As Tall As Lions

High school friends Dan Nigro (vocals, guitar), Saen Fitzgerald (guitar, drums), Brian Fortune (guitar) and Cliff Sarcona (drums) founded the band in December 2001 as they were looking to continue the momentum of a previous project. Saen said, "We felt we were onto something good and despite member lineup changes, we felt we had something worth pursuing." The band was already at work on the songs "Dancing in the Rearview," "A Fighting Word," and "And The Wick Burnt Black" and decided to put together an EP, utilizing these songs, but re-recorded vocals and guitar."Blood and Aphorisms" was released in July 2002 at local venue Backstreet Blues. Upon its release, vocalist Dan Nigro sent the EP to some websites, which caught the attention of then-influential "thescout.net". The EP garnered the band local radio airplay and the attention of the local music scene. In May 2003 the band relocated to Chicago, Illinois, to record their debut album, Lafcadio with Sean O'Keefe. Asked to re-release the EP by the label, the band settled on handpicking songs from "Blood and Aphorisms" as well as adding new ones. Given a tight budget, they holed up in a single bed hotel in Chicago, the band and manager struggled to find their place in the studio. Nigro explains, "I believed the songs would come to me. I was naive. In the past all the songs I wrote had just come to me naturally. I didn't think Chicago would be that much of a struggle." Fitzgerald explains it this way, "In hindsight, I had a blast in Chicago but problem was, we were all just floating by. We were experimenting to the fullest. Pulling out all the stops so to speak. The best analogy I can come up with is taking a chocolate laxative. You're trying hard to relieve yourself but all the chocolate is just making you more constipated." Adds Nigro, "I hadn't done my homework. I hadn't finished lyrics, I was struggling with confidence issues, I was even afraid to hit notes. I began suffering panic attacks, I soiled myself nightly at rehearsals, and the whole process became incredibly stressful to both me and my bandmates."While three of the band members were in Chicago, guitarist Brian Fortune had enrolled at St. John's University in Queens and withdrew from the band. After months of auditioning guitar players with little luck, the band agreed to move vocalist Dan Nigro to guitar (he had previously been strictly a vocalist) and continue on as a foursome. The band set out on numerous tours in support of "Lafcadio" and while they admit they were "young and having fun," they were losing money daily.On August 8, 2006 the band released their self-titled album. In October the band set out on tour in support of it. Between tours the band began work on a holiday EP, and recorded "It's Only Christmas", cover "Across The Universe" and cover "O' Holy Night", only to be unreleased but lived on via different web sites & released compilations. The band inked a spot on the AP Tour in March of that year and remained on that bill through April. The band began a headlining tour in June and July, playing to packed crowds nightly. On July 17 the Long Island quartet made its television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live. They continued on tour in August and September and came home in the winter to work on new material.Reformulating previous ideas, As Tall as Lions began writing what would become the EP "Into the Flood." Of all the songs that would make the EP, only "Blacked Out" was new. On Nov. 27, the band released the EP to iTunes, charting the Top 50 for the first week of release. During its release, drummer Sarcona and bassist Tavarez went on a national tour with the Boston-based project The Dear Hunter. An ATAL tour with Silverchair followed in December, as well as other select dates. The EP was released on vinyl on March 17. In January 2008 the band began work on their new record "You Can't Take It With You."