Icon for Hire is an American rock band from Decatur, Illinois. Formed in 2007, the band's current lineup consist of singer Ariel, guitarist Shawn Jump, bassist Josh Kincheloe, and drummer Adam Kronshagen. They released two
... Icon for Hire is an American rock band from Decatur, Illinois. Formed in 2007, the band's current lineup consist of singer Ariel, guitarist Shawn Jump, bassist Josh Kincheloe, and drummer Adam Kronshagen. They released two EPs independently before signing to Tooth & Nail Records, through which they released their Billboard-charting debut album Scripted in 2011. According to several interviews, the band is in the process of writing a second album for the label.
The band was formed in Decatur, Illinois by vocalist Ariel and guitarist Shawn Jump. When the two met in 2007, Ariel, upon discovering that Jump played guitar, initiated a musical collaboration between the two of them. When the need for a drummer arose, Jump recruited Adam Kronshagen, an old friend he had held jam sessions with as a member of the local party scene (Jump was six months clean at the time). Bassist Joshua Davis joined and the band was officially formed in November of that year, choosing their name as a satirical comment on the state of the music industry.
The band played their first show in a local club before an audience of family and friends, who gave them a positive reception even though, by the band's own admission, they gave a terrible performance. Ariel has been quoted as saying of the performance, "Our passion for music was there; whatever we lacked in sound we made up for with enthusiasm." Over the next two years, the band toured throughout the Midwest and released two EPs, the self-titled Icon for Hire EP in 2008 and The Grey EP in 2009.[3] The same year as the latter release, Davis left the band.