American Head Charge
American Head Charge was a metal band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band has earned two nominations at the Kerrang! Awards.
History
Formation (1996–1999)
Early incarnations of the band sported names such as Flux, Gestapo Pussy Ranch, and Warsaw Ghetto Pussy, although these were short-lived. The name Flux was already adopted by another band and so was dropped due to the chance of 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 said in a December 2001 ConcertLivewire.com interview. In reference to the band name, 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; it's so hard to be original these days."''Trepanation'' (1999–2000)
After settling on the name American Head Charge, the band made their debut on the underground industrial metal scene with their 1999 independent self-released album Trepanation. The personnel on the album saw Heacock and Hanks joined by guitarist David Rogers, Peter Harmon on drums, and Christopher Emery on keyboards/samplers. Further exposure came through two track offerings to Dwell Records tribute albums, namely in homage to industrial bands Ministry and Marilyn Manson. Second guitarist Wayne Kile, keyboard player Justin Fowler and sampler/sound programmer Aaron Zilch joined the ranks during mid/late 1999, while Peter Harmon parted ways from the band and Chris Emery took over the vacant drum position.After supporting System of a Down in Des Moines, Iowa in August 1999, System of a Down's bassist Shavo Odadjian was impressed enough that when American Recordings label owner Rick Rubin asked Odadjian if there were any bands he should check out, he told Rubin about American Head Charge. Six months later the band was offered a record deal with Rick's American Recordings, then under the Columbia Records umbrella.
''The War of Art'' (2000–2002)
After the local success of Trepanation and their signing to American Recordings in 2000, the band moved to Los Angeles to begin work on their first major-label album with producer Rick Rubin at the helm, living and recording at his Houdini Mansion. The War of Art, released August 28, 2001, sold over 12,000 copies in the United States in its first week and went on to sell over 250,000. However, like many "heavy" bands at the time, sales of the album suffered immediately after the 9/11 attacks.American Head Charge, commencing a live schedule in support of the album, began their professional touring experience on Ozzy Osbourne's 2001 Ozzfest, playing third on the "Second Stage" for the entire tour. They then got a slot on the Pledge of Allegiance festival tour, headlined by Slipknot, No One, Mudvayne, Rammstein, and System of a Down. Guitarist Dave Rogers marked their concluding show of this tour in New Jersey by playing the entire concert naked; this led to his subsequent arrest. In December 2001, the band co-supported Slayer alongside Ohio groove metal band Chimaira for the first two months of the American God Hates Us All tour. Subsequent shows were headlined by Kittie, hardcore punk band Biohazard, and Texan stoner rockers Speedealer, preceding a four-month Scandinavian/European/UK/Japanese tour headlined by Slipknot.
Guitarist Wayne Kile departed the band in early April 2002, paving the way for former Black Flood Diesel guitarist Bryan Ottoson. Just 24 hours after getting the offer to join, Ottoson flew to Los Angeles and took part in the filming of the music video for "Just So You Know".
''The Feeding'' (2002–2007)
After a two-year hiatus, drugs had taken control of much of the band. According to their MySpace page, 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 band started writing and recording.During the demo process, The War of Art producer Rick Rubin became increasingly elusive, and the band subsequently asked to be let out of their recording contract. Rubin respected their request without any legal squabbles. In July 2004, the band signed with DRT Entertainment. The band's producer on The Feeding was The War of Art's engineer Greg Fidelman. American Head Charge recorded for four months, feeling this was by far their most disciplined record to date. The Feeding was released on February 15, 2005. The Feeding spawned one radio single "Loyalty". They also recorded a music video for the song "Cowards", featuring former UFC fighter Chuck Lidell.
Bassist Chad Hanks later stated in a 2011 interview that the band never received royalties from their label for The Feeding.
Death of guitarist Bryan Ottoson
Guitarist Bryan Ottoson died on April 19, 2005, at the age of 27 in the middle of a tour conducted with the bands Mudvayne, Life of Agony, and Bloodsimple. 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. Police discovered a pill bottle of "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.Band members informed police they last saw Ottoson alive around 4 a.m. on April 18, 2005, as they went to sleep before leaving Jessup, Maryland. Ottoson had consumed "a large amount of alcohol at a bar" in Jessup that evening, according to police documents. This statement is reported as inaccurate by bassist/co-founder Chad Hanks: "Bryan, myself, and our tech D-Rock walked to the bar just before last call, and we were stone cold sober. We all had two shots of vodka and one beer each. No more. No less. If 3 drinks is a 'large amount of alcohol', then apparently my mother is a raging alcoholic." Police were called to the scene around 6:30 p.m., April 19, 2005, and 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."
''Can't Stop The Machine'' (2007)
On April 3, 2007, American Head Charge released their first DVD Can't Stop the Machine, through Nitrus Records. Along with it came a 10 track CD with live and unreleased songs, including a remix of The War of Art single, "Just So You Know". They supported the release with a two-month U.S. tour that began on May 5 with their ninth sold-out First Avenue show. They played an "encore performance" of the tour's final sold-out show at The Rock in Maplewood, Minnesota on September 14, 2007. This would be their last live show together.Hiatus (2007–2011)
Updates from the band between 2007-2009 were sporadic at best, though Chad Hanks regularly kept fans updated through his personal blog. In August 2008, he commented that drugs had once again become an obstacle for the band, with Hanks himself claiming to have become sober again in winter 2007, while Cameron Heacock waited until April 2008 to attend a treatment facility in California.In September 2008, the members of American Head Charge reconvened in a Los Angeles recording studio to resume work on their fourth studio album. While most of the band spent a week in the studio together, vocalist Cameron Heacock only spent 3 days with the band. Chad Hanks reported that the band had recorded one full song and started working on two further demos.
With his newfound sobriety, Heacock found himself struggling with writer's block and unable to find an adequate balance between creativity and maintaining sobriety. In April 2009, Heacock agreed to spend some time in Minneapolis with Hanks as a means of supporting his creativity and sobriety. However, he never showed up.
On August 11, 2009, the band issued a press release, stating the band had disbanded. The press release cited singer Cameron Heacock's "inability to continue on a musical career path." "This is not the kind of news I enjoy being the bearer of, but we've been ready and waiting for input from Cameron for almost two years; we've written and recorded two albums worth of material in that time." said co-founder and bassist Chad Hanks. "At this point, he no longer gives being in this band any sort of top priority, which is so sad seeing as how he has such an amazing and unique voice; I couldn't wait to hear it on these songs. "However, we're looking forward to some new blood; a young, hungry soul that doesn't sound like anyone else and is ready to work his ass off. We're more than eager to get back to the mines. This is what we do."
American Head Charge received over 300 submissions from hopeful vocalists after the departure of Heacock, which were described as mostly "horrible" by bassist Hanks. However, the band did spend some time working with two different singers: the first was Dennis Sanders Jr. who played with Black Light Burns at the time. Some demos were recorded with Sanders, but it was ultimately decided that he wouldn't be able to fully commit to the band as he was more interested in working on solo material. Josh Bradford from Revolting Cocks was later brought into the band but, according to Hanks, the relationship ultimately "petered out" due to Hanks' personal issues.
In a bizarre twist for the band, vocalist Cameron Heacock rejoined the band via a short email to Hanks. After two years of silence, Heacock emailed Hanks with one of the demos he'd be sent in 2007, with his vocals added to the mix. The next day, Hanks received two more demos with Heacock's recorded vocals.
"After not hearing from him for almost two years, he contacted me via email, completely out of the blue, with one of the demos I had sent him two-and-a-half years prior…with his vocals recorded on top of it. You have to remember, I closed-up shop on this motherf***** . Like, there was a ‘closed’ sign in the window; the whole shebang. And then the next day, two more arrived in my inbox, and then two more after that. The weirdest thing was, that in his first email, there was no pleasantries, no ‘Hey man, I know we haven’t spoken in two years…’. It was just ‘Here’s. I think the second verse should be twice as long’. It was a very odd but interesting way to get my attention, to say the least!” - Bassist Chad Hanks on how vocalist Cameron Heacock rejoined the band.On January 18, 2011, American Head Charge's long dormant MySpace page showed a new status update, "Stranger things have happened...", grouped with a new background and a new icon showing a disembodied hand breaking out of the ground. The name on the page was changed from "RIP American Head Charge: 1998–2009" to "American Head Charge". However, since April 17, 2011, the name on the page again showed as "RIP American Head Charge: 1998–2009", refuting the possibility of a reunion for the time being. In the following months, bassist Chad Hanks made posts on his Twitter page, saying that the band is back together with guitarist Karma Cheema, drummer Chris Emery, vocalist Cameron Heacock, keyboardist Justin Fowler and himself. "Rehearsals are tentatively scheduled for July/August" posted Hanks on his Twitter page.