Pencey Prep

Pencey Prep was an American punk rock band from Belleville, New Jersey.

Background
Before Pencey Prep, two of the members played in local punk bands; Frank Iero from Sector 12 and Neil Sabatino from Stick Figure Suicide. While a student at Rutgers University, Iero was the guitarist and lead vocalist for Pencey Prep. Along with their label-mates Thursday, Pencey Prep was considered part of New Jersey's growing post-hardcore and punk scene, and in 2001, they signed with Eyeball Records. They performed multiple times alongside Nada Surf and one-off shows with Atom & His Package, The Strokes, and New Found Glory among others at New Jersey's 1st Surf and Skate Festival in Asbury Park, NJ. Pencey Prep released their only full-length album Heartbreak in Stereo in 2001 and was released by Eyeball Records. Low attendance during a three-week tour in the Midwest United States and fighting within the band led to the band's demise and by May 2002, the members parted ways.

According to the band's Myspace page, the name is taken from the book The Catcher in the Rye; Pencey Prep was the name of the school that the main character Holden was expelled from.

After Pencey Prep
Sabatino left Pencey Prep in 2001 and started Fairmont, originally a solo acoustic project; however, McGuire joined on bass shortly afterward. Looking back at the early days of Fairmont, Sabatino notes he "wanted it to be my former band Pencey Prep, I built the band up to being a five-piece with two guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals, and a screamer. That lineup lasted very briefly[;] I had felt in a way that I was [...] trying to write heavy music just to fit in with the rest of the New Jersey scene of the time." From 2004 to 2007, McGuire played in Fairmont with Sabatino after reconciling and in 2007, McGuire joined Iero as touring bass player of the hardcore band Leathermouth.

Shortly after disbanding, Iero began playing with the bands I Am A Graveyard and Give Up The Ghost, before landing a spot as rhythm guitarist with My Chemical Romance. He joined My Chemical Romance days before they began recording their 2002 debut album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, also released under Eyeball Records. The experience Iero gained from playing live with Pencey Prep, according to Laura La Bella's biography My Chemical Romance "bec[a]me invaluable when the band eventually booked live shows other than basement parties." Keyboardist Simon went on to tour with My Chemical Romance, as well as co-author the 2013 comic-book series The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys with Gerard Way.

In 2020, Mint 400 Records, run by Sabatino, and B.CALM Press, run by Iero, announced a remaster and reissue of Heartbreak in Stereo, the first time the album was officially reissued since 2007. The reissue appeared on streaming services in 2021, with physical editions on CD and, for the first time, vinyl and cassette, coming that year.

Members

 * Tim Hagevik – drums (1999–2002)
 * Frank Iero – lead vocals (2000–2002), guitars, backing vocals (1999–2002)
 * John McGuire – bass, backing vocals (1999–2002)
 * Shaun Simon – keyboards, moog (1999–2002)
 * Neil Sabatino – guitars, backing vocals (2000–2001)
 * Bruno Rocha – lead vocals (1999–2000)

Discography
Albums
 * Heartbreak in Stereo (2001/2007, Eyeball Records, 2020/2021 Mint 400 Records & B.Calm Press)

Singles
 * ...Trying to Escape the Inevitable. (2000, Riversideriot)
 * Long Walk to Forever (2000, Self-Released)