Emma Anzai

Sick Puppies is an Australian alternative metal band formed in Sydney, New South Wales in 1997. After releasing their debut album Welcome to the Real World in 2001, the band rose to prominence in 2006 when their song "All the Same" was uploaded, along with a video, to YouTube. The video supported the Free Hugs Campaign, which was launched in Sydney, and has since received over 78 million views on the website. This success was followed up with their second studio album, Dressed Up as Life in 2007, which entered the Billboard 200 at number 181. Their third studio album, Tri-Polar, came out on 14 July 2009. The band's fourth studio album, Connect was released on 16 July 2013. They released their fifth studio album, Fury on 20 May 2016 with new vocalist Bryan Scott after Shimon Moore was fired from the band in October 2014. The band was formed by singer/lead guitarist Shimon Moore and bassist Emma Anzai in the music room of Mosman High School in 1997, when they double-booked the room and bickered over who would get to practice. They soon bonded over their love of Silverchair. Initially with Shimon on drums and Emma on guitars, the duo would frequently meet up to play Green Day, Rage Against the Machine, and Silverchair songs, and eventually felt compelled to write their own material. When Chris Mileski joined the band to play drums, Emma switched to bass and Shimon to guitar and vocals, and they became Sick Puppies. There are two stories as to how the band name originated. The official version is that Shimon Moore thought of the name himself when the band members were brainstorming, and then came home a few days later to find his father Phil reading the book Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen. The alternate version is that a neighbor's dog entered the garage during a rehearsal and vomited on their equipment. An early fan made the comment, "That's one sick puppy", and the name stuck.[citation needed]