Another band tiped for big things this year are Orange County's most talked about hopes and Fear Factory buddies HUMAN WASTE PROJECT. The band came together in late '94 with vocalist Aimee Echo,. bassist Jeff Schartofs, drummer Scott Ellis and guitarist Mike Tempesta (brother of white zombie drummer John Tempesta) after a couple of years playing up and down the sunset strip impressing A&R types, Human Waste Project signed to Danzig's current label Hollywood records. They recorded their debut album "Electralux", at Indigo Ranch with KoRn/Manhole producer Ross Robinson earlier this year, and it should be seeing the light of day by the end of the summer. If you like the sound of the Deftones jamming with No Doubt the Human Waste Project should be right up your street.
Human Waste Project
The queue outside the Roxy is unbelievably long. Hordes of bedraggled
kids are despondantly hoping to obtain elusive tickets for tonight's
show. The club's manager is panicking, screaming at the girl in the
ticket office: "I don't care WHAT they tell you, the guest list is
CLOSED!".
For someone who has written so many songs about being a slave to love,
dreadlocked singer Aimee Echo maintains an intoxicatingly gleeful,
girlish quality. She can belt out a scolding refrain to an ex-lover,
as she does during 'Slide' and 'Exit Wound' - both standouts from
'e*lux', HWP's forthcoming debut album - and make it sound like a
polite request for a shandy.
But that's what guitarist Mike Tempesta, drummer Scott Ellis and
bassist Jeff Schartoff are there for. Tempesta (whose brother, White
Zombie drummer John, watches proudly from the audience) prods his
guitar angrily, wringing unearthly whines and pleas from the suffering
instrument; Schartoff, his face partly hidden by lengthy branches of
dreadlocks, starts nearly every song off with an ominous grumble from
his four string.
They've been steadily gigging for almost three years now, and their
following has grown and grown. Echo's charm is the bands secret weapon
in a scene increasingly clogged by bands churning out a bass heavy
din. She announces that she wishes she had worn trousers tonight, so
that she could dance with the fans down the front.
It ends too quickly, with a droning compelling cover of Depeche Modes
'I Feel You', Echo's voices shimmering in mid-air. Sweaty being fall
limply to the floor. Everyone has been sufficiently Wasted.
Joshua Sindell.
Most Rocking Moment: Human Waste Project's signature songs "Powertrip"
and 'Slide'.
Least Rocking Moment: Not a single Wasted moment.
Best Onstage Quote: "You people in the back rows think you're so
fucking cool huh?" - Aimee Echo.
Verdict: Is it hot in here, or is it just them?
The Roxy, West Hollywood
Friday, September 12
Rating 4/5
Inside, the hemmed-in crowd has heated the venue beyond human
tolerance levels. By the time local rising stars, Human Waste Project
bound onstage gaily, the pressure cooker is in full effect.
