American Head Charge
(often referred to as Head Charge
or abbreviated AHC
) was a hard rock/industrial metal band from Minneapolis, Minnesota USA, earning nominations at the Kerrang! Awards
on two occasions.
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AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE TICKETS
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History
Formation
The genesis of the band name
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 independent self-released album
Trepanation
. The personnel on this album saw Heacock and Hanks (now respectively re-christened Martin Cock and Banks) 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 and keyboard player Aaron Zilch joined the quintets ranks during mid/late 1999.
After supporting
System of a Down in
Des Moines, Iowa in August 1999, System of a Down's Shavo Odadjian was impressed enough that when label head Rick Rubin asked Shavo if there were any bands he should check out, he told Rick 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
Recording information
After the local success of
Trepanation and the band's 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 the infamous Rubin-owned
Houdini Mansion.
The War of Art
, released August 28, 2001, sold over 12,000 copies in the United States in its first week. However, like many "heavy" bands at the time, sales of the album suffered immediately after the
9/11 attacks.
Tour
American Head Charge, commencing a live schedule in support of their major label debut, began their professional touring experience on Ozzy Osbourne's 2001
Ozzfest, playing 3rd on the "Second Stage" for the entire tour. They then 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 led to his subsequent arrest after the performance. In December 2001, the band co-supported
Slayer alongside
Ohio metalcore band
Chimaira for the first two months of the American "God Hates Us All" tour. Following shows were headlined by
Kittie,
hardcore punk band
Biohazard, and Texan
stoner rockers Speedealer, preceding a 4 month Scandinavian/European/UK/Japanese tour headlined by Slipknot. Additional bands they've toured with include
Coal Chamber,
Ministry,
Gravity Kills,
Hatebreed,
Static-X,
Mudvayne, and
Otep.
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. Just 24 hours after getting the offer to join the band, Ottoson flew to Los Angeles and duly marked his inclusion to the band participating in the filming of the music video "
Just So You Know".
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 hollow shell of the band, with a couple new faces, pulled together and started writing and recording. During the demo process, "The War of Art" producer and American Recordings label owner
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. The band's producer on
The Feeding
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.
The Feeding
only spawned one radio single 'Loyalty'. They also recorded a video for the song cowards featuring Chuck Lidell of the UFC which did not feature the band.
Death of guitarist Bryan Ottoson
{{#ifexist:Category:Articles needing additional references from July 2007
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 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.
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. 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."
Can't Stop The Machine
On April 3rd, 2007, American Head Charge released their first DVD,
Can't Stop the Machine, through Nitrus Records
[1]. 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 2 month U.S. tour that began on May 5th with their ninth sold-out
First Avenue show. The played an "encore performance" of the tour's final sold-out show at The Rock in Maplewood, Minnesota on September 14th, 2007. This would be their last live show together.
"When the music's over..."
On August 11th, 2009, the band issued the following press release:
American Head Charge Calls It Quits
(August 11th, 2009) – MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - International recording and touring act American Head Charge is hanging up their hat and disbanding. Citing singer Cameron Heacock’s “inability to continue on a musical career path.”
AHC, who have worked with greats like Rick Rubin and toured the globe extensively with such bands as Slipknot, Slayer, Mudvayne, and System Of A Down, see this as an opportunity to finally get the ball rolling.
“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.” says co-founder and bassist Chad Hanks.
Band members
Final Incarnation
- Cameron Heacock - Vocals (1996 - 2009)
- Chad Hanks (Banks) - Bass (1996 - 2009)
- Justin Fowler - Keyboards, Backing Vocals (2000 - 2009)
- Karma Singh Cheema - Guitar (2004 - 2005, 2007 - 2009)
- Benji Helberg - Guitar (2005 - 2009)
- Dane Tuders - Drums (February 2006 - 2009)
Former
- Dave Rogers - Guitar (1996 - 2003)
- Jamie White - Keyboards, back-up vocals (1996; never recorded with AHC, but played live)
- Peter Harmon - Drums (1997 - 2000)
- Chris Emery - Keyboards (1996 - 2000), Drums (2000 - February 2006)
- Wayne Kile - Guitar (mid/late 1999 - April 2002)
- Aaron Zilch - Electronics (mid/late 1999 - January 2003)
- Bryan Ottoson - Guitar (April 2002 - April 19, 2005) (Deceased)
- Nicolas Quijano - Guitar (2006 European Occupation Tour)
- Anthony Burke - Guitar (fill-in 2006)
Discography
Albums
- Trepanation
(July 18, 1999) Independent
- The War of Art
(August 28, 2001) American Recordings
- The Feeding
(February 15, 2005) DRT Entertainment/Nitrus
- Can't Stop the Machine
(DVD/CD) (April 3, 2007) Nitrus
Singles
| Year
| Title
| Peak chart positions
| Album
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| UK
[2]
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| 2002
| "Just So You Know"
| 52
| The War of Art
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| "All Wrapped Up"
| —
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| 2005
| "Loyalty"
| —
| The Feeding
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| "—" denotes a release that did not chart.
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Music videos
| Song
| Director
| Album
| Label
| Additional Information
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| "Just So You Know"
| Kevin Kerslake
| The War of Art
| American Recordings
| American Head Charge's first official music video.
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| "All Wrapped Up"
| Tomas Migone
| The War of Art
| American Recordings
| Banned due to visceral images within video.
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| "Loyalty"
| Mike Sloat
| The Feeding
| DRT Entertainment/Nitrus
| First official music video release taken from The Feeding
.
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| "Cowards"
| Mike Sloat
| The Feeding
| DRT Entertainment/Nitrus
| First UNOFFICIAL music video release taken from The Feeding
. Features UFC fighter Chuck Liddell.
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Compilation appearances
| Date of Release
| Title
| Album
| Label
| Additional Information
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| January 25, 2000
| "Filth Pig"
| Devilswork: A Tribute to Ministry
| Dwell
| Ministry cover
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| June 6, 2000
| "Irresponsible Hate Anthem"
| Anthems of Rust and Decay: A Tribute to Marilyn Manson
| Dwell
| Marilyn Manson cover
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| March 26, 2002
| "Seamless" (Live)
| Pledge of Allegiance Tour: Live Concert Recording
| Columbia Records
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| August 25, 2002
| "Reach and Touch" (Live)
| Ozzfest 2001: Second Millennium
| Columbia Records
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| August 24, 2004
| "Cowards"
| UFC: Ultimate Beat downs, Vol. 1
| DRT Entertainment
| First taste of The Feeding
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References
- Released through Nitrus Records, reported by [1]; last accessed January 20, 2007.
- British chart