Numbers On Napkins formed in May of 2003, rising from the ashes of the short lived pop punk band, "Yars Revenge". After a verbal discussion turned heated between Yars Revenge bassist and vocalist, Chase Stain, and Yars Revenge Guitarist and vocalist, J-Sin Daily, the disagreement turned into a physical altercation involving Daily, Stain, as well as Yars Revenge guitarist and vocalist, Moe Money. The incident took place while the band was performing live in March of 2003, and would ultimately become the bands final performance.
After the incident, Moe Money, Chase Stain, and Yars Revenge drummer, Tad Gurthman, went on to form a new band called "Waiting for Tomorrow". The band performed several times immediately after forming, but played for small crowds in intimate settings until they felt as though they were ready to perform a considerable event. The trio booked their first live performance in front of a large audience at the 2003 Arizona Ska Punk Awards Ceremony in Tempe, Arizona, in May of 2003.
Three days before the event, the band members discovered that the name, "Waiting for Tomorrow", was currently being used by a band located in Canada, and they were forced to change their band name with short notice. The band members chose the new band name, "Numbers On Napkins", and announced the name change while on stage at the 2003 Arizona Ska Punk Awards Ceremony, just seconds before their live performance.
NON started performing at various concerts and events throughout their home state of Arizona, and spent time writing, learning, and refining new music for their debut release. The band chose to record their debut album at Studio Z in Phoenix, Arizona. NON hired Aaron Carey to co-produce, engineer and mix the album. Carey had an amazing resume, and had worked with several major record labels including, Capitol, Universal, Atlantic, and Interscope Records. Carey had also recorded several successful recording artists in a wide variety of genres, ranging from Sheryl Crow, Dokken and Fleetwood Mac, to Megadeth, Eminem, and Linkin' Park. Although primarily chose Carey due to the fact that he had recorded and mixed music for Vanilla Ice.
The band completed the recording, editing and mixing process in the early fall of 2004, and decided to release their debut album on Bad Stain Records in December of 2004. NON chose to name their debut release, "Waiting for Tomorrow", due to the fact that they had used the album title as their band name during the first few weeks of the bands career.
Waiting for Tomorrow was released on December 19, 2004, and album sales were much higher than anyone had anticipated. NON's debut album sold over 6,000 copies during the first year, and went on to become the best selling album from a single artist on Bad Stain Records. Their single, "Runaway" helped increase album sales when it was put into rotation on several online and college radio stations, as well as the popular alternative Phoenix based radio station, "The Edge", 103.9FM.
Waiting for Tomorrow also produced the fan favorite, "True Love". In just a few short weeks, "True Love" worked its way up the charts on the independent music based social media website, Gargage Band Dot Com. "True Love" eventually peaked at #1 on the Punk Charts. Hundreds of fans nominated the track for Best Love Song, resulting in "True Love" becoming the #1 Best Punk Rock Love Song on the ALL TIME Charts. The song held the #1 slot on the ALL TIME Charts for over three years, until the websites demise in late 2008.
NON continued to gain more fans, performing throughout the Southwestern U.S. as an opening act for popular independent artists like Groovie Ghoulies, Bayside, Teenage Bottlerocket, and The Queers. In September of 2005, NON added Matt Martini to the band as second guitarist, giving them a fuller sound at live shows and helping to diversify the bands sound.
The band once again entered the studio, eager to record the follow up to their highly successful debut album. NON decided to record a six song E.P. for their next release, and chose to make it a limited edition pressing of 5,000 copies. NON recorded the new material at Arcane Digital Recording in Chandler, Arizona. The recording was engineered and mixed by Ryan Butler, the guitarist for the grindcore band, "Landmine Marathon", and guitarist for the hardcore punk band, "North Side Kings".
NON released their new EP CD, titled "QuickerDrunkenLouderHarder", in the summer of 2006. Sales generated from the EP were not as high as the band and Bad Stain Records had projected, and the CD only sold 2,000 copies during the first year. Luckily, NON's first album, "Waiting for Tomorrow", was still selling very well, exceeding all expectations, and making up for the slow EP sales.
Numbers On Napkins continued to perform several live shows with various touring acts, helping to promote both albums. The band had performed several times alongside pop punk legends and pioneers, "The Queers", and the members had developed a friendship with frontman, Joe Queer. NON approached Joe Queer and requested that he produce their next full length album, and the band members were enthralled when Joe Queer agreed to work with them in the studio.
The band once again chose to record at Arcane Digital Recording with Ryan Butler, with Joe Queer performing the majority of the producing in absentia, due to his frequent touring schedule with The Queers. NON spent several hours recording pre-production material for their upcoming release, and would email Joe Queer rough mixes of songs, and wait for his response before returning to the studio to make any certain changes that he recommended. Joe Queer made a handful of trips into the studio to work alongside NON in person when time permitted him to do so, although his time in the studio was short, and he would only be able to work with the band for a few hours at a time.
In September of 2007, the band entered the studio one last time to finalize the mixing process, and prepare the CD for mastering. NON sent a final master copy of their new 14 song full length album to Joe Queer for his final approval, and started to design the album artwork, preparing to release the album in December of 2007.
In late October Joe Queer contacted the band and recommended that they make a few slight changes before moving forward, forcing NON to put mastering on hold and re-enter the studio. During the final sessions, the band members decided to send copies of the final release to A and R Reps at various labels in the hopes of finding a label that had the resources to promote and sell the album better than Bad Stain Records.
By early 2008, NON had received several offers from various independent record labels, as well as three major labels. The band was unsure about how they felt about signing with a major label, as they wanted to have full control of their music and didn't want the band to be taken advantage of in any way. NON's new album was far more diverse sounding than any of the bands previous releases, featuring several punk and pop punk songs, as well as jazz, Irish folk, post hardcore, and alternative tracks. NON felt as though signing to a major label would hurt their fan base, and was afraid that fans may come to the conclusion that NON had diversified their sound in order to appease the label, despite the fact that they had recorded the album prior to signing to a label. In addition, Joe Queer was highly opposed to the idea of NON signing to a major label, and did not want to participate any further with the recording process if the band signed with a major label.
NON hired a lawyer to carefully examine the contracts that they had received from various A and R Reps, and make any changes as needed. After several months of negotiating, the members narrowed their choices down to one major label and two independent labels. The major label agreed to allow NON to retain all rights to their music, and worked with the band to appease their other requests. Band members did not want to agree to the frequent touring schedule that the major label had purposed in the contract, unless the label offered a larger advance. The label was not offering a large enough advance to ensure that the band members could financially support their families while on tour. NON purposed that the contract be changed to allow the band to tour for only ten months during the span of their three year contract. The original contract demanded that NON tour for 24 months during the three year contract, and denied NON's request to change the contract. NON agreed to tour for 12 months during the span of the contract, although the label once again refused NON's request. After months of negotiating, the label eventually pulled the offer off the table. NON wasn't upset about losing the offer, because they felt as though it would be a huge mistake to sign to a label that didn't agree to all of the bands terms.
NON's choices were now limited to just two different small independent record labels, and in 2009 the band signed a single album, 18 month long contract with F-Bomb Records. The band performed live shows preparing for the release of their new album, playing with popular artists ranging from Yellowcard and Plain White T's, to Guttermouth and Flogging Molly. NON set the release date for their next full length, titled "Borrachos, Chingasos Y Rucas", although F-Bomb records was suffering from financial issues, and was forced to delay the release.
The band released a limited edition single EP CD to help promote their upcoming album, titled "Forget This, I'm Going to Tokyo". NON hoped that the release would appease their fans who had been waiting for the bands next album for over three years. The single featured three tracks from the bands upcoming release, as well as three previously unreleased live recordings. Over the next year, the release date for NON's new album was delayed several times due to F-Bomb Records financial problems, and band members began to second guess their decision to sign with the label.
In August of 2010, F-Bomb Records and Numbers On Napkins met and discussed the financial problems that the label was dealing with, and considering that the label was in breach of contract, F-Bomb agreed to let NON out of their agreement. The band immediately signed to Bad Stain Records, and rushed to release their long awaited sophmore full length, setting the release date of "Borrachos, Chingasos Y Rucas" for December 21, 2010.
Just a few days after announcing the release date of their upcoming album, guitarist Matt Martini approached the rest of the band members and informed them that he would be leaving the band in order to pursue his other project, "Reason Unknown". Martini had been growing frustrated with the direction that NON had been growing in musically, and wanted to play more straight forward punk rock. Gurthman, Money and Stain enjoyed playing punk rock, and wanted to stay true to their roots, but also wanted to express themselves using other musical genres, and wanted to continue to explore themselves musically and write music in a diverse style of genres, exploring the wide variety of music that they all enjoyed. The band fully understood and supported Martini's decision, and wished him ell with his other band. The two bands would end up performing frequently together over the next few years, and Martini remained friends with the remaining members of Numbers On Napkins.
In December of 2010, Numbers On Napkins released their long awaited and highly anticipated new full length album, Borrachos, Chingasos Y Rucas. NON decided to mover forward together as a three piece, and chose not to replace Matt Martini. Over the next two years, NON continued to perform live shows, but started to reduce the amount of shows in order to focus more on family life. In early 2012, the band members began writing new material for their next release, and a few months later, they started recording pre-production material for the album. NON had pulled two songs from their last full length album, due to the fact that they felt as though the tracks needed more work. The band planned on writing ten or twelve additional tracks, and including the two previously unreleased tracks on their upcoming album.
In late 2012, Money, Stain and Gurthman started to feel as though they were missing out on important family events and moments, and the trio discussed the idea of taking a hiatus for an undetermined amount of time. Money and Gurthman had recently become fathers, and Stain had an eight year old daughter. Stain had expressed frustration at times in the past, stating that he often felt as though he needed to spend more time with his daughter, and Money and Gurthman could now relate to Stain's situation. After serious consideration, the band felt as though it was crucial to spend as much time with their families as possible while their children were still young. They all agreed that they could focus on music for the rest of their lives, but they only had one chance to be a good father to their kids during their childhood.
In early 2013, NON made an announcement of the bands official website, as well as several social media websites, stating that the band would be going on hiatus for an undetermined amount of time, in order to spend more time with their families. The band announced that they would be performing one final show before the hiatus, and thanked all of the fans who had supported Numbers On Napkins over the past decade. On Saint Patrick's Day of 2013, NON performed their last live show at a small venue in Glendale, Arizona. NON managed to make the experience a night to remember, performing in an intimate setting for a small crowd of friends, family and fans. After the performance, the band members joined their fans in the audience, spending the rest of the evening at the bar, drinking and sharing stories.
The members of NON remained optimistic about someday returning to music and performing together again after their children were grown, they also recognized the fact that the event could ultimately be their final show ever. For several years after the show, NON's official website remained unchanged, with no new announcements or information regarding the band. The bands social media also remained the same, and the band didn't announce any news or make any posts.
In late 2017, nearly five years after announcing the hiatus, NON made an announcement on the bands official website, stating that the band was ending the hiatus, and would start working on a new album that they hoped to release on Bad Stain Records and Media Core Entertainment sometime in 2018. NON also announced that former guitarist Matt Martini would be joining the band for part of the recording process to record a handful of songs that the band had written while he was still a part of the band. They went into further details regarding the upcoming album, stating that the new release would contain the fan favorite, "Summer Daze". "Summer Daze" was originally recorded by the band in 2007, and they had planned on releasing the track on "Borrachos, Chingasos, Y Rucas", but eventually pulled the track from the album at the last minute because they felt as though it wasn't polished enough, despite the fact that their producer Joe Queer had stated that the song was their strongest track.
In addition to "Summer Daze", they announced that the album would also contain the bands popular version of Sir-Mix-A-Lot's number one hit, "Baby Got Back", as well as new material that was in the works. The members stated that they wanted their new album to showcase the bands style as it progressed throughout their career, and that they felt as though the album should contain assorted works from their past, as well as new material, to help celebrate the bands return from hiatus. NON informed fans that the new CD would contain live recordings of popular tracks, alternate versions of their songs "Broken" and "Ode to the Drink", and select songs from the limited edition and now out of print, "QuickerDrunkenLouderHarder" EP.
The bands official announcement was posted on their social media websites a few days following the announcement made on the bands website, and the news spread about the return. Bad Stain Records posted the news on the labels website, and several other social media outlets and punk rock news websites posted the announcement about the band. Numbers On Napkins completed recording the new album in December of 2018. In January of 2019, NON announced that their new CD would be titled, "From Buckeye To Beardsley", and hit store shelves in April of 2019.
As a way to help promote the new album, guitarist Moe Money and bassist, Chase Stain, both officially released their custom designed signature series instruments in September of 2018.
Moe Money modified a Fender Stratocaster guitar, and relocated the pickup selection switch in a more user friendly location, like the Telecaster. Money chose to have a custom made Seymour Duncan pickup set into the neck position, to help achieve his truly unique and perfect sound.
Chase Stain designed a bass version of Kurt Cobain's iconic signature Fender Jagstang guitar, that Cobain had originally designed with Fender just two years prior to his death. Stain used a genuine Fender Mustang neck and Fender authorized replacement Jagstang guitar body, and routed the body to be used as a bass. Stain routed the body to have a Fender Jazz Bass pickup in the bridge position, and a Fender Precision Bass pickup in the neck position. Stain them worked with Seymour Duncan to develop his signature "Black Gold" Fender Jazz Bass pickups that feature a powerful and beefy low end tone and signature "White Gold" Fender P-Bass pickups that feature a vibrant and glassy high end tone. The end result gave Chase Stain's signature bass a sleek and original looking style, that was capable of performing thunderous lows and warm and bright highs.
Money and Stain's signature series guitar and bass were both put up for sale from Bad Stain Noize Weapons, a new division of Bad Stain Records that Stain created that would specialize in making custom made instruments. Each of the instruments were limited edition builds, and only 30 guitars and 30 bass guitars were manufactured.
Due to a paperwork error that Chase Stain made while obtaining permission to allow NON to cover the song, “Baby Got Back”, production of the bands new CD was put on halt, and the album was not released on 4/9/2019 as originally planned. The issue was soon resolved, and “From Buckeye To Beardsley” hit store shelves on June 28, 2019. Album sales were not even close to as high as any of the bands previous releases, and less than 100 fans pre-ordered the CD.
With several factors working against them, NON remained optimistic about their new album. They were aware that CD’s no longer sold nearly as well as they had a decade earlier, and they had also been out of the music business for five years, and were finding it difficult to work they way back into the local underground scene.
The band decided to release a CD single for their song, “Ode to the Drink”, as a way to help promote their new album. They chose to include four different versions of the song on the new CD and decided to have it be a limited edition pressing, with only 300 units available, and also made sure that it was not available to download online or streaming on any websites.
Media Core Entertainment declined NON’s idea, but asked that the band locate all of their unreleased material, including pre-production studio recordings, live recordings, and demo tracks. Media Core explained that they may be interested in releasing an album full of the bands previously unreleased material in the near future, and requested that they set up a meeting to discuss the issue in further detail. NON agreed, but expressed their determination to release the limited edition single CD before moving forward with any other future projects.
Bad Stain Records agreed to release the single CD, and set a release date for the winter of 2019. NON continued to push the bands new full length album, “From Buckeye To Beardsley” by performing interviews with various music driven websites and independent magazines and other small print publications.
On December 6th, 2019, NON’s new CD, the “Ode to the Drink” EP was released. The band also announced that after meeting with Media Core Entertainment, the band would be releasing a special fifteen year anniversary deluxe edition re-issue of their debut album, “Waiting for Tomorrow”, featuring special bonus tracks, including demo recordings, live songs, and previously unreleased material! NON announced that the new CD would be in stores in the late summer of 2020.
In July of 2020, Numbers On Napkins released the re-issue of the bands debut album, "Waiting for Tomorrow". Unfortunately, the band didn't perform any live shows to promote the release due to COVID-19, and fans started to wonder if the band would ever perform live together on stage again. Even though NON had ended the hiatus in late 2017, the band had yet to perform live together since their final show before going on hiatus on Saint Patrick's Day of 2013.
In early 2021, NON announced that they would be releasing a Greatest Hits album later that same year, and followed the announcement with the sad news that the band was officially throwing in the towel. NON stated that the three members were each going their separate ways, but that they planned on continuing to make and perform music. Money and Gurthman formed a new band called "Numbers from Downtown", along with members of the former punk band, "Downtown Dramatics". Chase Stain began working on his new solo material, and also continued to operate Bad Stain Records and his other music endeavors.
Numbers On Napkins officially called it quits in April of 2021, and the band hopes to release a Greatest Hits album featuring a collection of fan favorites in the summer of 2021.