Poison the Well formed in 1997 and since then have gone through various band names, member changes, and other seemingly unavoidable hurdles young bands often encounter in order to survive.

PTW-guitarist Derek recalls:

"[T]he original intent of the band was to be a "noisecore emo band." Hahaha, whatever that is. That idea was something kind of new and fresh at the time and since we were all fans of both heavy and melodic music it seemed natural to incorporate both elements.

Our first official release as Poison The Well was a CDEP titled "Distance Only Makes the Heart Grow Fonder." This showcases the first music we wrote as a band. Once that was released we started a consistent touring regiment; working around our school schedules to bring our music to anyone that would listen. Nothing could have bonded us together like those first few tours that we spent losing money, playing to 15 kids, sleeping on sticky floors, living off the Amaco special everyday, and having the absolute time of our lives. Over the course of 4 years we have gradually built everything we have from the ground up. We rarely saw breaks in the form of big support tours, label help etc, but instead chose to get out there and do it ourselves. To this day I still laugh when an interviewer asks "So how did it feel to blow up in hardcore?" I feel like we did anything but! Ahhhhh if only they knew the whole story."

"Distance Only Makes The Heart Grow Fonder" is nowadays only available as a re-issue of the Goodlife Version. It comes with two bonustracks from a Boston Radio show. Layout and Design by Jacob Bannon.

Special Notes:

Original released by GoodLife Recordings (now out of print). First press consists of 1000 copies black vinyl and copies on 200 blue vinyl. The second press consists of copies on 700 black vinyl.