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American Head Charge

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American Head Charge

American Head Charge (often referred to as Head Charge or abbreviated AHC) are an industrial metal band from Minneapolis, Minnesota USA, earning nominations at the Kerrang! Awards on two occasions.

The band's sound has often been described as an "intense hybrid of the US Chicagoan industrial band Ministry and Iowan metallers Slipknot"; they contributed a cover of "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" for "Anthems of Rust and Decay: A Tribute to Marilyn Manson" as well as "Filth Pig" to "Devilswork: A Tribute to Ministry", while they supported Slipknot on the Pledge of Allegiance festival tour in 2001.

History

Formation

Heacock/Hanks' First Meeting

The band was formed in 1996 in a rehabilitation center in Plymouth, Minnesota, where founding members Cameron Heacock and Chad Hanks met. Hanks (in an interview with PRP) recalls; "In order to graduate the program, my counsellor made me write a song (I hadn't done it sober in years.) and perform it for everybody. I asked Martin if he could sing and he was like: 'Sure, I guess...'".^

The Genesis of the Band Name

File:AHCLogo.jpg
The official American Head Charge logo

Early incarnations of the band sported the monikers Flux, Gestapo Pussy Ranch, and Warsaw Ghetto Pussy, although these were shortlived. The name Flux was already adopted by another band and so was dropped due to fear from copyright infringement and libel, while the latter names were abandoned within a period of six months so as not to alienate prospective label interest. "I'm a fan of 3-word names", Hanks reflected in a December 2001 Livewire interview. In reference to the current band moniker, he confessed; "It means nothing. No meaning by it. Pretty much that purpose right there."^ Although sometimes speculated that their name was taken from Adrian Sherwood's famous dub label On-U Sound act African Head Charge, which was formed in the early 1980s, it is in fact a coincidence. Chad Hanks remarked in an interview before they were signed that "It turns out that there is actually a band called African Head Charge; its so hard to be original these days."

The Release of Trepanation

After settling on the name American Head Charge, the band made their debut on the underground fringes of the industrial metal scene with their 1999 album Trepanation. The personnel on this album saw Heacock and Hanks (respectively rechristened Martin Cock and Mr. H. C. Banks III) joined by guitarist David Rogers, Christopher Emery on keyboards and samples and Peter Harmon on drums.

Further exposure came through two track offerings to Dwell Records tribute albums, namely in homage to industrial bands Ministry and Marilyn Manson respectively.

Second guitarist Wayne Kile and keyboard player Aaron Zilch joined the quintets ranks during mid/late 1999.

After performing at a support showcase featuring System of a Down in Des Moines, Iowa during August 1999, Head Charge made a record deal with American Recordings.

The War of Art

Recording information

After the widespread release of Trepanation, AHC began recording their second album with the aid of Rick Rubin in 2001. The War of Art sold in the region of 12,000 copies in the United States during its first week of release in late August of that year, but sales of the album suffered soon after the 9/11 attacks.

Tour

American Head Charge, commencing a live schedule in support of their major label debut, snagged a slot upon the "Pledge of Allegiance" festival tour, headlined by bands like Slipknot, Mudvayne, Rammstein and System of a Down. Guitarist Dave Rogers marked their concluding show of this tour in New Jersey by wholly playing the concert performance naked; this lead to his subsequent arrest after the performance. In December 2001, the band co-supported Slayer alongside Ohio metalcore band Chimaira for a handful of American gig dates. Following shows were headlined by Kittie, hardcore punk band Biohazard, and Texan stoner rockers Speedealer, preceding Scandinavian, European and Japanese dates headlined by Slipknot.

Guitarist Wayne Kile departed from the industrial outfit in early April 2002, paving the way for the induction of former Black Flood Diesel guitarist Bryan Ottoson to undertake the open position. Ottoson duly marked his inclusion with a guest appearance in the band's music video "Just So You Know", recorded with their debut single of the same name.

The Feeding

After a two year hiatus, drugs had taken control of much of the band. According to AHC's MySpace article, three members of the band had become chemically dependent, with two of them going back into rehab. Guitarist Bryan Ottoson even stated that the band looked so doomed that he was almost checked into a mental institution for fear of suicide.

The remains of the band, with a couple new faces, pulled together and started writing and recording. During the demo process, producer Rick Rubin passed on the material. The band asked Rubin to release them from American Recordings so they could do their own thing, and Rubin respected their wishes without any legal squables. The band's producer on the album was The War of Art's engineer Greg Fidelman. AHC recorded for four months, feeling this was by far their most disciplined record to date. The Feeding was released on February 15, 2005. Despite being a much more concentrated effort than The War of Art, The Feeding only spawned one radio and video single: "Loyalty". The album did do quite well in independent album sales.

Death of guitarist Bryan Ottoson

Guitarist Bryan Ottoson : 1978-2005

Guitarist Bryan Ottoson died at the age of 27 in the middle of an early 2005 tour conducted with the bands Mudvayne, Life of Agony, and Bloodsimple in tow. The musician's body was found lying on a sleeping bunk on the band's tour bus in North Charleston, South Carolina, where the group was scheduled to perform at the Plex club.

According to North Charleston police documents, scene investigators concluded the guitarist's death was the result of an accidental prescription drug overdose [1] Police discovered a pill bottle of "numerous amounts of prescription medicine" in Ottoson's bunk. Ottoson had been battling severe strep throat with prescribed penicillin, and he was also given an unnamed pain medication. It was also stated that his overdose was purely accidental.

Band members informed police they last saw Ottoson alive around 4 a.m. on April 18, 2005, as the band left Jessup, Maryland. Ottoson had consumed "a large amount of alcohol at a bar" in Jessup that evening, according to police documents.

Police were called to the scene around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday; Ottoson was deceased by this time. Hanks and Cheema remarked to police that "Ottoson was a heavy sleeper, and it was not uncommon for him to sleep late before a concert."

Firing of Christopher Emery

Drummer Christopher Emery was fired from American Head Charge onstage on February 11th, 2006 with reasons by the band being cited as "major irresponsibility", "decreased drumming ability" and "an inflated sense of entitlement". In a joint statement via their official website, bassist/co-founder Chad Hanks and singer/co-founder Cameron Heacock revealingly stated:

"It turns out Chris was thinking of leaving anyway, although we only just found out by his posting on our website. Before the show, I pulled our guitar tech into the hallway and said 'Mark my words. If he quits, he'll blame it on the bands drug use and his inability to deal with his own drug use.' Everyone knows our addiction history. Hell, it's part of our bio. And it's common knowledge we're no angels. But Chris was one of those guys that felt like he had to go to rehab every 9 months. We're no worse than when we met him. Drugs aren't the problem. The problem is that his brain and heart were no longer in it, his responsibility level became non-exsistant, and his playing became so drastically inconsistent that I had to fire him onstage at our last show of "The Feeding" touring cycle. I had made a sign in advance that said "I'M FIRED" and held it up to him halfway through the set when I got sick of how godawful his playing and professionalism were that night. It was embarrassing and our fans didn't deserve it. He was a major factor in our pulling the last seven songs out of our set. It made me furious, and I'm glad we won't have to deal with it anymore." Chad Hanks spoke candidly about this incident on All Knowing Force.

First DVD and Recording a new album

On 3rd April 2007 Head Charge released their first ever DVD, Can't Stop the Machine through Nitrus Records. Along with it came a 9 track CD with live and unreleased songs.

Head Charge are currently in the studio working on their 3rd studio album. No date has been announced for the release as of yet.[1]

Anniversary Of Bryan's Death

On 19th April, the band added a new song to their myspace profile called "His Eyes", which is supposedly off the new album, and is about Bryan Ottoson. It seems a rough edit, which was produced quickly, for his anniversary.

Band members

Current

  • Cameron Heacock - Vocals (1996 - present)
  • Chad Hanks - Bass (1996 - present)
  • Benji Helberg - Lead Guitar (2005 - present)
  • Karma Singh Cheema - Rhythm Guitar (2004-2005, 2007 - present)
  • Justin Fouler - Keyboard (2000 - 2006, 2006-present) (took leave from the band due to illness briefly in 2006)
  • Dane Tuders - Drums (Feb 2006 - present)

Former

  • Chris Emery - Drums (2000 - Feb 2006), Keyboard (1996 - 2000)
  • Jamie White - Keyboards (fill-in 2006)
  • Nick Quijano - Guitar (fill-in October - November 2005)
  • Anthony Burke - Guitar (May - October 2005)
  • Bryan Ottoson - Lead Guitar (April 2002 - April 19, 2005 deceased)
  • Aaron Zilch - Electronics (Mid/Late 1999 - January 2003)
  • Dave Rogers - Rhythm Guitar (1996 - 2004)
  • Peter Harmon - Drums (1996 - 2000)
  • Wayne Kile - Guitar (Mid/Late 1999 - April 2002)

Discography

Albums

Music videos

Song Director Album Label Additional Information
"Just So You Know" Kevin Kerslake The War of Art American Recordings American Head Charge's first official music video.
"All Wrapped Up" Tomas Migone The War of Art American Recordings Banned due to visceral images within video.
"Loyalty" Mike Sloat The Feeding DRT Entertainment/Nitrus First official music video release taken from The Feeding.

Compilation appearances

Date of Release Title Album Label Additional Information
January 25, 2000 "Filth Pig" Devilswork: A Tribute to Ministry Dwell Ministry cover
June 6, 2000 "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" Anthems of Rust and Decay: A Tribute to Marilyn Manson Dwell Marilyn Manson cover
March 26, 2002 "Seamless" (Live) Pledge of Allegiance Tour: Live Concert Recording Columbia Records
August 25, 2002 "Reach and Touch" (Live) Ozzfest 2001: Second Millennium Columbia Records
August 24, 2004 "Cowards" UFC: Ultimate Beat downs, Vol. 1 DRT Entertainment First taste of The Feeding

Unreleased Songs

  • 17
  • All Too Comfortable
  • I'm Not Dead Yet
  • One Big Female Neurosis
  • Only Way Out
  • Pourn
  • Real Life
  • Run Away from Me
  • Smiles and Pretenses
  • Soft
  • Tighten the Line
  • Trained

External links

  1. ^ Released through Nitrus Records, reported by [2]; last accessed January 20th, 2007.
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