Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter
Geoff Farina made a name for himself with
Karate, a band that was active from 1993 to 2005 and grew immensely popular with its unlikely hybrid of emo rock songwriting and jazzy guitar flourishes.
Farina broke up
Karate when hearing damage started setting in from over a decade of nonstop loud performances, opting to play music in a more acoustic fashion both on his own, with band Glorytellers, and in a duo form with his friend and contemporary
Chris Brokaw. The formation of
Exit Verse in early 2013 marked
Farina's return to electric guitar and a louder rock sound, as he joined up with drummer Chris Dye and bassist Pete Croke to begin work on new songs.
Exit Verse played around their home of Chicago and eventually completed the basic tracking for a nine-song self-titled album.
Farina traveled to Boston, where he enlisted vocal help on the album from
Thalia Zedek. The album surfaced in late 2014, with a sound somewhere between
Karate's tense approach to dynamics and the more laid-back influence of classic rock and punk bands like
Thin Lizzy and
the Clash. Dye left
Exit Verse shortly after recording wrapped up and was replaced by drummer John Dugan as the band set off on its first tours. Led by the single "Sleeping in Graceland," the band's sophomore set,
Grant No Glory, arrived in November 2016. ~ Fred Thomas