Don't call Jackson United a "side-project by that one guy in the Foo Fighters." 1,000+ fans can attest that they're anything but. Jackson United started off in April 2003 simply as "Jackson" with their self-titled E.P. The E.P. featured Chris Shiflett on vocals and guitar, Scott Shiflett on bass, and Pete Parada on drums. Through the year they went through a bit of a lineup change.

As Chris explained on the band's postboard, "When 'Jackson' started we weren't a band. I simply asked some friends and family to come help me record some songs. Nobody ever committed to doing anything other than recording, so it was damn lucky (good timing too) that we were able to do those shows out on the Warp tour over the summer with the recording line-up (with special extra Brian)."

August brought in drummer Cary Lascala, formerly of Communique. Next up was the addition of guitarist Doug Sangalang, formerly of Screw 32, Limp, and One Time Angels, in October. In November they opened for Sugarcult on their US tour converting many people that "just wanted to see Shiflett in his new band" into Jackson fans. Finally, in December Omen Starr replaced Scott Shiflett on bass.

December also brought an issue for Jackson: their name. As the name couldn't be copyrighted, they made the addition of "United" officially in January 2004. Just over a year after their E.P. release Jackson United signed with Australian label, Shiny Records, to release their full length album Western Ballads. In September they expanded their release to Japan on Bad News Records, followed by a European release in October on Sorepoint Records. 2005 will be started off with a few central California shows. In the spring they plan to release the album in the US.

Current members:

chris shiflett plays guitar & sings off key (he also try's to play keyboards but he has no idea what he's doing). in his other life, he's a full time foo fighter as well as a part time gimme gimme.

doug sangalang is a six string strummer that some of you may remember from his days as a child prodigy on the los angeles heavy metal scene. in the early eighties he joined l.a. legends steeler (replacing yngwie malmsteen!) and was also featured in mike varney's "spotlight" column in guitar player magazine. at age nine he released a self-produced solo album on shrapnel records titled "guitronics manimalz" before sinking into obscurity for the rest of the decade.

cary lascala i'll bet most of you don't even realize that cary is not just the drummer in the band, but also the leader! it's true, he calls the shots (but with an air of democracy). we met cary one fateful night in austin, texas, where he was playing bongos in the circus. ok - that's not true, but we did meet him in austin. anyway, cary is known as the cutest member of jackson which also makes him the biggest hit with the ladies. god bless him!

omen starr with a name like that, our bassist is either an egomaniacal rockstar OR was raised by hippy parents. you guessed it - omen's been sipping wheat grass juice and singing kumbaya at his local commune campouts since he was born and brings a little earthiness to the band. when he's not jamming with us he can usually be found figuring out complex math equations with his bass and hanging out in people's park.

Honorary Lifetime (Former) Members:

Pete Parada
pete is the busiest drummer in punk rock today! luckily, we managed to snag him for a few days last summer to lay down some rocking drum tracks for the album. he's pretty much the vagrant records house band drummer and these days he splits most of his time between saves the day and face to face.

~Individual members' bios written by Chris Shiflett