothes and they're pumping in water," he said. "It's very, very wet."

Directed by Kevin Slade (Stone Temple Pilots, System of a Down), the video circles around the band as it struggles to keep playing while an onslaught of people — whose faces are sometimes hidden by odd, cartoonish masks — run toward them, but never quite reach them.

"The song is coming from the angle like you're caught in a dream," Palmer said. "Everyone's had the dreams before where you're running but you can barely move, or you're being chased, and things look familiar but they're kind of distorted. It's kind of hard to explain."

As dreams often are. But while the video's concept remains a bit intangible, the song's subject matter lends itself to explication a tad more easily. "Running From Me" — along with much of the material on The Lonely Position of Neutral — reflects the pain and confusion Palmer felt after his eight-year-marriage to his high school sweetheart ended in divorce.

Married since he was eighteen, Palmer said that he had a hard time accepting his now ex-wife's abrupt decision to end their union, and writing the album was the process that helped him heal.

"I wrote a lot about it because it consumed me for that period of time," he said. "You kind of get caught up in life ... you get up, you go to work, you come back home, you go to sleep, you wake up. This is your normal life, every day. When all of a sudden, it just changes one day, you can feel really lost. It's just a very lost and lonely feeling, even if you're surrounded by a lot of people.

"Whenever things are really weird or down, I write. So 'Running From Me' is a song dealing about me facing my fears. I felt like in order to move on, I had to just kind of face my problems, maybe stop feeling sorry for myself, stand up for myself."

"Come on, you've been through three divorces already!" bassist Josh Moates ribbed him.

"So far ..." drummer Jason Singleton interjected.

"I'm on my fifth marriage," Palmer joked, eager to lighten the topic at hand.

Even with the added levity, Palmer said that he's actually happy that what pained him the most is now turned into something that helps connect Trust Company with their angst-seeking fans, who gravitate to the band's throaty vocals and confessional lyrics, much needed relief from nü-metal's usual machismo.

"The funny thing is, whenever I think back now, I wasn't really thinking about how many people may actually be reading [the lyrics]," Palmer admitted. "You're just writing and trying to be honest with yourself, just get it off your chest. Sometimes I sit back and go, 'Wow.' But if it helps somebody else, I guess that's a cool thing."

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If you like being serenaded by young men, then listen up. This is the week for you.

First up in the nubile batch is Mario, the older-lady-killer who sings about his penchant on "Just a Friend" and "What Your Name Is." Next, B2K joins the growing rank of artists cashing in on the remix craze. Their offering to the genre, B2K: The Remixes Vol. 1, finds the boys re-imagining songs such as "Uh Huh" and "Gots Ta Be" and gives fans extra tracks like "Back Up." The last of the group is Cash Money kid Lil' Wayne, whose 500 Degreez hits shelves Tuesday (July 23) as well.

This new crop of teen dreams wouldn't be where they are today without Boyz II Men paving the way. The guys, who are officially on the "men" side of things these days, also have a new album out called Full Circle. See how nicely that works?

Turning our attention away from bare-chested boys for a moment: Look out for new albums from Public Enemy (Revolverlution) Toby Keith (Unleashed) and hall-of-famer Solomon Burke (Don't Give Up on Me) plus a mix offering from the Crystal Method (Community Service).

Out Tuesday, July 23:

• 32 Frames - 32 Frames (Revelation)
• Aquanote - The Pearl (Naked Music/ Astralwerks)
• B2K - B2K: The Remixes Vol. 1 (Epic)
• Boyz II Men - Full Circle (Arista)
• Solomon Burke - Don't Give Up on Me (Fat Possum)
   Read: "Dylan, Waits, Costello Help Soul Legend Regain His Throne"
• Cool Dre - Keep it Real (Zion)
• Crystal Method - Community Service (Ultra)
• Deathray - Deathray (Doppler)
• Deep Side - Deep Side (Spy/ Brunswick)
• DJ Magic Mike - Bootyz in Motion Vol. 2 (Downlow)
• DJ Micro - (Moonshine)
• DJ Tiesto - In Search of Sunrise Vol. 3 (Black Hole)
• Dog Fashion Disco - Anarchists of Good Taste (Spitfire)
• Forsaken - Arts of Desolation (Century Media)
• Fourplay - Heartfelt (Bluebird)
• Christophe Goze - Show Me the Way (Bar de Lune)
• Hate - Cain's Way (World War III)
• Haystak - The Natural (In the Paint/ Koch)
• J-Zone - Pimps Don't Pay Taxes (Fat Beats/ Razor & Tie)
• John Butler Trio - Three (ATO)
• KHM - Game (Number 6)
• Toby Keith - Unleashed (DreamWorks Nashville)
• King's Evil - Deletion of Humanoise (Crash)
• Kotipelto - Waiting for the Dawn (Century Media)
• Legit Ballaz - Respect of the Game Vol. 3 (AMC)
• Lil' Wayne - 500 Degreez (Universal)
   Read:
• Mack 10 - Presents Da Hood (Hoo Bangin)
• Malevolent Creation - Envenomed II (Artic/ Crash)
• Mario - Mario (J)
   Read: "Mario Loves Older Women, Gets Help Talking To Them From Biz Markie"
   Buy Now: Mario (J)
  
• Micro - Music Through Me (Moonshine)
• Midwest Product - Specifics (Ghostly Int'l)
• Mr. Keal - Opposite of Hate (AMC)
• Murder Squad - Unsane, Insane & Mentally Deranged (Crash)
• Joe Nichols - Man with a Memory (Universal South)
• Mark Olson & the Creekdippers - December's Child (DualTone)
• Opeth - Blackwater Park (Koch)
• Shuggie Otis - In Session: Great Rhythm & Blues (Cleopatra)
• Jimmy Page - Bury the Axe (Dressed to Kill)
• Stephen Pearcy - Social Intercourse (Triple X)
• Places to Park - Better Sights Were Set (Volcom)
• Planet X - Moon Babies (Inside Out)
• Public Enemy - Revolverlution (Slam Jamz/ Koch)
   Read:
• Rakoth - Planeshift (Earache)
• RJD2 - Dead Ringer (Def Jux)
• Safety in Numbers - Build & Structure (Triple Crown)
• Scion - Arrange and Process Basic Channel Tricks (EFA-CAR)
• Skirts - Smashing the Sky (Blackliner)
• Stranglers - Early Years: Rare & Unreleased (Castle America)
• Subterranean Source - Vivid Circles (Release)
• Thirstin Howl III - Skilligan's Island (Landspeed)
• John Travolta - Saturday Night Fiction (Dressed to Kill)
• Trust Company - The Lonely Position of Neutral (Geffen)
   Read: "Trust Company's Debut Video Blows"
• Unknown Ghosts - Transfer at Dub (Invisible)
• Uriah Heep - Lansdowne Tapes (Castle America)
• Various artists - Abstract Sessions (Thump)
• Various artists - Backstock: Compiled and Mixed by John Tejada (Urabon)
• Various artists - BPM Magazine Presents: That Club Mix (Moonshine)
• Various artists – "The Country Bears" soundtrack (Walt Disney)
   Read: "Country Jamboree Movie: 'Almost Famous,' But With Bears"
• Various artists - Dance Alliance (Dance Alliance)
• Various artists - Dance Hits USA (Radikal)
• Various artists - Don't Be Scared Vol. 2 (Fearless)
• Various artists - Earth and Bass (Triloka)
• Various artists – "Eight Legged Freaks" soundtrack (Varèse Sarabande)
• Various artists - Essential Rave (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Faith No More: Tribute of the Year (Underground Inc.)
• Various artists - Fat Beats Vol. 2 (Fat Beats)
• Various artists - Feed Your Ears (Fueled by Ramen)
• Various artists – "Frontier House" soundtrack (Pacific Time)
• Various artists - How We Rock (Burning Heart/ Epitaph)
• Various artists - In the Pocket: A Taste of Blues Harmonica (Telarc)
• Various artists – "The Master of Disguise" soundtrack (Music World/ Sony Soundtrax)
• Various artists – "Monsoon Wedding" score (Milan)
• Various artists - Monsta Jamz (Razor & Tie)
• Various artists - Plastic Vol. 6 (Nettwerk America)
• Various artists - Radikal Techno Vol. 6 (Radikal)
• Various artists – "Reign of Fire" soundtrack (Varèse Sarabande)
• Various artists - Sonar 2002 (Milan)
• Various artists – "Son's Room" soundtrack (Pacific Time)
• Various artists - String Quartet Tribute to Pink Floyd (Vitamin)
• Various artists - String Quartet Tribute to the Who's Tommy (Vitamin)
• Various artists - Touch Tones (Tummy Touch)
• Various artists - Trance Essentials Vol. 1 (UBL)
• Various artists - Tribute to Garbage (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Tribute to Linkin Park (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Tribute to Slayer: Post Mortem (Dwell)
• Various artists – "Wendigo" soundtrack (Pacific Time)
• Voodou - Blessing of Curses (Underground Inc.)
• Waifs - Sink or Swim (ATO)
• Joe Louis Walker - In the Morning (Telarc)
• Without Face - Astronomicon (Earache)
• John Zorn - Filmworks XI: Under the Wing (Tzadik)

• Filter - The Amalgamut (Reprise)
• Lamya - Learning From Falling (J)
   Read: "You Hear It First: Lamya"
• Linkin Park - Reanimation (Warner Bros.)
   Read:
   Buy Now: Reanimation (Warner Bros.)
  
• Beth Orton - Daybreaker (Astralwerks)
   Read:
• Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - The Rising (Columbia)
   Read: "Springsteen, E Street Band On The Rise After 18 Years"
   Buy Now: The Rising (Columbia)
  
• Various artists - "Topdog/Underdog" soundtrack (MCA)
   Read: "Jay-Z, DMX, Wu-Tang, Mos Def Bone Up 'Topdog/Underdog' LP"

• Eve - Eve-olution (Ruff Ryders/ Interscope)
   Read: "Eve, Alicia Keys Team Up For Some 'Gangsta Love' "
   Buy Now: Eve-olution (Ruff Ryders/ Interscope)
  
• Trick Daddy - Thug Holiday (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic)
   Read: "Trick Daddy Celebrating Thug Holiday In August"
   Buy Now: Thug Holiday (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic)
  

• Lady May - May Day (Arista)
   Read: "Lady May: Savage Hip-Hop Straight From the Suburbs"
• Murderdolls - Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls (Roadrunner)
   Read: "Corey Taylor Insists His Other Band Is No Slipknot Jr."

• Erykah Badu - TBD (EP, Motown)
• BBMak - Into Your Head (Hollywood)
• The Black Crowes - The Black Crowes Live (V2)
• Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head (Nettwerk/ Capitol)
• The Dillinger Escape Plan - Irony Is a Dead Scene (EP, Epitaph)
• Dixie Chicks - Home (Open Wide/ Monument/ Columbia)
• Gus Gus - Attention (Moonshine)
• Aimee Mann - Lost in Space (Superego)
• Ms. Jade - Girl Interrupted (Beat Club/ Interscope)
   Read: "Ms. Jade's 'Big Head' Is Meant To Move Your Big Butt"
• O-Town - O2 (J)
   Read: "New O-Town Album To Include Track From Nelly"
   Buy Now: O2 (J)
  
• Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf (Interscope)  Read: "Queens Of The Stone Age Flex Their Star Power"
• Silverchair - Diorama (Atlantic)
   Read: "Silverchair Craft U.S. Diorama, Plan New York Dates"
• Stone Sour - Stone Sour (Roadrunner)
   Read: "Corey Taylor Insists His Other Band Is No Slipknot Jr."
• Trina - Diamond Princess (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic)
   Read: "Diamond Princess Trina Recruits Tweet For 'No Panties' Single"
• Uncle Kracker - No Stranger to Shame (Lava/ Atlantic)
   Read: "Uncle Kracker Won't Pay Lip Service To Willa Ford In New Video"
   Buy Now: No Stranger to Shame (Lava/ Atlantic)
  

• Mario
• Lil Wayne
• B2K
• Public Enemy
• The Crystal Method

Trust Company
Photo: Interscope

Most new bands promise to blow you away, but Trust Company actually make good on it.

In their Marcos Siega-directed video for "Downfall," a gale of G-force proportions follows singer/guitarist Kevin Palmer down the street, whipping everyone in his path.

"I'm walking pretty much unaffected," Palmer said.

"And everything around him is being destroyed," bassist Josh Moates interjected.

"I tell you, when they were blowing those people's faces, man, I felt sorry for some of those people," Palmer said. "They were blowing their faces, and their lips were going every which way, and I was like, man, if they do one more take of that, that guy's gonna be dead."

Luckily all of the extras survived the ordeal, and instead of wrongful death suits, Trust Company instead ended up with a buzz-creating video that sets up The Lonely Position of Neutral, due July 23. Not bad for a band from Montgomery, Alabama, whose most noteworthy accomplishment, until now, had been confusing people with their original name: 41 Down.

"People would say, 'Sum 41, I mean, 41 Down,' " Palmer said. "We were like, 'This could be a problem.' "

"I think we wanted to get away from the whole number thing anyway," guitarist James Fukai said. "When they first named the band 41 Down in '97, I don't think there were any other bands that had numbers in them."

Well, Blink-182 for starters, but who's counting? Despite the confusion, the band survived and even landed a deal with Geffen/Interscope in late 2001. Thanks to being signed and championed by Jordan Schur — the man who introduced the world to Limp Bizkit — Trust Company soon entered a family of bands that gave them ample opportunity to play major-league style. Their first tour? Opening for Puddle of Mudd.

"We like to make it a point to sit on the side of the stage every night and just watch the bands we're opening for and just learn from what they're doing," Palmer said. "It's been a real surprise how open and supportive and friendly all the bigger bands have been to us."

Now on the Vans Warped Tour, Trust Company are finally starting to let go of their small-town ways. Drummer Jason Singleton said that until now the band used to hitch with fans to get around and run errands while on tour, but he's reconsidering that idea.

"[A fan and her aunt] drove me around for an hour in Cleveland," he said. "And then I'm like, 'You guys aren't psycho killers or anything, aren't you?' "

At that point, it's a little late to ask, isn't it?

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Trust Company live at Buzzfest XV in Houston, TX 04.23.2005

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MTV.com Exclusive: TrustCompany Photos 03.30.2005

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