According to MTV News, the �Dallas punk-art ensemble Echo Drain, whose slogan is 'God Awful Music for God Awful People.'  Echo Drain, who have been touring since early 2000, allege that Newsted's band liked their name and intentionally stole their identity.� 

Echobrain was the side project for Jason Newsted while he was in Metallica but became his full time gig when he left the popular metal band. Echobrain released their self-titled debut earlier this year. 

The Echobrain project dates back to 1995 when Newsted first teamed up with Brian Sagrafena. The group (Newsted, Sagrafena and Dylan Donkin) first recorded together in 1999. So it does appear that the Newsted project predates Echo Drain, however at press time we were unable to confirm when the project took on the moniker Echobrain. 

Newsted has also been putting his skills as a producer to good use. He produced Speedealer�s latest album, �Second Sight�. (see review)

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