HOW IT ALL GOT STARTED . . . DiST was started about a year ago in April 0f '99. Brandon Nichols (vocals) and former guitar player Alex Wade, wanted to start a band. They tried a couple guys out that they knew but nothing really worked. Brandon became friends with Matt Davis through hockey. They talked a lot and Matt said he played the bass and that he was interested in playing in a band. Next thing you know Matt, Brandon, and Alex were sitting in Matt's garage making music. The three of them became instantly focused and slaved all summer coming up with songs. Around September, they picked up drummer Gary Hatcher. With a four piece band finally formed they tried to practice frequently and find a bond with the four of them but, it wasn't happening. Around January former lead singer of KRIK (hardcore band) and good friend of the band Barry Buttress, came to a DiST practice and immediately knew the band was going somewhere. With Barry as a second guitarist DiST was on it's way to finally mold it's sound. But as any other band, problems began to come up, those being with the dedication of guitar player Alex Wade. The band tried hard to keep him interested in the band but his dedication wasn't there and they were forced to make a difficult decision between friendship and the well being of the band. After a lot of thinking and discussing, in February of '2000 DiST decided to give the position of lead guitar to a very motivated guitar player, Mark Alberti, who was a close friend of Barry and Brandon's. Mark had been in and out of other bands, mostly punk, but couldn't get the dedication he wanted from other members. With DiST he finally found his home. Another change was later made in the drummer position due to the fact that Gary Hatcher had enrolled in the army and would be leaving in June. To prevent the possible risk of not having a drummer in the middle of summer, DiST found another drummer (who just happened to be Matt's neighbor) by the name of Cody Fontes. At the first practice with Cody, everything just fit and felt right. Barry and Mark were amazed at how well Cody caught on and grasped their music. Now as the five of them were all finally assembled and extremely dedicated, they are ready to set out and attempt their goals, which are to have fun, come up with some amazing music, and most importantly change and influence peoples lives with God through the universal language of music. Our music talks about everyday issues as well as our faith. WHAT THE HECK IS "D i S T" ??? Matt and Brandon made the name "DiST" when the band was first started. It has 2 meanings : 1. D i S T (dissed)- which is a slang term meaning "insulted" or "betrayed". which as Christians we are "dissed" everyday by the secular world. 2. D.I.S.T. - Disfunxional In Societies Terms, which describes the way society looks at Christians and treats us as outsiders.