American Hi-Fi

History

The band initially formed under the name BMX Girl, and Stacy Jones changed the name to one personally suggested by Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. Their self-titled debut album was released through Island Records on February 27, 2001, produced by Bob Rock. It was an AllMusic 'Album Pick', and critic Mario Mesquita Borges stated that '[t]he future of rock & roll is surely guaranteed with acts such as American Hi-Fi.' The album reached No. 81 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Heatseekers list.

The debut single 'Flavor of the Weak' charted on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks and the Billboard Hot 100, followed by 'Another Perfect Day' which peaked at 33 on the Modern Rock Charts. In February 2003, the band released their second studio album, The Art of Losing, produced by Nick Launay. It peaked at number eighty on the Billboard 200 and featured the singles 'The Art of Losing' and 'The Breakup Song.' The album failed to match the success of the debut, leading Island Records to drop the band.

In early 2004, without a label, the band moved to Los Angeles to work with producer Butch Walker on a new album. Hearts on Parade was released in Japan on July 14, 2004. Around this time, Brian Nolan left the band to focus on fatherhood and was replaced by Jason Sutter. In November 2004, American Hi-Fi signed with Maverick Records, which promoted the lead single 'The Geeks Get the Girls' with a music video in February 2005.

Hearts on Parade was released in the United States on April 12, 2005, nearly a year after its Japanese release. Neither single broke into the Billboard Modern Rock charts, and Maverick dropped the band in the fall of 2005 due to poor sales. In the winter of 2005, Playtone Records sought submissions for the Superman Returns soundtrack; the band submitted a demo, 'The Rescue', which had been recorded for Hearts on Parade but cut from the album. The song was selected for the soundtrack and received frequent radio airplay into the spring of 2006, but did not result in a new record contract.

In April 2007, American Hi-Fi announced they would record their fourth record in May 2007. Former drummer Brian Nolan rejoined the band. On January 8, 2008, the band released two unfinished mixes on their Myspace page: 'Keep It Like a Secret' and 'A Taste for Crime'. Frontman Stacy Jones described the new album as sounding '...a little like Elliott Smith partying with the Foo Fighters at a kegger with My Bloody Valentine and Superdrag'.

The band released eight demos on their MySpace page, including 'Fight the Frequency', 'Frat Chump', 'Acetate', 'Bullet', 'This Is a Low', 'Recover the Stars', 'Lost', and 'Where Love Is a Lie'. On December 4, 2008, Drew Parsons stated they had signed with Original Sound records for an April/May 2009 release, but later decided not to go through with those plans. The band created their own label 'Hi-Fi Killers/The Ascot Club' (through Megaforce/RED/Sony).

In July 2010, they released a music video for 'Lost' and an EP on iTunes. The album Fight the Frequency was released on August 17, 2010. According to a post on Twitter and Facebook, the band announced they would record a new album as a follow-up to Fight the Frequency. They signed with Goomba Music, and the album was produced by the band and John Fields, recorded at Stacy Jones' studio, The Deathstar.

Recording started around February, vocals done in March, and mixing was given to Paul David Hager. Plans slowed as Stacy Jones joined Matchbox Twenty for tour as drummer. On August 1, the band tweeted that their new album would come out soon and posted a new track 'Killing Time', followed by 'Wake Up' in September. American Hi-Fi did a one-off sold-out show in London on May 7, 2014 and announced their new album would be titled Blood & Lemonade, released on September 9, 2014 via independent label Rude Records, with a new single 'Allison'.

On July 15, the band released the second single 'Golden State' as an instant grat alongside the album pre-order. On August 19, they released a music video for 'Golden State'. The band joined Summerland Tour 2015 with Everclear, Fuel, and Toadies. In February 2016, the band announced they were re-recording an acoustic version of their self-titled debut album, released on Rude Records on April 29, 2016.

Stacy Jones said they initially were not interested, but thought it would be an interesting challenge and recorded it live at Sunset Sounds with minimal overdubs. They released a music video for 'Flavor of the Weak' Acoustic on YouTube. The band released an EP of cover songs on August 7, 2020 titled Anywhere Else but Here. On October 10, 2024, the band released their first new song in a decade: 'I'm Still In Love With Rock and Roll'.