Autonomy were formed in 1998 in Daventry, Northants, by original vocalist Terry Muller and current singer Jay Spencer whose distinctive vocal styles combined to create everything from hi-speed intense rapping to throat-ripping growls, and highly emotional singing - all in the same track!. These two had the vision to create a band that could compete in their thriving local Northants scene at the time- Raging Speedhorn and Defenestration were just beginning to make waves and put the previously inconsequential area on the map.
Drawing initial inspiration from (like everybody else) the US nu-metal explosion and, more tellingly, the raw homegrown metal of Raging Speedhorn and the like, Autonomy quickly evolved into a five-man wrecking crew guaranteed to get even the most indifferent of crowds indulging in full-on mosh-pit mayhem.
Also in the same year Matt Cosentino joined on guitar and it proved to be a decisive move - he pushes the limits of what heavy guitars are 'supposed' to sound like and was as logical a choice as adding Rich Bradley on drums - surely one of the most hard hitting and talented drummers around. Paul Harrison strengthened the line up on bass and Autonomy hit the ground running later in 1998 setting about playing countless local area shows and building a fan base the good old traditional way - by gigging. The release of MP3's onto many websites around the world also added to the buzz that was building.
A widely circulated 3 track demo in early 2000 rewarded Autonomy with some industry interest and they won a coveted appearance on the Unsigned Band Stage at the Manchester 'In The City' showcase in September 2000, being handpicked from 400+ demo hopefuls by an eminent industry panel. In addition to being namechecked by Music Week and Kerrang! as one of the highlights of the event, the band promptly confirmed their promising future by signing to Earache Records, beating the likes of US Major Columbia in the race to sign 'em.
Shortly afterwards, the lead track of the demo, S/K/N/S, started to receive airplay on national radio, with both the Radio One Rock Show and leading satellite station TotalRock giving it an airing through sheer numbers of fan requests alone. Radio maverick Chris Evans stunned commuters one early morning by playing the track completely unannounced on his breakfast show- when he still had a show.Still, not bad for a band with no record in the stores yet.
Autonomy then began to set their sights on the recording of their debut album for the label. It was an email out of the blue that brought Autonomy in touch with their producer - Dave Dominguez from LA - who had engineered on such notable successes as Papa Roach's "Infest" and Staind's "Break The Cycle" albums and was trawling the web for an act to be his very first actual production job. Having read good write ups about the band on leading nu metal website theprp.com, Dave requested a demo, and to the bands good fortune, he was suitably impressed - so plans were set in motion for Dave to come to the UK and oversee the recording, which took place at DEP studios in Birmingham -the same studio that lostprophets' debut was recorded in also.
Recordings took place there from May until June this year and the mix was completed in LA in August, but it was during the recording of the album , that the recently recruited second singer Olly Eldershaw departed the band. Autonomy wasted no time announcing an immediate replacement , introduced to them by Dave Dominguez.
Los Angeles native 'Soup' Carpenter, became the newest full time member, lending a melodic and very distinctive vocal style to the band, and complementing Jay Spencer's high speed rapping and blood curdling screams perfectly.
Matt explains why a USA based singer came to join a Daventry band -
"Soup was introduced to us by our producer, Dave Dominguez, and he originally suggested we considered Soup just guesting on our album. On hearing some of Soup's own demo stuff we were blown away and are delighted with the vocals he has since added to those of Jay and Olly on some of the album tracks, giving them just that 'different edge' we'd been looking for. Having already contributed to the album and proven his worth, Soup was the natural replacement for Olly."
Soup is no stranger to the business. His previous band- the Weezer -ish "Holliston Stops" - made TV appearances on "That 70's Show" and "3rd Rock From The Sun" in the US, but his main talking point is that during his college days in Sacramento, Soup was room mates with none other than Deftones frontman Chino Moreno -whom he still keeps in touch with.
Now a fully functioning Anglo American outfit, Autonomy's debut album - self titled - will be released on Earache Records on November 12th 2001.The world can expect more than just another lame nu metal-by-numbers clone, Autonomy's album is by turns furiously aggressive, churning metal that switches instantly to emotionally-charged emo-ish passages in the same song and showcases a world class production to boot

Source : http://www.earache.com/