Won is the first full-length album by American melodic hardcore band As Friends Rust. It was released on compact disc, 12-inch vinyl and digitally by American record label Doghouse Records on October 23, 2001. German record label Defiance Records licensed the rights to release the album on compact disc and 12-inch vinyl for the European market, though this edition was released a week earlier than the American one, on October 15, 2001. Japanese record label Howling Bull Entertainment also licensed the rights to release the album for the Asian market; this compact disc edition was released even earlier, on October 5, 2001, and includes two bonus tracks.
In promotion of the release, As Friends Rust toured the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Europe several times between August 2001 and November 2002, accompanied by such bands as Brand New, Coheed and Cambria, Thursday, Strike Anywhere, Sick of It All, Further Seems Forever, The Movielife, Shai Hulud, Planes Mistaken for Stars, Open Hand, Shelter, Keepsake, Hotwire, Fairweather, The Sainte Catherines, This Day Forward, Bloodlet, The Reunion Show, The Stryder, Liars Academy, Garrison, Vangard, Clark, Running from Dharma, Prevent Falls, The Remedy Session, Durango 95 and The Copperpot Journals. The band also performed at notable festivals like Van's Warped Tour in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, Furnacefest in Birmingham, Alabama, Gainesvillefest in Gainesville, Florida, Krazy Fest in Louisville, Kentucky, Hell City Tattoo Festival in Columbus, Ohio, Philly Music Festival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Gorefest in Miami, Florida, Orlando Magicfest in Orlando, Florida, Chaos Days Festival in Savannah, Georgia, Ieperfest in Ypres, Belgium, Defiance Festival in Cologne, Germany, Mondsee Open Air Festival in Hohenmölsen, Germany, Nordhausen Festival in Nordhausen, Germany and Sommerspektakel Open Air Festival in Sarstedt, Germany.
Won's writing and recording sessions, and following promotional tours, featured a great deal of member changes for As Friends Rust. Prior to recording the album, the band lost three of its five members, leaving only lead vocalist Damien Moyal and guitarist Joseph Simmons. Guitarist and backing vocalist Christopher "Floyd" Beckham, bass guitarist Guillermo Amador and drummer Alexander Vernon were recruited, and with whom part of the album was written and demoed. Vernon was then replaced by Zachary Swain and Amador by Thomas Rankine; this line-up completed the writing of the album and participated in the recording of Won. Only four months after the album's release, Moyal quit the band. This forced Beckham to step up as lead vocalist, and in turn former member Gordon Tarpley returned as fill-in guitarist for a month's worth of shows, before As Friends Rust had a chance to recruit new lead vocalist Adam D'Zurilla. Four months later, Beckham also departed. After completing a European and British tour as a four-piece, and fulfilling most of its contractual obligations to the many record labels to which the band was signed, the remaining members of As Friends Rust decided to change the band's name to Salem in September 2002; less than a year after the album's release. Salem continued to tour in promotion of the release for two more months before focusing on new material.
Composition and recording
Before beginning work on its first full-length album, As Friends Rust went through major line-up changes in late 2000. The band had previously released three extended plays; The Fists of Time, a split with Discount (both in 1998) and As Friends Rust (in 1999), and had been touring in promotion of that material since June 1998. As Friends Rust had hoped to record a full-length album in late 1999 or early 2000, but was unable to compose enough new material. The band again planned to work on a full-length album in late 2000, having written a handful of songs described as "calmer and more depressing", but this material was eventually abandoned due to line-up changes. Prior to leaving on a European and British tour in September 2000, guitarist James Glayat and drummer Timothy Kirkpatrick announced their desire to leave the band upon returning home. However, tensions during the tour ultimately caused a much bigger change in membership, so much so that the future of As Friends Rust was questioned.
Ex-As Friends Rust guitarist Peter Bartsocas was visiting Europe at the same time and decided to travel with the band. When Glayat injured his leg during the first week of the tour and flew home early, Bartsocas filled the vacant guitarist position. Several shows later, lead vocalist Damien Moyal lost his voice, leading bass guitarist and backing vocalist Kaleb Stewart to take up lead vocals, and in turn Bartsocas temporarily filled in as bass guitarist. Moyal and guitarist Joseph Simmons called Christopher "Floyd" Beckham (Glayat's at-the-time roommate, and an ex-member of Morning Again, Culture and Crucible) from Europe, asking him to join As Friends Rust as its new guitarist upon returning home, much to Stewart's dismay, leading the latter to quit the band. Moyal and Stewart were initially to stay over in Europe following As Friends Rust's tour, for a second tour with their other band Bridgeburne R, but Moyal was forced to find a new bass guitarist for both bands, as well as a new drummer for As Friends Rust. Due to its membership changes, As Friends Rust had to pull out of playing Gainesvillefest in December 2000.
The band briefly considered becoming a four-piece, with Simmons as sole guitarist and Beckham as bass guitarist (finding it easier to fill a single missing member on drums), and shortening the band's name to The Rust. By early 2001, the band was actively writing material for its planned first full-length album, as part of its existing three-release recording contract with Doghouse Records. The Doghouse Records contract called for one extended play (used up with As Friends Rust) and two full-length albums; The Fists of Time: An Anthology of Short Fiction and Non-Fiction was a reissue of previously recorded material and did not count towards the contract.
The title of the planned album, Won, was chosen early on, as a motivator to persevere and overcome the difficulties that the band was facing. As Friends Rust was often told by its peers that it would never make it to having a full-length album; the band was therefore motivated to win that challenge. During the making of the album, the band faced further delays, leading affiliates to doubt that it would ever come to completion. The title was also a pun on the homophonous word one, since the release symbolized the band's first full-length album.
Moyal, Simmons and Beckham then recruited bass guitarist Guillermo Amador (who was also playing in Army of Ponch and would later play in Rehasher) in January 2001, and drummer Alexander Vernon (formerly of Twelve Tribes and who would later play in Mouth of the Architect) in February 2001, allowing Beckham to resume his position as guitarist. On February 27 and 28, 2001, As Friends Rust recorded demos of two new songs, "Morningleaver" and "This Is Me Hating You", with producer Rob McGregor at Goldentone Studios. The band had previously recorded at Goldentone Studios three times, for songs released on The Fists of Time, the split with Discount and As Friends Rust. The demo recordings of the two new songs were used on Doghouse Records' limited edition 7" vinyl Fan Series, released in late March 2001. As Friends Rust was one of only five bands selected by Doghouse Records for the Fan Series, the others being Chamberlain, River City High, Favez and Moods for Moderns. As Friends Rust's Fan Series 7" vinyl was available on marbled blue or black colors and was limited to 1500 copies.
Further line-up changes resulted with Zachary Swain (formerly of Rosalind, Adversary and Carlisle) replacing Vernon on drums in March 2001, and Thomas Rankine (formerly of Crestfallen, Bird of Ill Omen, Dead Men's Theory, Anchorman and Crucible) replacing Amador on bass in April 2001. Within four months, the band had written enough new songs for a full-length album.
Although As Friends Rust had been recording with producer Rob McGregor at Goldentone Studios in Gainesville, Florida for the previous three years, the band opted to record its debut album with producer James Paul Wisner at Wisner Productions in Davie, Florida; Wisner had recorded As Friends Rust's very first recording session in November 1996. By recording at Wisner Productions, the band was able to obtain a fuller and more polished sound. The band also benefited from an increased recording budget, courtesy of Doghouse Records.
Moyal, Simmons, Beckham, Swain and Rankine spent sixteen days in early July 2001 tracking ten songs for Won. The drum tracks were recorded by Mark Portnoy at Landmark Productions & Recording Studios in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, while the rest of the instruments and the vocals were recorded, mixed and produced by Wisner at Wisner Productions. The recorded material included new versions of "Morningleaver" and "This Is Me Hating You", newly-written songs "We on Some Next Level Shit", "Fourteen or So", "Austin, We Have a Problem", "Won't Be the First Time", "Perfect Stranglers", "Laughing Out Loud" and "Last Call", as well as "Ten" and an unlisted hidden track, both of which Moyal improvised lyrics to in the studio. Former As Friends Rust drummer Matthew Crum contributed additional percussion to the session, while backing vocals were provided by Beckham, Wisner and Further Seems Forever bass guitarist Chad Neptune.
Release and packaging
Won was originally scheduled for release in the early summer of 2001, but it was first pushed back to give the band more time to polish the songs and to book a two-week recording session at Wisner Productions. Doghouse Records then planned to release the album in August 2001, but it was again pushed back, this time due to complications with the layout and packaging. The delays also caused a missed September 2001 release, but Won finally hit the stores around the globe in October 2001. By that time, As Friends Rust had been out on tour promoting the release for two-and-a-half months.
The artwork and layout for Won had already been designed by Moyal and Jason Page, with photographs by Nicholas Forneris, in June 2001, prior to the recording session. The packaging for the 12" vinyl edition was a straight-forward cardboard sleeve with a twelve-page booklet, but the packaging for the compact disc edition was upgraded to a six-panel digipak (with a matching twelve-page booklet), so the layout had to be slightly revised. The yellow-background drawings included on the inside portion of the digipak were illustrated by Moyal. Unlike As Friends Rust's other releases, Won deliberately did not include Moyal's lyrics in the liner notes. Instead, the band posted the lyrics to the songs on its official website.
Doghouse Records arranged for the licensing of Won to other markets where the band would be touring, namely Europe and Japan. Japanese record label Howling Bull Entertainment, which had previously released As Friends Rusts' Eleven Songs on compact disc in October 1999, licensed the rights to release Won on compact disc for the Asian market. The Japanese edition was first planned for a September 5, 2001 release, then pushed back to a September 18, 2001 release, but finally came out on October 5, 2001. The OBI strip erroneously gives the September 18, 2001 date. It included two bonus tracks: the demo versions of "Morningleaver" and "This Is Me Hating You" recorded in February 2001 at Goldentone Studios. The album was distributed in Japan by Pryaid Records.