American Headcharge Interview

Janis Joplin blared in the background at the State Bar, adjacent to Detroit's renowned State Theatre as I spoke with Bryan Ottoson and Justin Fowler of American Head Charge just prior to their well received performance on April 2nd. The most striking thing about these two young musicians was that they were filled with wide eyed enthusiasm about playing on the tour and both members seemed to be approachable, friendly characters. The passing of guitarist Bryan Ottoson is surely a huge loss for the music community, fans, friends and family as well as band members alike. "Let Brian be remembered for what he was, an inspired, creative musician with a warm hearted personality. The Gauntlet would like to extend condolences to all of those who share in his tragic passing."

The Gauntlet: "The Feeding" is a exciting record, guys. Tell us about the making of that record and how things all went down.

Bryan Ottoson: Thanks!

Justin Fowler: Ah man, it's been a long time coming we um. (Looks at Brian) How did it go down?

Bryan Ottoson: Well, we started writing songs for our old label, American. We had about thirty to forty songs. For whatever reason, ended up off that label and switched to a smaller company, Nitrus Records and spent about two years writing it and finishing the recording process.

Justin Fowler: I can probably narrow it down. It was probably a year and a half of time off writing and then the whole record went together front to back in about four months.

The Gauntlet: Through the whole album, every song is really solid. I couldn't pick out one track that I didn't enjoy. Do you think that the album turned out the way it did because you spent so much time focused on writing?

Justin Fowler: Yeah, I'd say that it's taking the time to gain perspective that we were as people, why we wanted to be in the band and why we wanted the band to keep going. It was a while until we finally came together again and identified what it was that we wanted the songs.

Bryan Ottoson: To say.

Justin Fowler: To say and to be and what we wanted to do with the music. I think that once that happened, with songs like "Downstream" and "Loyalty", I'm sure, a couple the first songs we really wrote together, then it let the other things we were doing on our own, then it let the ideas that we had, it kind of let it all fall into a structure fro "The Feeding"

The Gauntlet: With all of the time that you spent writing you must have had a good idea of what you were looking to achieve with this record. Did you have a good idea as to what things you were looking for sound-wise before heading into the studio?

Bryan Ottoson: We did have specific idea in mind. I wasn't on the first record, but I know that they spent way more time in the studio with that working with tones and stuff like that. We did spend a considerable mount of time, but I think probably less. Overall, we wanted it to sound a bit grittier and a little more like a live band, and it definitely does.

Justin Fowler: A lot more like a rock record and not a wall of sound idea.

Bryan Ottoson: Some of the guitars are out of tune. A lot of them are, over the record. It's not like where it's horrendous, like "Oh my God!" It's just the tiniest bit and it gives it feel. That's something that I learned from Greg Fidelman. It's like I would record tracks and it would be jangling and a little bit out of tune and he would be like "Dude, it's got vibe, let's leave it." And I'd be paranoid about that, then we would get four tracks of guitar and it would sound awesome. It did have a feel to it. It gives it grit and that's what makes it sound more like a live band.

Justin Fowler: You really have to attribute it to Greg Fidelman. Not only does he have a mastery over his craft as an engineer, as somebody knows how to go from a concept of a sound to a finished product. He also had a concept for the sound. Because of having worked with us before on "War Of Art", he had a background on us as musicians and knew what we were all capable of as musicians and so he was really willing to go to a place that not a lot of people go to with us and he knew when we were trying to get something, he was there, he had a vision for us.

Bryan Ottoson: He would pick up a guitar and start jamming with us and we considered him like another band member.

Justin Fowler: Absolutely.

The Gauntlet: What do you think about fans that are complaining that "The Feeding" is not exactly like "The War Of Art?" I thought it was unfair after hearing the record.

Justin Fowler. It's not like "The War Of Art", so buy it. Why would you think that we would make the same record twice? Shame on bands that do that.

Bryan Ottoson: Nice response there. There are a lot of bands that do that. I think that our influences were a lot more apparent on the first record. I think that this record gets away from that. I think that this is sounds more like just American Head Charge and not like "this sounds like a certain band." You can still hear it a little bit, but I think that it's a little bit further away

The Gauntlet: Throughout the record, it really flows and although are doing different things, it always sounds like American Head Charge.

Justin Fowler: No specific person can take the credit for that. That's what the time and perspective of the last couple of years has given us

Bryan Ottoson: Progressed.

The Gauntlet: You have found particular chemistry as a band.

Justin Fowler: We still work on it every day. We haven't got it nailed yet but.(laughs)

The Gauntlet: How does it feel to be a part of a great touring package like this one?

Justin Fowler: Mudvayne? Lucky!

All: (laughing)

Bryan Ottoson: I was on a bigger theater tour. Two to three thousand there, a step up from clubs, anyway. I did the Rammstein tour, but other than that, I haven't been on a tour this big, so it's awesome for me. It's cool to see how it is different, coming from clubs. The sound is totally different. It is a huge adjustment, but we're loving life right now. It's cool to be able to watch bands you love and respect every day.

Justin Fowler: It's nice for me. From the beginning of touring with the band, I've been there. We were playing places with Slipknot all through Europe and that's like Arenas and huge places and stuff. We got all pampered by it. This huge amount of space and consistency with the monitoring. It's just really nice to get back into that kind of a workflow environment where you have like a professional crew that's the crew for the tour every day. Having the same monitor rig, and the space to be what I remember Head Charge being. It's like getting into these clubs; things are like "I can't do my thing". And now I remember what it was. I couldn't throw my keyboard across my shoulder and flail it across the stage and fall down and twitch.

Bryan Ottoson: And you're not going to hit anybody in the jaw.

Justin Fowler: I'm not gonna hit anyone in the jaw, exactly.

Bryan Ottoson: Which happens often.

The Gauntlet: Will you be doing a lot of material from the old album tonight or are you more focused on getting the songs from the new record out there?

Bryan Ottoson Right now, it's kind of like 60/40. I was looking at the set list last night. Sixty percent old and forty percent new, which is good for us. We were actually fifty-fifty. We did some headlining shows, we did that tour with Otep and we were direct support. We had, I think, forty-five minutes or fifty minutes or something like that and it was right around fifty-fifty. We had to scale it down a bit from that.

The Gauntlet: Otep is amazing. She has the sickest voice. What was it like to work with her out on the road?

Bryan Ottoson: She is awesome, she is really cool. I think I watched her every day of that tour. Almost the whole show, every day and I really can't say that about any other band I've been out with.

I think it was really cool to be a part of her process. The whole band was really welcoming with us. Whereas I think that on a lot of the other tours that they've been on, I know she tends to stay pretty isolationist. And we all got to know each other a little bit, I think.

Bryan Ottoson: The barbecue helped.

Justin Fowler: We have a barbecue grill and we grill every day, so we've been feeding everybody.

Bryan Ottoson: We set up shop and we feed all the bands. We'll be like "You want a bratwurst? Hey!"

Justin Fowler: Just trying to keep the vibe alive in 2005!

All: (laughing)

Bryan Ottoson: I can't believe you just said that.

The Gauntlet: So you're a band that really likes to keep it fun out on the road?

Justin Fowler: Absolutely. It doesn't ever get too heavy. Okay, sometimes it gets way too heavy, but that's negotiated very quickly. Because of the commitment that we all have for doing this, you know? It's just a matter of keeping ourselves satisfied with what we are doing and keeping a fair job at it, you know?

Bryan Ottoson: We try to do a lot of things to make it feel like we're at home and something's normal.

Justin Fowler: Something normal! Everyday it might be a different thing, but something every day.

The Gauntlet: You guys seem to be pretty approachable. A lot of bands wouldn't be hanging out in the bar an hour and a half before the show. I think that's important for bands to maintain that degree of approachability. How do you feel about that?

Bryan Ottoson: I think that our band has a knack for making friends on every tour.

Justin Fowler: We're pretty personable. I was just talking about this last night and I go out and I hang out with fans every night, unless I don't feel like it, and that's sometimes. It's not like a dishonest thing, I'm not pandering, I just want to kind of know where people are at. I really like interacting with people. I really like being in a different place every day because it gives me a sense of where I'm from. That's my personal life thing. I'd say for every member of the band, that's probably true. That's one thing about traveling.

Bryan Ottoson: Yeah.

The Gauntlet: So do you think that American Head Charge will end up doing some headlining dates after the Mudvayne tour wraps up?

Bryan Ottoson: Actually, in the last six months, we've had everything kind of ready and booked, but now after the Mudvayne tour, everything is pretty much up in the air right now. There's one thing that's being talked about which is very far from being confirmed, so it's pointless to talk about it.

Justin Fowler: If that thing happened, there would probably be some headlining thing going on out there, somewhere. We just prefer to play shows and not to think of the activity of the show, what the show is doing. It is like let's just keep playing. Let's keep people seeing it and translating this thing out to people.

The Gauntlet: Tell us a bit about what the fans are going to see when you hit the stage tonight.

Bryan Ottoson: Well, it started off where we scaled everything down and pretty much focused on the music and trying not to be too shticky. Not to say that we are today, but thing are starting to slowly growing into sort of the old school Headcharge.

Justin Fowler: The mentality of it.

Bryan Ottoson: The mentality of it, not the way we looked or anything, just the mentality of it, the craziness of it onstage is kind of blowing up again. That has to do with when we get bored. We really want to make an impression on people.

Justin Fowler: And we know how to, I think

Bryan Ottoson: I've said this before, things are different everyday. There are bands that plan out their show and not to take anything away from those bands, but our thing is different everyday. It's like Justin will bring in different things that he finds laying around the dressing room and Cameron will pull a street sign out of the road and bring a stop sign in and throw it up there on the drum riser. It is different everyday, but it's becoming crazier like it used to be even though it's a bit scaled down.

Justin Fowler: I think it too lends a bit more impact to the moments where we're kind of getting off by ourselves. It's about connecting with the people in the places where you can actually see eyes. Making that the experience, yes we're doing this, but I know you're there. I know you're there and I can see you and I am watching you. Then you can rock out for a second. You feel that connection. That's what makes it. I remember being at shows and looking up and you know, they're looking right at you. That's magic, especially when they are your favorite band and you know that they just looked at you and they go "Hi, how are ya doing?" It makes your fucking day.

The Gauntlet: Nitrus seems to have a lot of faith in you as well. How do you feel now that you are on an independent label? Is it a situation where you are receiving a lot more attention from Nitrus?

Bryan Ottoson: For a smaller label, yeah, they're doing an excellent job. The main thing is personal attention, I think. When you're on a major label, there's a lot of red tape to it. When you want to make a decision or make something happen it can be more difficult.

The Gauntlet: It's a big machine.

Bryan Ottoson: Huge cogs everywhere, there are a million different people to talk to and here it is three people who run the label, of course, there are other people involved, it's scaled down.

Justin Fowler: There's not like a huge set of offices to go to for press and promotion and there's not like hundreds of thousands of dollars into shelving a record somewhere. This has all been done by probably about three people

Bryan Ottoson: Three people that really believe in it and want to get it out there and make it happen in front of people.

Justin Fowler: It's the only way we have so we did it!

The Gauntlet: In order to make a project like this successful, you have to work with a team that shares your vision.

Bryan Ottoson: We do have the street team people that work very hard, I should mention them. There are always street team people at the shows, passing out stickers, promoting the band and stuff. That actually helps a lot.

Justin Fowler: Making sure the people who are interested are brought in to show them what we are doing.

Bryan Ottoson: To show them what's going on.

The Gauntlet: The Internet is also doing a lot to spread the word about bands. The music is really accessible to kids and they can download songs. How do you feel about being able to download music from the Internet?

Bryan Ottoson: I've had my brain at polar opposites, at different times. I don't know what to really think about it, man. It seems like all of it just helps, because if someone's interested in your band, someone's interested in your band. I think that people are actually gonna go out and buy the record anyway because they want artwork and shit like that.

The Gauntlet: Well of course, anytime that someone is listening to the music, they are going to become a fan of the band, if you're listening to it, you'll end up getting a concert ticket, merch, you'll want to go out and get the whole package if that exposure gets you really into a certain group.

Bryan Ottoson: I still have people in the industry tell me that it does affect things because album sales will be down. Then, people aren't making money, the whole thing grows less.

The Gauntlet: It makes it more difficult to meter the popularity of a group by album sales alone.

Bryan Ottoson: Yeah, definitely, because who knows, the last record could have sold a hundred thousand more, it's hard to tell. Who knows?

The Gauntlet: Back when Audiogalaxy was really popular, there was a lot of buzz on American Head Charge with the few demo tracks that were circulating and that's how I was initially exposed to your group. It definitely led me to check out the first album.

Justin Fowler: There are studies that suggest that that is the effect that downloadable media does is that it perpetuates sales. It has it's ups and it's downs. Where at a point in the lifespan of the technology where it's so new, this thing is only a few years old, really. Remember back when we didn't have the Internet or cell phones, remember those days? Some of us still do. You had to have your whole day planned before you left the house and if you left the house, somebody couldn't get a hold of you all day. But the technology is in it's infancy, it's like a toddler and it still falls down a lot, but once it gets into Kindergarten and it gets a little older, then we have an idea of what it can do, then we're gonna see that it refines itself. Maybe we will see CDs disappear entirely and some new form of medium move in.

The Gauntlet: Another important thing to keep in mind is that you want to be able to reach those fans that dislike computers or just don't have the time for surfing, but this looks to be the minority of fans in the coming years.

Bryan Ottoson: I'm probably the most computer illiterate person in the world. I have never owned a computer; my family has never owned a computer. Justin has to show me how to get on the internet. There are people like that out there

Justin Fowler: I grew up without a lot of access to anything but the radio. My family was poor as hell and we didn't have the ability to buy records. I didn't have a big record collection and buy records, I had no idea what was going on. All I knew was the radio. It's still on the radio. We eve have songs on the radio some places and I'm really thankful for that because that's the only way for some people to get a hold of it.

Bryan Ottoson: But you can't see tits on the radio.

Justin Fowler: You can't see tits on the radio. That's why you make videos. We haven't really made any videos with a lot of tits yet.

The Gauntlet: Are you planning on making one then?

Justin Fowler: I don't think we planned on it, but I think it's something that no one would be opposed to doing next time.

The Gauntlet: Like a Motley video?

Bryan Ottoson: We should do something like that next time.

Justin Fowler: Maybe we should.

Bryan Ottoson: For "Dirty", maybe.

Justin Fowler: Yeah, with tits.

The Gauntlet: Tits always make a video worth watching. Especially when they are big tits.

Justin Fowler: All right, we'll bring it up today. Tomorrow we actually have a meeting with our band manager, so we'll definitely throw tits out there. See if we can get tits in the next video.

The Gauntlet: Has the band been seeing a lot of tits flashed at you while you're up there playing?

Justin Fowler: We could use some more of that

Bryan Ottoson: I don't really see any of that at all. At festivals, you see it.

Justin Fowler: At festival the tits are everywhere.

Bryan Ottoson: Yeah. People have been drinking since 11 a.m. so they're wasted.

Justin Fowler: I think everybody on this tour can appreciate tits in one form or another, like everybody that comes to the shows can. But it's not like the crowd that is fueled by tits. This is an advanced, progressive listening group and they are paying attention to the music and they're not like the girls are always necessarily that kind of girl. I'm sure that there are some who would go "Aaaahhhhh" when they see them. It's a broad range of people attending these shows and they are not like "Ugh, rock, ugh." It's kind of about something more than that. I can't nail down what it is, but it's something more than that.

Bryan Ottoson: They like songs that are in 13/2. They really do.

The Gauntlet: So tell us about how much ass you're planning on kicking tonight.

Justin Fowler: I think we're probably going to annihilate the audience. With a gun. I'm just kidding

Bryan Ottoson: Like we say, every day is different. But I doubt we'll end up just standing there. We're gonna give them something they will remember.