Traitor

The humble beginnings of Traitor can be traced back to Dirty Pocket Studio's first home - a wood shed turned recording studio that sat behind Jes's house in Tucker, GA. At the time, Jes was playing drums in well-known local reggae band The Green Hit and was doing a lot of production work in his studio with emerging hip-hop artists and rock bands. Geoff and Mike were both playing in popular rap-rock band End Rezult: Mike as the frontman and Geoff as the bassist and secondary vocalist. The two had known each other for several years at that point, with Mike's former band Estranged having often opened for Geoff's former bands Unmarked and Hognutt, and Geoff taking on a big brother/mentor role in Mike's development as a musician.

They would eventually be introduced to Jes through End Rezult's guitarist Big David Wood, and all three instantly hit it off with each other. The Green Hit and End Rezult began performing many shows together, often with other local stalwarts Groove Stain, The Bastard Suns, and State of Unrest. It was during this time that Jes and Geoff first started talking about recording some of Geoff's original songs in Jes's studio. The talks soon became a reality and Traitor was officially born! These frenzied early sessions fueled by blood, sweat, tears, caffeine, and alcohol (and maybe a few other things) often ran until sun rise, with Geoff providing the vocals, guitar, and bass to the recordings, and Jes providing drums/percussion and the production and engineering work.

Realizing that they were onto something great, the two members decided to take the band onstage and began booking shows. Lacking a live bass player, the early shows often featured a guest filling in on bass - many times the bassist of one of the other bands on the bill. For gigs where they had no one available to fill-in, they simply played as a two-piece band without bass, usually setting Geoff up on the drum riser and Jes's drums at the front of the stage (NOTE: Sound men absolutely hate this!). It was after one of these two-piece performances that Mike offered his services as a bassist to his old friend Geoff. The offer accepted, Traitor morphed into the hard-hitting power trio that it still is today.

Over the next several years, the band ascended to the top tier of the then-thriving Atlanta hard rock and metal scene. Continuing to record in Jes's studio, they released one hard rock masterpiece after another. With an intense, high-energy, live show to match, Traitor regularly played all over Atlanta and the Southeast, forming alliances and sharing the stage with other well-known local bands such as Dead Gospel, Bonz, The Hot Rods, The Issues, Something Left After Misfortune (SLAM), Subdivisions, Force of Habit, and Echoes of Savages. As their popularity continued to grow, the future looked very bright for Traitor. 

Sadly, many bands succumb to the pressure of balancing band life with their personal lives, and Traitor was no exception. Geoff became a new father and wanted to focus on raising his daughter, Mike departed the band due to a misunderstanding, and Jes was dealing with some things in his personal life. The combination of these factors eventually led to Traitor going on an indefinite hiatus, and for the next few years, the members would only reunite periodically for one-off shows before returning back to their own respective lives and other music projects.

This would all change when old friend Big Dave suddenly passed away. A large man with an even larger personality, a "normal" quiet funeral would not do for Big Dave. No, it had to be a huge party with live loud music. There had to be beer, buds, BBQ, old friends and new friends. End Rezult had to reunite one last time and play a farewell set with guest guitar players filling in for Dave. And like so many times before....Traitor had to be on the bill too.

As if no time had passed, the band picked up right where they had left off. Within the first few songs of the performance, it became glaringly obvious to all three members that the time for Traitor to reunite permanently had finally arrived. Now older and wiser, the band returns with a re-energized enthusiasm combined with the skill and solidarity that can only come from years of playing together. Armed with a bunch of new songs, new gear, a new live show, and a new album on the way, the future is once again looking bright for Traitor.