The Higher drops exclusive iTunes EP

The Higher Drop iTunes Exclusive Digital EP on December 12th
Pace Yourself To Precede Full Length Epitaph Debut
On Fire Sparks Up in February 2007

The Higher – the Las Vegas based quintet recently signed to Epitaph Records – will release the 4 song digital EP Pace Yourself exclusively via iTunes on December 12th. Produced by Mike Green (The Matches, Paramore) and counting the titles “Weapons Wired”, “Movement”, “In The Set”, and “Pace Yourself” (the latter remixed by Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump), Pace Yourself will see subsequent release through all digital outlets on January 12, 2007. The EP comes in advance of the group’s debut Epitaph full length On Fire, which is slated for release on February 20th, 2007.

Signed by Epitaph founder Brett Gurewitz on the strength of their acclaimed full-length 2005 LP Histrionics and their performance at the Roxy in L.A. earlier this year, The Higher fuses elements of pop, emo and R&B. Citing frontman Seth Trotter’s “exceptional voice” and their “R&B pop influence” as two key components, Gurewitz recently told The Las Vegas Weekly, “I only sign bands I think can go all the way, and I believe the sky’s the limit for The Higher.”

The Higher – who have been described as Saves The Day meets Justin Timberlake – date back to 2002, when Trotter, Jay Centeno and Pat Harter played together in a high school band. When Oakes joined the next year, The Higher took shape, playing hometown shows with the likes of Something Corporate, The Starting Line and Panic! At the Disco. After recording a demo of the songs they wrote when they were just 16, it became their debut EP for Fiddler Records. That disc, Star Is Dead, was produced by Saosin’s Beau Burchell and led to eighteen months of touring with the likes of Silverstein, Park and Emery. The current line-up was cemented when Reggie Ragan joined the group in 2005, during a year that brought touring opportunities with Taking Back Sunday, Unwritten Law and Less Than Jake.

Describing the group’s approach to Pace Yourself and the subsequent On Fire, Oakes says, “We’ve been pumping our little hearts and minds to make the most fabulous record we could ever make. Seth’s voice is phenomenal. I’ve watched the guy sing since third grade and every year it gets so much better. Wow does it show on this record!”“The skills the rest of us have contributed, the ideas, the influences, the beats, the shredding… it’s been such a magical process,” Oakes adds. “It’s going to spin you around like you’re on a roller coaster. I don’t know if you’ll be able to put your finger on it, and we love that.”

MySpace page: www.myspace.com/thehigher