American Head Charge

American Head Charge formed in 1997, most members having met each other at rehabs and halfway houses. According to bassist Chad Hanks, the band’s name has ‘no meaning’ and was the winning three-word option among some others, like Warsaw Ghetto Pussy and Gestapo Pussy Ranch. AHC’s 1999 independent debut album Trepination attracted the attention of Rick Rubin and his label American Recordings. The band signed with him because Rubin gave them ‘ultra final say on everything’. Their next album The War Of Art, with re-recordings of several Trepination songs, was released in 2001 and it hit #1 on Billboard Heatseekers Chart that fall after the band’s summer-long trek with Ozzfest. Until 9/11 that year, the band was known for their extreme stage show which included burning the American flag and shooting off shotguns. On the final date of their supporting run on the autumn Pledge Of Allegience Tour with Slipknot, System Of A Down & Rammstein, guitarist Dave Rogers was arrested for performing in the nude. The band then opened for Slayer (and Chimaira) in November on their God Hates Us All mini-tour. In 2002, guitarist Bryan Ottoson replaced Wayne Kile and AHC toured the UK with Slipknot then Skindred, with an appearance at UK Ozzfest. A tour of the US followed with Gravity Kills then Coal Chamber. In 2003, guitarist Dave Rogers quit to form LTD and was replaced by Karma Cheema. While working on their third album, AHC had difficulty with with Rick Rubin and American Recordings so they abandoned the label and released their album The Feeding in 2005 with DRT Entertainment/Nitrus Records. While touring in support of it, AHC suffered the loss of both guitarists with the passing of Bryan Ottoson and the exit of Karma Cheema to join Otep. They also had their gear stolen and their keyboardist fell ill. AHC was consequently forced to cancel dates both in the US and Europe that year. In 2006, drummer Christopher Emery announced he’d quit, but the band later clarified he’d been fired. Cheema rejoined AHC for their 2007 tour in support of the compilation of live and remastered tracks titled Can’t Stop The Machine. When frontman Cameron Heacock broke the band up in 2009, the other members originally planned to form a new band armed with ‘two albums worth of material’, but instead AHC reformed two years later. After releasing 2013’s Shoot EP, AHC raised over $50K on IndieGoGo to fund their 2016 album Tango Umbrella. Bassist Chad Hanks passed away in 2017, and Heacock was arrested in 2018 for driving a stolen van filled with stolen guitars and a motorcycle.

Related performers: Black Sabbath , The Bangles , Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers , Sheryl Crow

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Number of songs American Head Charge has created by producer

Albums & EPs

2001

The War of Art

Just So You Know produced by Rick Rubin

Singles