Folly (band)

History

Folly got its start around 1997 at High Point Regional High School. Agim Colaku and Geoff Towle were the only founding members who stuck with the group for its entire run. Other musicians who came and went included drummers Josh Witt and Kurt Rohel, bassist Billy Pouch, vocalists Larry Braun and Tony Perdisatt, and trumpeter Al Phillips. Jon Tummillo took over as singer in 1998, and Agim’s brother, Arben Colaku, joined on bass a year later.

The band cut its first recording at Nada Studio in Orange County, New York. They built a following playing shows around New Jersey and the tri-state area, which led to a meeting with Jesse and Alex Burton, who ran the small New Jersey indie label New World Records. Once Anthony Wille came in on drums, the band started playing beyond their home region and across the country. In early summer 2002, Folly met producer Sal Villanueva at Big Blue Meenie—the same studio where they had mixed their EP the year before—and recorded a three-track demo that featured backing vocals from members of Shai Hulud.

After two more tours, they played a show at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, alongside Converge, The Survivors, and A Life Once Lost. At that show, Fred Feldman, owner of Triple Crown Records, approached them. It included guest vocals from Joey Southside of The Banner, Eric Gunderson of Killed By Memories, and Erin Farley, and a montage music video for the unreleased track "Broken," edited by Robbie Tassaro. Their second album, Resist Convenience, followed on March 10, 2006, again produced by Sal Villanueva at Big Blue Meenie, with guest vocals from Tyler Guida of My Bitter End, Logan Laflotte of Paulson, and Eric Gunderson.

Over the years, Folly toured with acts like Senses Fail, Moneen, The Beautiful Mistake, Paulson, Anterrabae, The Banner, Underminded, Look What I Did, Drop Dead, Gorgeous, The Human Abstract, The Forecast, and The Static Age.