Seven Mary Three consists of Casey Daniel (bassist), Giti Khalsa (percussionist, drummer), Jason Pollock (lead guitarist, vocalist), Jason Ross (lead vocalist, guitarist).
Seven Mary Three are a grunge band formed in 1992 when Jason Ross and Jason Pollock met while attending The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Initially, they performed as a duo with Ross singing and Pollock playing guitar. During this period, the two also split songwriting duties. Later, drummer Giti Khalsa and bassist Casey Daniel joined the band, and the foursome played coffeehouses and clubs throughout the Southeast.
Ross confesses: "People like to interpret it in a lot of different ways. My professors thought it was a reference to something medieval, that it had to do with the Trinity, the Virgin Mary and the seven deadly sins. But to tell you the truth, we came up with the name one day just sitting around watching Seventies cop show CHiPs on TV—'seven mary three' was the blond guy's call sign!"
1994's album Churn, a self-produced independent release garnered the band airplay on an FM rock station in Orlando, Florida for the future hit single "Cumbersome." Given this minor success, the band relocated to the Orlando area where they continued to expand their fan base. This regional success soon caught the attention of major-label scouts. The band signed with Mammoth and rerecorded the songs on "Churn," plus two new ones, to create the commerically successful "American Standard."
Only seven months after its release, American Standard achieved platinum status (1,000,000 copies sold). This accomplishment can certainly be attributed to the success of "Cumbersome".
Churn:
Ross: "That album took us nine months to get it out, because, except for the manufacturing of the discs, we did everything ourselves, and we didn't know what we were doing. It was a really good learning experience."
American Standard:
Ross: "I think there's a basic theme through the whole work. Everything that's depicted is a human relationship, but it's all about forgiveness. There is definitely a hint of guilt in many of the songs. Many of our families have gone through divorce, and fidelity is a big issue for this band: Can a man and a woman, or a man and a man, or whoever—can they stay together?