July For Kings, Version 2.0: SwimWith the addition of Jason Morgan (bass) and T Miller (cello, guitar, backing vocals), Vice took on a new name: Swim. And as Swim, the band did pretty well. Swim released two albums, 1999's Safe Unless and 2000's The Laughter and the Noise, and MTV even featured five of Swim's songs during the course of The Real World: New Orleans.
In 2001, Swim went on to win two Cammy Awards: Favorite Band and Best Rock Instrumentalist (Best Rock Instrumentalist actually went to Sam).
That night, MCA Records offered Swim a record deal. And Swim became a major-label band.
July For Kings, Version 3.0: July For KingsThis is when the legalities kicked in. Apparently, a few other bands already had the name Swim. "It’s trademark laws working against us," says Joe. "And it was either spend a whole lot of money on attorneys or just change it." So the group spent approximately six months trying to find a name for themselves. They ultimately used the names of two of their prior songs, "July" and "Kings," and combined them to form July For Kings. "And it has the cool acronym JFK," says T, "and we like that idea since you have to have a long name anyway nowadays to shorten it and make it memorable for people. It stuck and it works."
The band's major-label album, Swim (titled for the group's former moniker), was released on November 5, 2002.
But the road was not necessarily very easy for them. In February of 2003, Jason announced that he needed to leave the band. During the process of finding a new bassist, Aaron Thomas played for the band. He played between March and June. In the midst of all this, MCA began the process of merging with Geffen, and July For Kings was dropped from the label.
In July, a new bassist, Amos Heller, joined July For Kings. He brought an amazing energy and liveliness to the stage that had never been there before. The next month, Sam announced his departure. He played his last show with July For Kings on August 29, 2003, at The Mad Frog in Cincinnati. July For Kings selected Dan McQuinn to fill (no pun intended) the drummer position, and Dan has been working with the band ever since. November of 2003 brought another departure to July For Kings—Amos announced that he would be leaving the band.
In December, Drew Phillips joined July For Kings as their "permanent temporary" bassist, and it seems that he is not going anywhere any time soon.
The band is currently in the process of releasing a new EP, tentatively titled "Nostalgia," with a release date set for the end of December.