- This Los Angeles, California band did not get too well known outside of California, but they had the potential to be a lot more than that in my opinion. They had played alongside bands such as: Linkin Park, Alien Ant Farm, and Story of The Year. Not only that, but the band itself has ties to various other bands that are talented as well (one in particular, will have a separate article on it in the near future.) But first, here is the information on X-Syndrome.
The reason that the band split up, was that they had "decided that it was best to move on. The break-up of the band was not easy and they are still in contact with each other despite being across the country from each other." According to Mr. "JB" he had spoken around April 2016 with "Densho" the bassist, the band are planning on playing some L.A. shows towards the end of the year.
The lineup for the band was:
Justin Brown "JB" Escajeda / Justin Brown-Escajeda - vocals in X-Syndrome, drums & vocals in Crossfaith for around a year while he lived in Japan & Mount Ararat (a Christian praise group), he also has started a touring band for Mount Ararat called Gideon's Few, drummer for Dubious Neuman; he was in the bands: Octane & Sub-Divisions; and did solo projects such as: Songs From The Sun and his solo vocalist & guitar work. He picked up a good bit of Japanese, "more than enough to conversate," when he lived there for over a year. He is a U.S. Marine, retired in 2011 and was injured in combat operations in Iraq.
Dennis Diaz / "Densho" (guitar in Trapped Under Rice, a Metallica cover band along with his wife who plays bass in the band as well as Random Ninjas, he plays piano on the side and studied music at Cal Poly college), and keyboards in Stella's Notch). He had played on stage with Metallica in 2015.
Miguel Rodriguez (Stella's Notch) - drums
Carlo Diaz / "Full Metal Ninja" (Random Ninjas, Sly, & Zoo Hero) ***Will have to confirm with my sources on the last one***
According to my sources, the band had put out two demos with four songs each, and they are as follows:
X-Syndrome Demo I
1. "Compromise" 2. "Fades Away" 3. "Moving Forward" 4. "Thoughts of You"
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X-Syndrome Demo II
1. "August" 2. "Change" 3. "Tell Me Why" 4. "Two Faced"
(According to Mr. "JB" the song "Tell Me Why" is about "his buddies fighting in Iraq.")
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- My sources have provided that there was a side band called Zoo Hero that had done two live songs, they are: "Fight" which is a comedy song about being a "Power Ranger," the song is metal but also a bit funky and easy listening with Rock lyrics. It is a good song with a great metal solo and then an R'n'b beat after. "Thai BBQ" is more of a rapcore song with a pop punk kind of beat about a place that serves Thai BBQ and coincidentally is the name of the establishment. If you know of other Zoo Hero songs by the band from California, then be sure to let me know.
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- Justin "JB" Brown-Escajeda also has done some of the following solo songs: "Be Your Everything," "New York to California" and "Punch." Altogether it seems he had around 8 songs on his page before the page was taken down. He stated that he has played at: The Roxy, The Fillmore, Yokohama Stadium (where he opened up for Iron Maiden in Crossfaith), The Whiskey, and El Rey Theater, etc.
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- Mr. "JB" has done work with a band called Dubious Neuman that has done some tracks such as, "High" and "Kitty." The band had played at the Guitar Center Battle of The Bands in Redondo Beach around 2009.
The band had an album called $ Shot. It appears that Ian Kirkland assisted in recording the album. The vocalist appears to have been Alex Ash, the other members were: Chris and Dave. The tracklist includes the songs "Let It Be So," "Johanna," "Pussy," "Ganja Man," "High," and "From Me to Me."
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- Full Metal Ninja was in a band called SLY that had some songs on a 2006 demo, not sure how many songs were on it: "Change With The Wind," "Dear Ophelia," "Searching," and "Tumbling Falling."
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- Dennis was or is also in a band called Stella's Notch that was on the online-only NBC talent show called "StarTomorrow."
The lineup for them:
Melody del Mundo - guitars & vocals
Dennis Diaz - keyboards
Miguel Rodriguez - drums
Jeremy "Chad Face" Arcinas - bass
The band had put out an album or demo called Beyond Wonderland. The tracklist for that is: 1. "I Fall Prey" 2. "Hands" 3. "Astray" 4. "Don't Know You Anymore" 5. "Evil Jill"
The song "Evil Jill" was also featured on Rock In The Box, Vol. 2 alongside bands like: Diablo Royale, Aci9, Qwadra, NoizyToyz, Carpools, Super Kabote, Circled Sin, Pi (or another Pi), Steel Polly, Trick Bag, Rayzed, Then Again, Out of Luck, The Marys, and Binky Bianca / Binky*Bianca.
For a band that had this much potential it is sad to see that they had split up. But, one of the positive things in the world of music is that one gets to view what the musicians do in other projects, in the case of X-Syndrome this is very much the case. The musicians are passionate about music and therefore they are in other musical endeavors, but these California and Manila-based musicans (in the case of some) are talented enough that all of their bands are worthy of checking out and keeping an eye on. The main reason of this was to help in preserving the music of X-Syndrome and to put some spotlight on the musicans themselves. Big thanks to the vocalist "JB" Escajeda for allowing me to use the pictures of X-Syndrome that are included in this article.
