Rival Schools is an Americanpost-hardcore band fromNew York City,New York. For most of their tenure, the band has featuredWalter Schreifels onvocals andguitar, Ian Love on guitar, Cache Tolman onbass guitar, andSam Siegler ondrums.

Rival Schools
Rival Schools in concert in 2009
Background information
Origin	New York City, U.S.
Genres	Post-hardcore alternative rock punk rock indie rock emo
Years active	1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2022–present
Labels	Photo Finish, Some Records,Island,Run for Cover
Members	Walter Schreifels Cache Tolman Sam Siegler Ian Love
Past members	Chris Traynor

Formed by Schreifels, frontman ofQuicksand, Rival Schools is ahardcoresupergroup; its members were alumni of '80s and '90s hardcore bands includingGorilla Biscuits (Schreifels),CIV (Siegler),Youth of Today (Schreifels and Siegler) and Iceburn (Tolman).

The band's name (and that of their first LP) comes from theCapcomfighting gameRival Schools: United By Fate.^[1] In their short history, the band toured both theUnited Kingdom^[2] (in support ofA) and theUnited States.

In 2008, the band reformed to play some live shows, includingSoundwave in Australia,Rock Am Ring inGermany,Hove Festival inNorway, a headline tour andDownload Festival in theUnited Kingdom.

On November 16, 2010, the band released the deluxe single for "Shot After Shot" on iTunes from the forthcoming recordPedals, which was released March 8, 2011.^[3] Rival Schools released their third album,Found, on April 9, 2013.^[4] Following a tour in support of the album, the band became inactive once again, before reuniting in 2022 to celebrate the 20th anniversary ofUnited By Fate.

Rival Schools' first release was based around the concept of a series of EPs where multiple groups would come together to form a single band. For this, they teamed up with formerFar leadman,Jonah Matranga. The lone result of this experiment was titledRival Schools United by Onelinedrawing, released on 24 July 2001 by Schreifels' Some Records.

Their full-length album,United by Fate, was produced by theGrammy-nominatedLuke Ebbin^[5] and released on 28 August 2001. Due to obligations from Schreifels' time with Quicksand, the album was released byIsland Records. Two songs from the album saw release as singles: "Used for Glue" closely followed the album's release, with "Good Things" coming later. Both songs enjoyed heavy rotation onMTV in the US and UK.

In between touring with the band, Ian Love formedCardia and eventually left in 2002 to better focus on them. Regardless, a second album was expected for Spring/Summer 2003,^[6] but never surfaced commercially (the master tapes, comprising 11 songs, were later leaked onto the Internet).^[7] In June, the band played a few US shows withThursday.^[8] The rest of the band parted ways in September 2003: Schreifels went on to formWalking Concert; Love recorded a self-titled solo album in 2006, released onLimekiln Records^[usurped]; Tolman went on play withInstitute; and Siegler joinedNightmare of You and briefly provided percussion forLimp Bizkit.

Despite the band's dissolution, rumours persisted that a new Rival Schools album would be released. This album would presumably be the never-released second LP, however other suggestions have been of an album of B-sides and unreleased songs or of an album of new material, performed by a reformed Rival Schools. Schreifels himself mentioned the likelihood of a new album, with it being mooted for late 2006.^[9] The album was mastered in 2012 and eventually released, titledFound, on April 9, 2013,^[4] having been unofficially available in mp3 demo form.

On April 9, 2008 the GermanRock am Ring &Rock im Park rock music festivals announced that Rival Schools would perform at the festival on June 8, 2008.^[10] The band also played the second stage of theDownload Festival inDonington Park, UK on the same dayKiss headlined.^[11] The band advertised a 5 date UK tour in Kerrang! Magazine (7 May 2008), and set up an official Myspace page, on which Schreifels revealed the band were writing new material. New songs aired at the UK dates have included 'Big Waves', 'Paranoid Detective', 'On the Frey' and 'Sophia Lauren'. Rival Schools is played a small number of east coast US shows in November,^[12] prior to appearing at Fun Fun Fun Festival in Austin, TX in November, and then at theSoundwave festival in February 2009. On January 24, 2009 the band announced on their MySpace that they were entering the studio to start recording their as yet untitled new album.^[13] In August 2009, they played the UK Reading & Leeds festivals on the 'Lock Up' stage alongside Mad Caddies, The Bronx and Rise Against. Rival Schools also supported The Offspring at their UK shows.

On November 16, 2010 the band released the deluxe single for "Shot After Shot" on iTunes from the then forthcoming recordPedals

On March 8, 2011Pedals was released onPhoto Finish Records.^[14] Ian Love left the band for a second time in September 2011, with the band continuing as a three piece.

In 2013, the band released their third studio album,Found. The album was initially written and recorded as the intended follow-up toUnited by Fate, but the band split up before completing the release and it was ultimately shelved.^[15] Rival Schools played their final show of their reunion on November 19, 2013 at the O2 Academy Brixton in London, England.^[16]

In August 2022, an official Rival Schools Instagram page was launched, teasing an upcoming announcement and linking to a new merch store. Shortly after, an official announcement was made thatUnited By Fate would be getting a 20th anniversary re-release throughRun for Cover Records, with a 2023 tour also announced. An acoustic version of "Holding Sand" was also released to streaming sites on August 8. The entire original line-up will partake in the reunion, marking Love's first shows with Rival Schools in 12 years. The band played their first shows back in San Diego and Los Angeles on May 10 and May 11, 2023, respectively.^[17]

Current members

• Walter Schreifels –lead vocals,guitar(1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2022–present)
• Cache Tolman –bass(1999–2002, 2008–2013, 2022–present)
• Sam Siegler –drums(1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2022–present)
• Ian Love – guitar(1999–2002, 2008–2011, 2022–present)

Former members

• Chris Traynor – guitar(2002–2003)

• Rival Schools United by Onelinedrawing (6-track EP) (2001), Some Records
• Some EP (5-track EP) (2022), Run for Cover Records

• Rival Schools WebSite official
• Rival Schools at MySpace Music official
• Comprehensive listing of Rival Schools releases, shows, flyers and videos
• Rival Schools atAllmusic
• Walter Schreifels official site
• Ian Love official site
• United by Walter^[usurped] a Walter Schreifels fan site
• Interview with Bombshellzine.com