Reggie and the Full Effect is a Kansas City-based American music project featuring James Dewees who was the former drummer for Coalesce, keyboardist for The Get Up Kids, and former touring keyboardist for New Found Glory and currently My Chemical Romance that lasted from 1999 until 2007. He debuted in 1998 with the full-length Greatest Hits 1984-1987 on Second Nature Recordings.
In April of 2000, Reggie released his second full-length, Promotional Copy, on Vagrant Records.
After a three-year hiatus, Reggie released his third album, Under the Tray, in February of 2003. This album contained the single Congratulations Smack and Katy, which would be the tune behind Reggie's first music video. This track was also featured on the Burnout 3 soundtrack when the game was released in 2004.
Reggie's fourth studio album, Songs Not to Get Married To, was released on March 29th, 2005. Most of the music from this album was inspired by the divorce Dewees went through with former wife Megan. Sean Ingram of Coalesce and ex-From Autumn to Ashes lead singer Ben Perri both appear on the album. The song, "Take Me Home Please" can be heard playing in The Sims 2 with the lyrics changed to use the in-game language called Simlish. Also, the song "Get Well Soon" is featured in the extensive Saints Row soundtrack.
Dewees plays nearly every instrument on Reggie's recordings, including bass, drums, and of course, keyboards. On the albums one can find different personas adopted by Dewees for some of the songs, including a British musician by the name of Fluxuation (who is reminiscent of artists from the New Wave and New Romantic styles), and Common Denominator, a Finnish band with more industrial learnings similar to that of Germany's Rammstein.
Reggie's lineup for live performances changes frequently, but often contains members of The Get Up Kids, (band)" target="_blank">Coalesce, and _The Esoteric, all of which are bands to whom Dewees has lent his musical talents. Other members of the live show have included musicians from the bands Hot Rod Circuit, The Anniversary, From Autumn to Ashes, Ultimate Fakebook, and most recently Shots Fired and Slipknot. Former members include Cory White of Coalesce, the Esoteric on guitar and Josh Newton, who now plays for Every Time I Die, on bass. Newton befriended From Autumn to Ashes while they were on tour with Reggie and the Full Effect and Alkaline Trio.
Reggie and the Full Effect and Alkaline Trio supported My Chemical Romance on their first headlining tour in late 2005.
