Formation and debut self-titled album (2001–2004) Forty Foot Echo's origin's trace back to the breakup of
lead singer Murray Yates's prior band,
Templar, which broke up in November 2001. Despite being without a band or a
record label, Yates continued to write material by himself. Yates was able to get another record label on the strength of the demos alone, signing to
Hollywood Records. The final product would be the self-titled
Forty Foot Echo, released in 2003. Two singles were released from the album, "Save Me" and "Brand New Day", both receiving music videos that entered the rotations of music channels such as
Much Music. "Brand New Day" was also included on the
Freaky Friday soundtrack. This proved to be a good source of exposure for the band, as
the soundtrack itself debuted at no. 19 on the
Billboard 200 charts, and ended up getting a
Gold certification by the RIAA, indicating over 500,000 copies shipped. Additionally, the song "Drift" was used in the feature film
The Prince and Me and its respective soundtrack in 2004, as well as the track "Beside Me", which was featured on the first episode of the television series
One Tree Hill. Despite the band's accomplishments and growing exposure, budget cuts and loss of touring support lead to the band parting ways with Hollywood in 2004.
Independent releases (2005–present) Despite the loss of another record label, Yates decided to push forward with the Forty Foot Echo, albeit without any of the original members returning. Schraeder in particular moved on to being the guitarist of
The Veer Union to record their debut album
Time to Break the Spell. For a variety of artistic and political reasons, Yates felt the song had to be redone so that he could truly reclaim it as his own, with his own vision for the song finally realized. Building on that momentum, Yates recorded a third album under the name,
Returning, released in 2013. The album introduced more elements of
electronic music while keeping within the constraints of the band's traditional modern rock sound. In January 2015, the band announced their intentions to release a new EP in 2015. ==Band members==