User:XXBoxcar182Xx/sandbox
Cloudkicker | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | B.M. Sharp, Ben Sharp |
| Origin | Colombus, Ohio, United States |
| Genres | Progressive Metal, Post-metal |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Labels | Unsigned |
| Members | Ben Sharp |
| Website | cloudkicker |
Cloudkicker is a one-man music project formed in 2008 by Ben Sharp. Though Ben has never actively advertised his music, Cloudkicker and his project prior to this; B.M. Sharp have developed a dedicated cult-following which Ben credits to the internet and word-of-mouth.[1] To date, Cloudkicker has self-released 3 full-length albums; his debut, The Discovery (2008), Beacons (2010) and Let Yourself Be Huge (2011). Cloudkicker has also released 4 EPs, The Map Is Not The Territory (2008), Portmanteau (2009), ]]][[[ (2010) (re-released later that year as A New Heavenly Body) and Loop (2011)
Cloudkicker is currently working on his seventh release, which has not been specified to be a full-length album or an EP. It is also untitled at time of writing.
Short snippets of songs from the forthcoming release can be found on his Soundcloud page.
History
[edit]Beginnings as B.M. Sharp (2005)
[edit]Before Cloudkicker, Ben released music on MySpace under the alias of B.M. Sharp, the initials of his first and middle name, and his last name. These songs, while still made entirely by Ben are completely unlike the style of music that would come to be Cloudkicker. Ben classifies his music under B.M. Sharp as ambient, indie, southern rock on his MySpace page.[2]
One of the things that has promoted his cult-following and dedicated fanbase is his ethos of giving away his music for free, which dates back to his beginnings as B.M. Sharp.
- Well I wouldn't offer it for free if I had a problem with it. I've said many times that I haven't paid for a CD since 2004, so why would I hold other people to any other standard? That said, if I really dig a band's music I will support them in some way, and it seems like quite a few people feel similarly judging by the reaction I've gotten since I've had music for sale.
Ben has uploaded the entire catalogue of B.M. Sharp on this site.
The Discovery, The Map Is Not The Territory and Portmanteau (2008-2009)
[edit]Around the time that Ben was putting together music for what would become The Discovery, the first Cloudkicker release, he discovered Bandcamp. Ben states that this was a big step forward for the project, because during his career as B.M. Sharp, people were insisting on donating money for his otherwise free music, which he had neither the time or patience to set up. However, with the discovery of Bandcamp's 'pay-what-you-want, no strings attached' method of digital distribution, this became easily possible. The final part of creating Cloudkicker was Toontrack's virtual drum software, because the "hardest part about making heavy music is finding drums that don't sound horrible".[4]
The music on the first Cloudkicker release was exceptionally different to that which the public had heard from his previous project, B.M. Sharp. Whereas his early work was generally slow-paced and ambient, the first Cloudkicker release saw this turned entirely on it's head with the release of The Discovery, moving on to ' add distortion and funky time signatures'[5] reminiscent of Meshuggah, one of his main influences.
The Discovery was particularly well-received within the Djent community upon it's release, despite Ben himself having no intention of creating a "djent" album, and claims to not even "really know what 'djent' is."[4] Ben has stated that The Discovery is "a lot of peoples' favourite album" and that on his later releases, people wanted "rehashed versions of 'The Discovery' over and over again" [5]
The Discovery was released independently on Bandcamp July 15, 2008.
The Map Is Not The Territory was released independently on Bandcamp 10 December 2008.
Portmanteau was released independently on Bandcamp 01 August, 2009.
]]][[[ and Beacons (2010)
Music for the Recently Deceased (2005–2007)
[edit]In August 2005, I Killed the Prom Queen flew to Sweden to record their follow-up album, Music for the Recently Deceased.[6] By late 2005, they had completed recording the album but in January 2006 Crafter was fired. Instead of releasing the album as it was, they decided to hire a new vocalist and replace Crafter's tracks. Ed Butcher, from United Kingdom band The Hunt for Ida Wave was recruited. New lyrics were written by Cameron and Butcher, while some lyrics that the whole band had contributed during the Crafter sessions were retained. Music for the Recently Deceased was produced by Fredrik Nordström,[6] whose other credits included Dimmu Borgir, Darkest Hour, At the Gates and In Flames,[7] and by Patrik J Sten.[8]
The album was released on 31 July 2006 by Stomp Entertainment and peaked in the top 30 on the ARIA Albums Chart.[9][10] The Australian tour in support of the album had over 50 concert dates in three months, from north Western Australia to the southern states and then along the east coast to Cairns.[11] They followed with a support tour for US groups Killswitch Engage and Lamb of God,[11] The Sydney show had 3,500 patrons at Luna Park, where I Killed the Prom Queen also played at the annual Come Together Music Festival. Shortly afterward Metal Blade released the album in the US, co-inciding with the group's appearance at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. Returning to Australia after their third tour of the US in three years, the group toured with The Haunted and Exodus and in December featured as the headlining act at the Metal for the Brain festival.
Break-up and Say Goodbye Tour (2007–2008)
[edit]at the time we were without a permanent vocalist and were in a strange place, jona was offered the opportunity to join bleeding through and we didn't want to continue the band without him so we decided to call it a day.
JJ Peters in a interview in 2011.[12]
In January 2007, I Killed the Prom Queen's vocalist, Butcher, flew back to the UK. The band announced that he had departed due to homesickness, Butcher later joined UK metalcore band Eternal Lord. Tyrone Ross from Mourning Tide, an Australian metalcore and hair metal group, temporarily filled the vocalist position during Japanese tour dates. Colin Jeffs of Bendigo-based band Heavens Lost, provided vocals on the European tour with Bleeding Through, All Shall Perish, Caliban.
In April, I Killed the Prom Queen announced their breakup, citing both an inability to find a permanent vocalist and Weinhofen's joining tour mates Bleeding Through. Shortly after a final Australian tour with Crafter returning on vocals was arranged for the following year. In May 2008, Stomp re-issued Music For The Recently Deceased in a limited tour edition – of 5,000 hand-numbered copies – for the Say Goodbye Tour. The release included a cardboard slipcase, two live tracks and four tracks with Crafter's vocals taken from the original album recording. The group toured in May and June, with most of the 18 shows selling out. The support groups were Bring Me the Horizon, The Red Shore, The Ghost Inside (band) and local acts from each city. A live album and DVD, Sleepless Nights and City Lights, was recorded at their Adelaide performance; it was released on 22 November 2008 and peaked in the top 50.[10] I Killed the Prom Queen played their final show in Brisbane on 8 June 2008.
Hiatus (2008–2011)
[edit]After the Say Goodbye tour, Michael Crafter fronted Melbourne hardcore band Confession while also managing his own clothing label Mistake Clothing. Crafter also had short stints with Bury Your Dead and Carpathian as lead vocalist for both, at about the time of the Say Goodbye Tour. He appeared as a contestant on reality TV show Big Brother in 2008. Jona Weinhofen joined Bring Me the Horizon in 2009 and is their rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, programer and backing vocalist. He was a gutiarist of US metalcore band Bleeding Through and the former manager for Australian death metal band The Red Shore.
Kevin Cameron formed the progressive metalcore band In Trenches with frontman Ben Coyte. He was a touring musician for a number of other groups. JJ Peters is vocalist for his own hardcore project Deez Nuts and one half of the hip-hop duo Grips & Tonic – the other half is New Zealander Louie Knuxx. Sean Kennedy reduced his musical performances and lived with his girlfriend in Perth Julia Sassella-Otley until 2009, although he occasionally played bass for Deez Nuts on Australian and International tours, then moved back to Adelaide and became engaged to Lisa McMannus of Adelaide. He later toured with Deez Nuts on their This One's for You Tour in 2010, but got asked to leave the band shortly afterward.
Reformation and third studio album(2011–present)
[edit]In March 2011, I Killed the Prom Queen announced an Australian reunion tour with The Amity Affliction, Deez Nuts, and Of Mice & Men as part of the Destroy Music Tour in May.[12] Replacing Butcher and Crafter on lead vocals was Jamie Hope (ex-The Red Shore). On the band's official Facebook page this re-formation was said to be ongoing – not just for one tour. Weinhofen is not planning to leave his other band Bring Me the Horizon but will remain in both groups.[13] Likewise Peters will continue his work with Deez Nuts. In early January 2012 Jona Weinhofen confirmed that writing sessions for the new album has begun and aimed to release the album by later in 2012.[14]
Discography
[edit]| Year | Album | Release type | Chart positions |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUS[10] | |||
| 2002 | Choose to Love, Live or Die | Extended Play | ~ |
| 2003 | I Killed the Prom Queen / Parkway Drive: Split CD | Split EP | ~ |
| When Goodbye Means Forever... | Studio Album | ~ | |
| 2005 | Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You | EP | ~ |
| 2006 | Music for the Recently Deceased | Studio Album | 27 |
| 2008 | Sleepless Nights and City Lights | Live Album/DVD | 48 |
| 2012/2013 | Unknown Album | Studio Album | ~ |
Videography
[edit]- Say Goodbye (2006)
Band members
[edit]Current members
[edit]- JJ Peters – drums (2000–2007, 2008, 2011–present)
- Jona Weinhofen – guitar, backing vocals, keyboards (2000–2007, 2008, 2011–present)
- Kevin Cameron – guitar (2002–2007, 2008, 2011–present)
- Sean Kennedy – bass (2003–2007, 2008, 2011–present)
- Jamie Hope – vocals (2011–present)
Former members
[edit]- Ben Engel – bass (2000–2002)
- Lee Stacy – vocals (2000–2002)
- Simon O'Gorman – guitar (2000–2002)
- Michael Crafter – lead vocals (2001–2006, 2008)
- Leaton Rose – bass (2002–2003)
- Ed Butcher – lead vocals (2006–2007)
Touring members
[edit]- Colin Jeffs – lead vocals (2007) (Filled in during the European tour)
- Tyrone Ross – lead vocals (2007) (Filled in during the Japanese tour)
Member timeline
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ "Ben Sharp: "Ask Me Anything" on Reddit". Reddit. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
- ^ "B.M. Sharp on MySpace". MySpace. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
- ^ "Ben Sharp on giving away his music for free". Reddit. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
- ^ a b "Ben Sharp interview on WDUB radio". Box. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
- ^ a b "Cloudkicker interview with got-djent.com". got-djent. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ a b West, Maddi (10–23 August 2005). "I Killed the Prom Queen". dB Magazine. No. 364. Arna Eyers-White. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ^ "Frederik Nordström: Credits". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
- ^ "Music for the Recently Deceased – I Killed the Prom Queen: Credits". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
- ^ "The ARIA Report". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 7 August 2006. pp. 3, 6, 10, 13, 20.
{{cite web}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help);|archive-url=requires|url=(help);|format=requires|url=(help); Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ a b c "Discography I Killed the Prom Queen". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
- ^ a b Oakeshott, Will (11–24 October 2006). "I Killed the Prom Queen". dB Magazine. No. 396. Arna Eyers-White. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
- ^ a b "New Interview with I Killed the Prom Queen drummer, JJ Peters". Raw Tuneage. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
- ^ Oliver Sykes, Jona Weinhofen (13 July 2011). Bring me the horizon - Interview at With Full Force Festival 2011 by PitCam.TV (Podcast). PitCamProduction. Event occurs at 12:17. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
{{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "I Killed The Prom Queen Writing New Material". The PRP. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2012.