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The Afters was founded by Joshua Havens and Matt Fuqua while working together in a Starbucks coffee shop in Mesquite, Texas. They would play for their customers between frappachinos. They added Brad Wigg and Marc Dodd, who were surprisingly also employed at the same Starbucks. It must have been tough for this local Starbucks to staff up once the four of them left the barrister for good.
They originally formed their band under the name Blisse, and recorded a six-song EP in 2000. From this they made enough money to cut their first album, “When the World Is Wonderful”, which was released independently in 2001. This album contains songs also released on their major label debut album “I Wish We All Could Win”.
They had to change their name after discovering that another “Blisse” already existed. Has anyone ever heard of this “other” band? Settling on “The Afters”, they continued to play local clubs in the Dallas area. As I was told they were eventually discovered by the guys from MercyMe who took their music to their record company INO Records. INO quickly signed them to a four-record deal which was unheard of for a new band. I think the standard is a two-record deal, but I could be wrong.
After this, word of the band got to Epic Records, which signed the band on for mainstream promotion and distribution. Their first major label album, “I Wish We All Could Win”, was released on February 22, 2005. The first single from the album was “Beautiful Love” written by Josh Havens about a time when his wife was abroad doing humanitarian aid. In addition, “Beautiful Love” became the theme song for the MTV show, “8th and Ocean” and was also featured in the 2006 film, “Just My Luck”.
The Afters are currently promoted through INO Records and Columbia Records. Their second and current album, “Never Going Back to OK” was originally scheduled to be released on December 26th, of last year, but was ultimately delayed and released on February 26th.
The first single from the album, the title track “Never Going Back to OK” premiered on October 16, 2007 on WAY-FM’s Total Axxess radio show. The song hit #1 on the Radio & Records CHR chart in March.
Every Monday we highlight fellow believers like The Afters, who are having success writing and playing their music in mainstream media. Our goal behind this is to encourage them, inform you of who they are and then see how, together, we can introduce more people to Christ.
