WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
Whole Wheat Bread is an American-based Caribbean American pop-punk band residing in Jacksonville, Florida. The band was formed in 2003, and the current lineup consists of Aaron Abraham, Joseph Largen, and Will Frazier. The band was founded by Abraham and past member Nicholas Largen who met through the Jacksonville underground rap scene, in which Largen was well known under the alias DJ Dirtee $skeet.
The two artists decided in 2003 to form a rap group and welcomed Largen’s brother Joseph on drums, who had recently opted out of a career in neurosurgery. With Abraham on guitar and vocals and Nicholas Largen on bass, Whole Wheat Bread was finally established.
The pop-punk trio released their first album in 2005, titled Minority Rules. The album was produced by the label Fighting Records and producer Darian Rundall, who had been brought in due to his previous work with other punk bands, including, but not limited to, the likes of Yellowcard and Pennywise.
Whole Wheat Bread's debut studio album managed to make a name for itself on the pop-punk scene as the album hit number 8 on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers chart. The same year, Whole Wheat Bread went on tour to support their debut record, supporting bands such as The Suicide Machines, Reel Big Fish, MxPx, Streetlight Manifesto, and Sloppy Meateaters.
In 2006, bassist Nicholas Largen was replaced by EI Plus’ C.J, and the band continued to amass an even larger following through the recognition from their continuing tours. From 2006 onwards, Whole Wheat Bread toured with many famous pop-punk acts, including Street Dogs, The Bouncing Souls, and Wu-Tang Clan’s Killah Priest.
At the end of 2006, in November, Whole Wheat Bread released their second studio EP titled Punk Life. This EP included three crunk rock versions of rap songs and three original songs. Through this EP, Whole Wheat Bread continued in the anti-establishment trend of pop-punk bands through their original song Symbol of Hope. The song reflected the events of Hurricane Katrina and more specifically expressed the general discontentment with the government’s negligence of the events and their lack of response.
The next year in 2007, C.J left the band as was replaced by Will Frazier on bass. This marked the beginning of the current lineup of Whole Wheat Bread, after which they continued touring and began work on their second full-length studio album. Due to the large influence, the band had attracted through their tours, they gained the opportunity to work with many notable producers and rappers for this album, including producer Travis Huff and rapper Lil’ Jon.
The second album, Hearts of Hoodlum, was released in 2009, increasing their fan following exponentially. A few years later, in 2012, Whole Wheat Bread collaborated with rapper Murs to release a free 6 collaboration EP titled The Invincibles. The EP can be downloaded for free online.
As the band continues to tour and release Eps to this day, they have amassed something of a die-hard fan following; one that is committed to keeping one good eye out for what Whole Wheat Bread has in store for them next.
