May 10

On the heels of a recent Dove Award for “Modern Rock Album Of The Year” with their highly-acclaimed Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right… But Three Do, Relient K is gearing up for their fourth Gotee album release. At the recent 35th Annual Gospel Music Awards, Relient K beat out contenders in the “Modern Rock Album Of The Year” category. Singer/guitarist Matt Thiessen commented on their win. “This past week a really nice lady gave us a Dove Award,” said Thiessen. “We want to thank everybody in the positions of power that helped make that happen (I forgot to thank them on stage). Also, we’re going to start chiseling away at a new record this week. We’re really excited. It’s going to sound a lot like if Tom Arnold and Nichole Kidman had a baby and then gave it up for adoption. But not really.” The band, currently writing new material, entered the studio last week to record their latest album slated to hit streets later this year. Relient K’s debut self-titled album released in 2000 and since then the band’s three albums, including last year’s Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right… But Three Do, have sold a combined total of over one million albums to date. Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right… also debuted on the Billboard Top 200 album chart at #38, and was nominated for a GRAMMY award. The band, who is on the road an average of 150-200 dates a year, just wrapped up a tour with openers The Rocket Summer, Yellow Second and Mae. Relient K has also toured with acts including Switchfoot, The O.C. Supertones, and Five Iron Frenzy among others.

September 14

The rumor mill is producing some solid facts these days as it has been confirmed that Brian Pittman, the bassist for Relient K has left the band (so full-time replacement has been secured yet), playing his final show with them on August 29th in TN at the final Bleach performance.

September 17

Relient K, the #1 ranked alternative rock band in the CBA marketplace, will unveil their fourth studio album titled Mmhmm on November 2nd. A special deluxe CD version of the band’s Christmas album Deck The Halls, Bruise Your Hand will also be released to retail simultaneously. Relient K’s Mmhmm album, produced by Mark Townsend, features 14 songs that are noticeably more piano-driven ranging from the introspective “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been” to the lighter sounds of “Life After Death And Taxes.” “We’re not trying to hide anything with the songs on this record, just to get what we feel out there,” commented lead man Matt Thiessen. “We definitely have our own way of singing about spirituality. We hope between that and the music, it connects with someone out there.” Deck The Halls, Bruise Your Hand, Relient K’s Christmas album will hit store shelves on November 2nd along with the new album Mmhmm. The holiday offering, originally released last year, will be a limited edition piece that is packaged with previous studio album Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right… But Three Do. The Christmas album highlights ten songs with the infamous Relient K sound ranging from “Angels We Have Heard On High,” and “Deck The Halls,” to “I Hate Christmas Parties,” and “Santa Clause Is Thumbing To Town.” Relient K’s most recent recognition came in the form of a 2004 Dove Award for “Modern Rock Album Of The Year” with their previous Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right… But Three Do release. The band has heralded other accolades with the Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right album including a 2004 Vibe Award for “Best Rock/Alternative Album”, as well as 2003 GRAMMY nomination. The album debuted at the #38 spot on The Billboard 200 and currently Relient K is approaching the one million mark on total albums sold. The band, who is on the road an average of 150-200 dates a year, has confirmed a street week club tour in 10 markets in support of Mmhmm.

September 20

Can’t wait for Relient K’s new record? The band has released two brand new cuts from their forthcoming record Mmhmm on November 2nd! Head on over to http://www.purevolume.com/relientk to hear their new songs “The One I’m Waiting For” and “I So Hate Consequences”.

September 29

Artist Jimmy A. was recently commissioned by Gotee Records to paint his rendition of the much-anticipated Relient K album mmhmm, which releases on November 2nd. The canvas artwork will be auctioned off with 100% of the proceeds going to DATA, an organization focused on the crisis situation in Africa. The 7×7 feet painting is Jimmy A’s artistic re-interpretation of the existing mmhmm album cover design. The canvas piece will be auctioned off on E-Bay which began yesterday, September 28th. The link to the E-Bay online bidding can be found at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3751459703&ssPageName=ADME:B:LC:US:1. A one-minute feature documenting the creation of the painting is available to view at http://www.mmhmm.com/painting/RelientKPainting.mov. “I always love seeing a great idea come to fruition and having this painting created for charity was an idea I loved the second it came my way,” said Gotee president Joey Elwood. “I’m excited to see how the core Relient K fans respond to this piece once it is posted for bids. In addition, I couldn’t think of a more appropriate organization to donate the proceeds.” DATA aims to raise awareness about the crisis swamping Africa including unpayable debts, uncontrolled spread of AIDS, and unfair trade rules which keep Africa poor. At the core of the DATA mission is a view that these issues are not about charity but equality and justice.

October 18

The Complex Infrastructure Known As The Female Mind: According To Relient K aims to be the definitive guide for teenaged girls about the various other “girl types” out there. Relient K gives their take on the pop-culture stereotypes including the Homecoming Queen, The Athlete, and The Overachiever among others. The band shares both personal experience and advice for girls of all “types” on becoming women of God. The 192-page book debust November 3rd and will retail for $12.99 and highlights Relient K’s fun-loving attitude towards life through quizzes, lists, stories and more! Their newest album, Mmhmm releases the day before on November 2nd! (from LB Public Relations)

October 26

Relient K has announced some pretty significant news today. Frontman Matthew Thiessen has made the exit of bassist Brian Pittman official while announcing a new record deal… “Crazy. That’s the theme of this letter. The last few months have been absolutely that. A lot of you have heard things here and there that would give you an idea of what we’re talking about, but it’s hard to really get across just how insane things have been the last few months. We toured hard all summer while working on our new record. Honestly, it was kinda hard work. But, the end result is something that we’re really excited about. Our new album is by far our favorite accomplishment that we’ve achieved in the category of recorded music. We hope you’ll agree. But, you guys already know that we were working on a record this summer… That’s hardly enough reason to start throwing the word ‘crazy’ around. So here’s the rest. After almost seven years of being in Relient K, our cherished and lifelong friend, Brian Pittman has decided to move on to other things. That IS crazy, huh? Brian decided to leave the band in June, so we’ve had plenty of time to let the initial shock die down. We’re aware that a lot of you already knew, so we apologize for not announcing this sooner. There were various reasons. He thought long and hard about his decision, and he came to the conclusion that he would like to do other things than play bass for the band. We respect him for it. We’d be lying to say that we’re not all completely bummed that Brian won’t be a part of Relient K anymore. And though we know things won’t be the same without him, it must be said that we have always valued our friendships with him more than our on-stage relationship. Anyway, all of us still hang out, and its like nothing is different at all. I feel like that’s how you know that you’ve made a friend that will be there for the rest of your days. We want to thank Brian for all the years he gave the band. You’re the best, buddy. On a side note: A lot of you thought that Brian’s last show was going to be Bleach’s last show on August 28th. It was intended to be, but when the day rolled around, we decided that the best way to respect Bleach and their final show would be to announce Brian’s retirement at a later date. Rumor has it that he’ll be playing at least one or two more songs with us before all is said and done. So… Even though we got that off our chests, we’re not quite done with the news yet… We just wanted to let you know that in addition to Gotee Records, our new record ‘MMHMM’ will be released on Capitol Records (Yellowcard, Radiohead, The Beach Boys) as well. This came as a surprise to us about three weeks ago. We want you to know that our album was already completed before Capitol showed interest. Most of you may not care, but for those of you that fear that a band may sell-out or change when they hook up with a new label, put your minds at ease. Regardless of what label is distributing our music, we’re just ecstatic to put out our new album and play the songs live. I think I just typed WAY too much stuff. I feel tired. We should all hug. A huge thanks to all you guys for being so cool to us despite any drama or circulating rumors. There is much love for all of you from all of us
Matthew Thiessen & Relient K” (from RelientK.com)

November 10

Gotee/Capitol Records’ band Relient K unveiled their fourth studio album Mmhmm last Tuesday, November 2nd and is off to an impressive stride with 51,473 albums sold first week out, nearly doubling their street week numbers of the last album Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right… But Three Do. Mmhmm also garnered the #1 album spot on Sound Scan’s Christian album chart with 24,153 sold at CBA. An additional 27,320 albums were sold at mainstream. Relient K’s new offering also was the number one seller in the nation over the internet, with 8,534 albums snatched up. These first week sales numbers landed Relient K at #15 on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart. In comparison, the band’s last Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right release debuted at the #38 position on that same Billboard chart. The band has seen amazing momentum in street week sales with their very first album scanning 900 units, their second release scanning 9,000, the third album scanned 30,000, and now culminating in the past week’s 51,473 albums sold. Relient K heralds the title of the #1 ranked alternative rock band in the CBA marketplace. Their most recent recognition came in the form of a 2004 Dove Award for “Modern Rock Album Of The Year” with their previous Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right… But Three Do release. The band has heralded other accolades with the Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right album including a 2004 Vibe Award for “Best Rock/Alternative Album”, as well as 2003 GRAMMY nomination. Relient K has sold over one million albums to date. The band also just released their first-ever book entitled The Complex Infrastructure Known As The Female Mind: According To Relient K (Transit Books). (from LB Public Relations)

December 1

On Monday, USA Today featured an article on Gotee Records pop-punk band Relient K! Entitled “Can this punk-pop band make it big? ‘Mmhmm’,” the flattering article can be viewed online now here: http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2004-11-29-otv-relientk_x.htm (Thanks to Steve P.)

December 10

After scanning over 51,000 albums first week out and garnering the number one position on the Christian Sound Scan charts with their recent mmhmm release, Gotee/Capitol Records’ band Relient K continues their impressive stride with their first ever number one radio hit “Be My Escape.” “Be My Escape” grabbed the number one spot on the Christian Rock radio charts for the week ending December 5th. This marks the first number one radio single since the band debuted on Gotee in 2000. The mmhmm album, which includes “Be My Escape” has already sold over 120,000 albums since releasing on November 2nd. (from LB PR)