News

Boston, Massachusetts’ Rebuilder return to share the new single + video “Hold On”, a vibrant entreaty to perseverance that arrives as the group’s first release in three years. Rebuilder singer/guitarist (and one of their two songwriters) Sal Ellington explains how a heart-to-heart with the band’s recording engineer and friend Jay Maas led to the song’s inception. “I was emotionally exhausted. The pandemic was happening, my best friend/roommate had moved away, and my outlet of playing shows didn’t exist anymore. I wasn’t even sure if myself or the band wanted to be a band” he continues, “Jay told me something along the lines of ‘You’ve worked really hard and if you have this thing that you love a lot and don’t think you should end it. I wouldn’t let that go’. It stuck with me and I just kept writing and tried to trust myself as much as I could.”.

“Hold On” arrives courtesy of Anti Flag’s A-F Records and is Rebuilder’s first outing since the standalone 2020 single “Monuments”, a track which served as a point of reunification for the band that was beginning to find itself increasingly fractured.

After the 6 years that followed the release of their debut EP, and as the music industry steadily threw curveballs their way, Rebuilder found themselves at a crossroad at the end of 2019. Bassist Daniel Carswell was newly sober and needed a break to focus on his well being, the band’s second songwriter/guitarist Craig Stanton was stepping away having been worn down by the grind of being a young band fighting to be heard, while drummer Brandon Phillips had his eyes on building a family.

With the band on an unofficial hiatus and as multiple crises collided in 2020 Ellington and Carswell teamed up with drummer Harley Cox (of fellow Boston band Choke Up) and long-term collaborator Pat Hanlin to record “Monuments” as Rebuilder. Some time after that single was released Ellington ran into Stanton, who told him how much he’d enjoyed the song and would’ve loved to play on it. Ellington notes, “I think by this point, the much needed break from a constant grind made us really appreciate playing music with each other. I really saw Rebuilder for what it is. This is the time when we as friends get to do something really special with each other”

So now we find the friends reunited, rejuvenated and ready to rock again. Keep your eyes peeled and ears open for much, much more from Rebuilder this year. As Stanton notes, “Sometimes life can get in the way but it’s okay, we are here when you’re ready.”