Emo Bands

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Saetia (pronounced sigh-eigh-shee-ahh) was a New York City-based screamo/post-hardcore band. Their name originates from a misspelling of the Miles Davis track “Saeta”, from his album Sketches of Spain, which, in turn, was named after the saeta, a religious tradition of flamenco music. (This is similar to fellow screamo band Joshua Fit For Battle, whose name was a corruption of the traditional American spiritual song “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho”; other members of Saetia later formed Off Minor, which is the title of a Thelonious Monk composition.)

Saetia had numerous members throughout its existence, with frequent changes in membership. The band’s first bass player, Alex Madara, was affected by a severe allergic reaction which placed him into a coma for eight days, finally resulting in his death on 1998-12-14.

Their drummer, Greg Drudy, was the original drummer of the indie-rock band Interpol prior to their current popularity. He currently runs the record label Level Plane. Other members of the band continued their musical careers in numerous outfits, some of them joining screamo bands such as Off Minor, Hot Cross, and The Fiction, as well as the nu-metal band Instruction.

Saetia’s final, posthumous single, “Eronel” (also a title of a Thelonious Monk composition) was released under the Witching Hour label in 2000. The single contains three songs recorded by Steve Roche and mixed by Pat Kenneally.

Past members
Billy Werner
Greg Drudy
Jamie Behar
Steve Roche
Matt Smith
Adam Marino
Alex Madara
Colin Bartoldus