The
end of ninteen ninty one Washington DC Jasons Cure/Smiths rip off band,
Deep, had just broken up. After answering ads for bands looking for new
singers, Jason soon realized that nothing was going to work with the people
he was currently jamming with. He then decided that he was going to start
up his own band, and put in his own ads for it. While waiting for replies,
Jason and Nathan Camfiord (a drummer he's known for a while) started writing
songs and playing together in Nate's basement. However, before anything
really took place, Nate moved.
Between meeting people responding to Jason's ads, he had been talking to
an old friend, Dwayne Reid (yet another drummer). They ended up talking
about the music they liked and what kind of project they wanted to start
next. Jason wanted to combine the best elements of bands such as The Cure,
Soungarden, and Fugazi and start a band that was appealing to both the progressive-metal
crowd and the indie-metal crowd.
Dwayne loved Jason's ideas and they began jamming together. Now all they
needed was a bass player, so, of course, they placed some more ads, this
time searching for a bassist. After
plenty of auditions, nobody seemed to work out when Jason found Bruce Brandstatter
at a club. The trio began practicing a lot of the music Jason had been writing
as Deep's days began to end. Eventually, they decided they were ready to
play out. All they needed was a name to call themselves.
They had narrowed things down to two choices: Godhead or Blind. Jason and
Bruce wanted to use Godhead, but Dwayne insisted on using Blind. Thus the
Blind days began...
Blind's
first show occurred in April of nineteen ninty two at a University and Tiki
Fala. For another 6 months, the band would travel to various places in DC.
Eventually the band managed to grab themselves some headlining gigs (after
months of opening for various bands), and getting their own booking agent
and manager. Jason's ideas seemed to be working as it showed in one of their
first reviews, in which their sound was labeled as "MetalliCure." Unfortunately,
during this time, a few problems with Dwayne began to kick in. It was time
for Jason and Bruce to move on.
They
(Jason and Bruce) both decided that they needed a new drummer that could,
at least, agree with their political views and not really worry whether
or not they offended someone in the world. After Dwayne was eventually kicked
out, they grabbed John Pettit of Sins of Soul.
The rest of nineteen ninty two and half of nineteen ninety three, Blind
continued playing around DC, every now and then playing along the Eastern
Coast. They soon found themselves
recording a demo with Brad Divens (of Souls at Zero) and Drew Mazurek (producer).
After the demo, the band wanted to move on to a recording contract. They
decided that if they were going to get a recording contract, then they would
have to go on the road. Jason soon dropped out of college and Bruce quite
his job... and off they went in a van! They played coast to coast a few
times from Summer of nineteen ninty two up until the beginning of nineteen
ninety four.
Time passed, no record contract yet, but plenty of endorsement deals. They
soon played showcases for a bunch of various major record labels, but still
no luck. Next thing they knew, Marlboro
Music (who never even saw them play live) ended up sending the band's management
company a contract. The label wanted to put together a double album with
4 new US bands, and Blind happen to be one of those bands. The label signed
the band merely on listen of their demo. It was to be called America Now.
The only catch was that the band needed to change their name (due to a band
in Europe already named Blind). Of course they were going to change their
name to what Jason and Bruce wanted it in the first place: Godhead.
March nineteen ninety four began the birth of our beloved Godhead. By April,
they found themselves in a studio with Warren Croyle as their producer and
Bernhard Lockar as an assistant. They then filmed a video in the summer,
toured America, and then played a few showcase gigs in Germany promoting
the compilation.
The band soon received the money to begin recording a full length album
in March and April of nineteen ninety five. Plans were to have it released
in October, so Jason flew to Los Angeles to work on songs with
Warren and Bernhard. During that time, Jason went to a Kommunity FK show
(after all, their lead had been a great influence to him) to try meeting
Patrick (Kommunity FK's lead) to ask him (Patrick) about writing a song
with him (Jason). Offer accepted.
By March, Godhead eventually flew out to Los Angeles to, first off, rehearse
to prepare for the recording. During that time, Patrick Mata and Jason got
together and wrote, "No More," which would appear on the album. During March
and April Godhead recorded the album in various studios in Los Angeles.
The album was plain and simply titled, Godhead. The band then toured the
States again, played the nineteen ninety five Foundations Forum, and had
plans to tour Europe in February of nineteen ninety six.
By
then, Marlboro Music decided they wanted Jason as a singer, instead of being
more of a guitarist. They intended on adding a friend of theirs (Danny Reibez)
as their new guitarist, but things just didn't work out. Then before the
European tour began, Mike Miller appeared. Thus started their European tour
with band Ugly Mus-tard.
March nineteen ninety six. The guys were home and working day jobs. Over
the previous four years, their sound changed and Jason was being influenced
more and more by the whole gothic and industrial genre. He decided he wanted
that involved with the band's sound. However, John and Bruce weren't really
into that idea.
Eventually, Jason had met a guy (Ullrich Hepperline... Oolie... The Method!)
and received a demo that everybody ended up enjoying.
By May, Method became the new member of Godhead. By June, the band signed
a US deal with Sol Three Records. By July, the band went back into the studios
with Drew Mazurek (who produced their first demo in two). This became the
birth of their new album, Nothingness (which also included four tracks from
Godhead). October marked the release of this new album. A band meeting was
held to discuss
future plans, touring, etc... but the only people there were the members
of the band themselves. As it turns out, John and Bruce had quit. But, of
course, that wasn't going to stop them.
So Jason, Mike, and Method began to look for a new drummer. Surprise, surprise,
this is where James O'Connor entered the picture. The new line-up of Godhead
decided to keep the band to four members.
The
following six months, Godhead started to play shows again while writing
plenty of songs for their next album. In February of nineteen ninety seven,
the guys went into various studios in New York with Richard Gotterhrer producing.
Finally, in August, Godhead finished the production of their next album,
Power Tool Stigmata. This album was released in Febrary of nineteen ninety
eight.
Eight years, nine members later, Godhead still remains, and now with another
great album, Two Thousand Years of Human Error! |
We
have made it to the Twenty First Century. What was billed as the information
age has quickly devolved into the age of inundation by meaningless, white
noise data. Rising above the din are the Washington, DC based underground
cult heroes gODHEAD. Years of hard work caught the attention of modern rock
visionary Marilyn Manson, who signed gODHEAD as the first band to his newly
formed label, Posthuman Records. The final result is the band's Posthuman
debut, Two Thousand Years Of Human Error, set for release on January Twenty
Third of Two Thousand and One.
Produced
by Danny Saber (Black Sabbath, U2, Rolling Stones) and mixed by John X Volaitis
(Orgy, Marilyn Manson, Korn), Two Thousand Years Of Human Error captures
the visceral aspects of the band's live performance, while highlighting
the growth of the band's radical programming talents that give gODHEAD its
unique razor-sharp edge.
From Jason Miller's aggressive and passionate vocals, to the sonic wizardry
of bassist and programmer The Method, anchored by the driving musical force
of guitarist Mike Miller and drummer
James O'Connor, with Two Thousand Years of Human Error gODHEAD has captured
in the studio, the heart and soul of the sound they honed over the past
six years without compromising the pure power of their live performances.
As Executive Producer, Marilyn Manson oversaw development of the entire
album. He played an essential role in taking gODHEAD to the next aesthetic
level and aiming them towards the future. "He gave us direction on where
he thought things should go," explains Jason Miller. "He worked quite a
bit on 'Sinking' and 'Eleanor Rigby.' In a way, we both come from the same
place - underground industrial goth rock. But obviously he's somewhere else
now…and he's trying to bring us up there!"
Marilyn
Manson and Reeves Gabrels (longtime guitarist for David Bowie) were two
of the notable guests on Two Thousand Years. Manson lent his vocals to "Break
You Down," while Gabrels played guitar on and co-produced "Tired Old Man."
"'Break You Down' is a 'destroy your enemy' type of song," explains Jason,
"but it's also laced with satire, so having Manson was perfect for it. And
Reeves has been a friend of the band's for several years. He does amazing
things with the guitar and guitar synths, so we had him throw his flare
into 'Tired Old Man.' Everybody in the band has been a David Bowie fan as
long as we can remember -- especially the newer stuff like 'Outside' and
'Earthling' that Reeves co-produced and had a huge part in. It was great
to get some of that cool energy on our album."
Godhead, built a strong local following playing clubs in and around Washington,
DC, eventually winning support slots on tours with bands like GWAR, Genitorturers
and Christian Death, to name a few. The band also released three independent
albums: gODHEAD (nineteen ninety four), Nothingness (nineteen ninety six)
and Power Tool Stigmata (nineteen ninety eight), which captured the attention
of the underground rock press, and along with nonstop touring, helped to
spread the band's fan base from the capitol city to the rest of the States
and across the Atlantic to Europe and the UK.
Building
their sound around the passion and musical proficiency of bands such as
the Cure and Pink Floyd, gODHEAD uses modern electronics to create music
that combines the best of the past and present. "We wanted something that
captures our live sound - the raw toughness, but something that also shows
our electronic side," says Jason. "I try not to listen to anything current.
Instead I go back to the old records that influenced me. It's not like I
try to avoid the radio like the plague, but I think if you stay true to
why you got into music and not pay too much attention to what's going on
around you, you have a much better chance of sounding unique." And on Two
Thousand Years Of Human Error, gODHEAD has certainly achieved that goal.
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