My Life Story
For Fans Of: The Ataris, Sugarcult, New Found Glory, early Fall Out Boy
Some bands are formed in rehearsal rooms. My Life Story started on top of a half-pipe.
Formed in Santa Barbara, California in 2001, My Life Story came together at a college house party on Mason Street on the city’s Eastside, playing above a half-pipe and beginning a story rooted in California’s early-2000s punk scene.
The original lineup began with Jordan Gotez and “Little Jordan,” longtime friends who attended high school together in Bakersfield before moving to Santa Barbara to start a band. After meeting guitarist Braden, they connected with Matt “MAC” Navarro, bringing him aboard on bass and vocals and completing the earliest incarnation of My Life Story.
As the band began playing shows, the lineup evolved. Following the departures of Braden and Little Jordan, two musicians entered the picture who would help define what My Life Story became.
Around 2003, Chris “Shep” Shepard and Sam Oakley joined after playing together in Santa Barbara group Alcohol by Volume. Sam had served as the band’s lead vocalist and guitarist, while Shep played drums. Influenced by the darker melodic punk of AFI and Alkaline Trio, they brought another dimension to My Life Story’s developing sound.
The lineup of Jordan Gotez (lead vocals/guitar), Matt “MAC” Navarro (bass/vocals), Chris “Shep” Shepard (drums), and Sam Oakley (rhythm guitar) became My Life Story.
Drawing from the melodic urgency of early-2000s pop-punk, emo, and alternative rock, My Life Story developed a sound somewhere between the heart-on-sleeve energy of The Ataris, the infectious hooks of New Found Glory and Sugarcult, and the melodic ambition of early Fall Out Boy. The result was something broader than straightforward pop-punk: energetic, melodic, emotionally direct, and built around songs meant to be experienced with a crowd.
At its heart, My Life Story is about growing up without completely letting go of the person you were when the music first found you.
From 2001 through 2008, My Life Story gigged and toured along the California coast, releasing 2005’s Hoping for the Best EP and sharing stages with Violent Femmes, Sugarcult, and RX Bandits. The band appeared on the 2004 Rock the Vote Tour, joined the New Noise Summer Tour, won the Santa Barbara Battle of the Bands in 2005, and appeared on the 2005 Vans Warped Tour.
After years of shows, traveling, and life on the road, the members collectively decided to take a leave of absence. It turned out to be an intermission rather than an ending.
In 2016, My Life Story reunited for a homecoming show at The Wildcat in Santa Barbara, reconnecting with the city and scene where everything began. The years apart had changed their lives, but the chemistry remained.
Today, My Life Story carries both eras with them: the urgency of the young band playing above a half-pipe and the perspective earned from everything that came afterward.
There is nostalgia here, but My Life Story isn’t simply looking backward. There are hooks for the pop-punk kids, guitars for the rock crowd, and emotion for anyone who has grown older without completely leaving their younger self behind.
My Life Story has a little something for everyone—because after more than twenty years, this isn’t just their life story anymore.
It might sound a little like yours, too.
Drawing influence from The Ataris, New Found Glory, blink-182, and early Fall Out Boy, My Life Story combines driving guitars, prominent melodic bass, big hooks, humor, and emotionally honest songwriting. Their songs capture the excitement, confusion, heartbreak, friendships, mistakes, and reckless optimism of growing up—equally comfortable being sarcastic, vulnerable, nostalgic, and loud.
The band’s music includes the songs “Wasting Time,” “Goodnight Chicago,” “Our Summer Blockbuster Went Starring to Video,” “(I’m Going to) Texas,” and “Is That a Knife in My Back or Are You Just Happy to See Me?” Their album Hoping for the Best carries that same DIY spirit: youthful, chaotic, emotional, funny, and ultimately hopeful.
With roots in Santa Barbara’s skate, punk, and college-party culture, My Life Story represents a specific moment and feeling in Southern California music—when a half-pipe, a guitar, a bass, a few friends, and a good song could turn into something that lasted a lifetime.
The Indy Review 