In 2005, Bayside's drummer — John "Beatz" Holohan — was killed in an auto accident.
The remaining band members — vocalist/guitarist Anthony Raneri, guitarist Jack O'Shea and bassist Nick Ghanbarian — had to make a decision: fold or soldier on.
"We all decided to continue," said Ghanbarian during a call from his home in New York.
"We did it quite soon afterward, because we knew if we sat around we would have a hard time functioning."
Music, Ghanbarian said, was the catalyst for the decision.
"Music was our life," he said. "It is our life. And it pulled us through that time."
Once the decision to continue was made, the band recruited drummer Chris Guglielmo.
"All of what happened these past few years are what makes us who we are today," Ghanbarian said.
The band's most recent album, "Shudder," was released in September. It's the follow-up to the successful CD "The Walking Wounded."
" 'Shudder' is, to us, our most organic CD to date," Ghanbarian said. "Out of the four studio CDs we have released, this one was more of a team effort."
The reason for that was the fact that "Shudder" was written while the band was on the road last year.
Ghanbarian said that Raneri, who usually works on songs alone before bringing them to the band, did some demo recordings in the back of the tour bus.
"Since we were all in the bus together, we did things then and there," he said.
The band polished the songs through sound-check rehearsals and was more than ready to record once the tour ended.
"Our record company gave us only six weeks to record it," Ghanbarian said. "We worked with (producer) Dave Schiffman, who knew what we sounded like and what we wanted."
Schiffman, who has worked with Weezer, Jimmy Eat World and Johnny Cash, also worked with the Bayside band members separately.
"It was a very good experience for us," Ghanbarian said. "And hearing how good we could be only made us want to do it more."
The band decided to record the CD in Santa Monica, Calif., which is a far cry from the dark studios in New York it used in the past.
"California was so sunny and cloudless," Ghanbarian said. "And that made a difference. It was fun again. And bright. And we really enjoyed the sessions. In fact, if you ask any of us, we will tell you that it is the best CD we have recorded."
If you go ...
What: New Found Glory, Bayside, Set Your Goals, Verse
Where: In the Venue, 219 S. 600 West
When: April 3, 5:30 p.m.
How much: $18.50
Phone: 801-467-8499, 800-888-8499
Web: www.smithstix.com
E-mail: scott@desnews.com