Vertical After

Vertical After
Background information
Origin Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Seattle, WA, USA
Genres Thrash Metal
Punk
Years active 1989 (1989)–2003
Labels Cargo Records
Associated acts Stress Factor 9, Annihilator
Website verticalafter.com
Members Kick
Keith
Sol
Past members Munesh Sami
Hart Schiesse
Stewart Langille
Markus McCallum
Odd Noxious

Vertical After was an thrash metal/pop punk band based in Canada and the United States. The band was noted for their elaborate rock videos, which were aired repeatedly on Canada's Much Music nationwide music station. The band recorded four CD albums and spent much of the period from 1989 to 2003 performing in clubs in the USA, Canada, and Europe. Vertical After toured around North America promoting their videos and albums including 1999's "Pop Goes Death", mixed by Doug Pinnick of King's X[1], and 2002's "Bloody Murdo", co-produced by Stuart Carruthers of Grip Inc. Some of their famous support-openings included Twisted Sister in New York, Iron Maiden's lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson in Los Angeles, Ice T's Body Count and other acts including King's X around the country.

The band received positive[2][3] to mixed[4] reviews for their music. After the band semi-retired in 2003, Kick and Markus McCallum went on to form Stress Factor 9 with members of the million album selling Annihilator's "Alice in Hell" including Randy Rampage.

History

Vertical After developed and operated in the Vancouver and Seattle music scenes during the late 80s and early 90s as the peak of thrash metal intersected with the grunge movement that would later eclipse it. Kick (guitar, vocals) formed Vertical After with his friend Stewart Langille (guitar, vocals) and immediately played many concert club shows in Seattle and Vancouver and Los Angeles. Their second L.A. tour ended after an automobile wreck led to the hospitalization of all four band members and their driver. Within half a year, the band was recording their first CD album, and getting rotation airplay of their first of many rock videos on Canada's MuchMusic channel plus regional and cable shows in the USA. Soon the band did their first coast to coast 18 city concert tour. The band issued an all-video, 10 song VHS album, with songs filmed by rising cinematographers including Dan Nowak[5] (Outer Limits, Dead Like Me), Marcus Rogers[6] (Strapping Young Lad), and Gary Davis (Sublime:Three Ring Circus). The band was featured in an article about their comeback after the accident in L.A. in The Province.

By the mid-1990s, Vertical After had taken the act to Europe and was also doing 36-city USA/Canada concert tours one or two times each year plus shorter trips to warmer regions in winter. Some shows were well-attended festivals such as the Milwaukee Metal Fest and Foundations metal convention in L.A., and support shows for bigger acts including Dee Snider, Bruce Dickinson, Green Day, Ice-T's Body Count, King's X, and Motörhead. The band released their second CD "Powered By Crime" (1995) which included a half dozen songs that had appeared on well distributed compilation samplers, including Toronto's M.E.A.T magazine Raw#3 and Raw#4, the Foundations Forum convention sampler each year from 1992-1996, and Perris Records samplers. Their humorous "OJ Song"[7] became a college radio favorite with its counterpart video that featured the band loaded into a white Bronco being slow chased by cop cars. The band received TV news coverage in Las Vegas in 1996 when guitarist Stewart was hit by a taxi and critically injured.

In 1998, the band was disrupted after founding bandmate Stewart Langille died and bassist Markus McCallum went on to another band that eventually was renamed Mechanism. Vertical After's remaining members, Kick (guitar, vocals) and Keith (drums), re-organized the band with Hart (guitar) and Sol (bass, vocals) and recorded Pop Goes Death (1999). The band also put out Bloody Murdo (2002) before doing a tour as a support act for King's X. The final tour lineup featured Munesh Sami, ( Hank Williams III and Strapping Young Lad ).

In 2003, V.A. semi-retired following the death of guitarist Hart.

In 2015, the band released a DVD called The Whole Kick and Kaboodle [8] featuring 20 song videos and many extras.

Discography

1994: Foundations Forum '94
1996: Powered by Crime
1999: Pop goes Death
2002: Bloody Murdo
2015: The Whole Kick and Kaboodle (DVD)

References

  1. ↑ Newt, The (19 January 2015). "King’s X guitarist Ty Tabor is not into chops for chops’ sake".
  2. ↑ "Vertical After CD Reviews". www.roughedge.com.
  3. ↑ "The Nerve Magazine - March/April 2002".
  4. ↑ http://www.underground-empire.com/reloc.php?reloc=http%3A//www.underground-empire.com/review.php%3Fidx%3D3379
  5. ↑ "Danny Nowak". IMDb.
  6. ↑ "Marcus Rogers". IMDb.
  7. ↑ timmyrocker (27 October 2006). "O.J. song - Vertical After" – via YouTube.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 19, 2015. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.