Xstrophy
“Plain and simple, Steve Clayton makes the best, most durable and best sounding guitar picks on the planet. If your not using them, you have no idea what your missing.”

Xstrophy was truly created the day Leonard Newton was born. Leonard was born with a rare birth defect called an Exstrophy. This made his life extremely challenging and filled with pain, suffering, near death experiences and over 15 surgeries. The way he dealt with all of this was to write. He put all his anger, hate and pain down on paper and knew at some point he would share it with the world. He also knew he would name the band after his birth defect. Exstrophy means to have things on the inside of your body born on the outside. To Leonard, this is exactly what music is, everything you have on the inside of your body and soul is shown to the world. So this was the perfect name for the band…Xstrophy.
The band was truly founded in 2008, when Len met Pat Bowser. They had the same musical tastes, and his guitar playing blew Len away. They began working on songs together throughout the year. There was a mixture of old songs Len had written, completely new songs, and the occasional Metallica cover.
Throughout the next year, Xstrophy started to play out, making a name for themselves throughout DC, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Virginia, West Virginia, New York and New Jersey areas. After a few lineup changes, they found the perfect drummer for the band with Mike Haifley “Stix”, who is well known regionally and nationally for his drumming. A few more months down the road, Zack Arthur, a longtime friend of the band and a phenomenal bassist was added to the lineup as Xstrophy’s permanent bass player. Stix and Zack add a whole new dimension to the band that was not there before, and now Xstrophy feels they can take on the world!
Xstrophy is currently putting the final touches on their full length album “MY TORTURED PAST”, which is slated for a mid 2012 release. Keep checking back for more updates on where to find us live, and let us know if you want to see us in your area!