The Transplants is a group of punk rock and American rap rock. He trained in 1999 during a tour between Tim Armstrong (Rancid, Operation Ivy) and Rob Aston.
The band was formed in 1999 when Tim Armstrong, leader of Rancid, made listen to his friend and faithful tour technician, Rob Aston, songs he had created using the Pro Tools music program. On this occasion, Tim will ask Rob if he wanted to write lyrics. Initially, Tim played all the instruments himself, but when the project grew he invited fellow musicians, Matt Freeman and Lars Frederiksen from Rancid, and Vic Ruggiero from The Slackers to contribute to the project. Then, Tim and Rob decide to officially form a band and in 2002, ask Travis Barker of blink-182 to join them as a drummer. Originally, Tim wanted to draw his musical inspiration from the London speed garage scene by working with loops and samples.
After two years of recording, they released their first album Transplants on Hellcat Records in October 2002. In the end, the album was fully recorded and mixed in the basement of Tim. In addition, it contains the special appearance, as vocalists of Eric Ozenne (Nerve Agents), Davey Havok (AFI), Danny Diablo, Lars Frederiksen (Rancid) and Brody Dalle (The Distillers, Tim's ex-wife). Brody sings in Weigh on My Mind, which Tim describes as "their song" . The singles, Diamonds and Guns and D.J.D.J., quickly become favorites on MTV and propel the band to great commercial success. The song Diamonds and Guns and its catchy piano tune, played by co-producer Dave Carlock, attracts new fans when it was used for a Garnier Fructis> shampoo commercial. Their success was further realized when they toured with the Foo Fighters.
The group broke up for the first time in 2003 (each member wanting to focus on their respective projects), and reformed the following year. Transplants' second album, Haunted Cities, was released in June 2005.
