Gym Class Heroes is an alternative hip hop band from Geneva, New York. The band is best known for their Billboard Hot 100 top 10 single "Cupid's Chokehold" from As Cruel as School Children. Instead of just using the conventional tools of hip hop production, Gym Class Heroes use live instruments, similar to artists such as Stetsasonic, The Roots, and Crown City Rockers.
The original Gym Class Heroes formed in 1997 when Travis McCoy and drummer Matt McGinley became friends during physical education class while at high school in Geneva, New York, and joined forces with guitarist Milo Bonacci and bassist Ryan Geise. The original GCH began playing birthday parties, clubs, and festivals which eventually led to numerous larger venues throughout the northeast, including two years on Warped Tour (2003, 2004). During this time, GCH released four self-produced CDs: "Hed Candy" (1999), "Greasy Kids Stuff" (2000), "For the Kids" (2001), and "Papercut Chronicles EP" (2004). After the release of "For the Kids", lead singer Travis McCoy won MTV's Direct Effect MC Battle and as a prize, he appeared in Styles P's video "Daddy Get That Cash".[1] The current configuration of GCH formed in late 2004 when guitarist Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo and bassist Eric Roberts joined the group.
After hearing the song "Taxi Driver", (which pays homage to various rock artists), Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy became interested in the Gym Class Heroes and invited the band to one of his shows. Travis met with Stump on June 10 2004 in Buffalo and struck up a rapport. Gym Class Heroes then went on to join Pete Wentz's label, Decaydance Records, which is an imprint of Fueled by Ramen. Travis later said that Stump's support, coupled with the label's touring ethos and family atmosphere, is what drew him to Decaydance/Fueled by Ramen.
Gym Class Heroes toured with the Warped Tour in the summer of 2006. The band completed their leg of a tour with The All-American Rejects on Nov. 29 in Las Vegas. They are currently headlining The Daryl Hall For President Tour '07, which will last until April 6, 2007. Other acts on the tour include RX Bandits, k-os and P.O.S. |
