Broken Head

· Broken Head -- 420

Eccentric Hard Rock, artfully pulled off by this new group of veteran locals.

http://www.citybeat.com/2002-12-26/music.shtml

- City Beat

Rockers Broken Head have returned after a two-year hiatus. The band lost original guitarist Andrew Coleman and singer Tim Jones was working on his stand-up comedy career, so drummer Charlie Moorman and bassist John Dryden kept jamming together, hoping to find a new guitarist and get things back together. The group finally landed guitarist Bart Allen and began taping their improv sessions for several months, before Allen left town for work. Allen moved back this summer and the band combed through their jam sessions to create songs (they've also revived a couple of tracks from their 2002 debut CD, 420). Moorman says Allen has given the band a somewhat different vibe. "I think our sound is a little more accessible than before, not quite as eccentric," he says. This Friday, Broken Head plays its first "official" show back at Top Cat's with guests The Wankers, Suffer the Truth and Hats Off. In "honor" of the forthcoming indoor smoking ban, the band is calling the show the "Great Broken Head Smoke IN," and Moorman says they will "observe a 'Moment of Smoking' during our set to commemorate the passing of the freedom to smoke in Ohio bars." (www.brokenheadmusic.com)

http://www.citybeat.com/2006-11-21/musicspillit.shtml - City Beat

Broken Head is a Cincinnati band full of dichotomy. They write songs solely based on improv jams, but each cut is focussed and tightly structured. They play Hard Rock and smoke weed, but their sound is too dynamic to be considered "Stoner Rock." Their singer can lay a skilled rap into a song, but Limp Bizkit Jr. they're not. Their songs are full of rage, but they find time for a playful tune written from the guitarist's cat's point of view.

And they have a mock manifesto, but the screed's basic fundamental message is to think for yourself. This intense diversity makes Broken Head one of the more intriguing Rock bands in the city.

"The only goal I had with this band was to not sound like another band," says singer Tim Jones. "And I think we accomplished that."

"We didn't really have to try," adds Charlie Moorman, the group's drummer. "Coming from such different backgrounds, it just automatically sounded like its own thing."

The group -- preparing for the release of their debut album, 420 -- has a band history that is as spontaneous as their songwriting style. Consummate jammers Moorman (late of Blue Othello and Snowblind) and John Dryden (bassist, formerly of Gunnar and Watching Grey) had enjoyed a telepathic, rhythmic lock in their days in Rarely Stable, the group they played in together for five years. Wanting to start a fresh project, the duo originally worked with DJ/percussionist Aaron Butler (formerly of Dark Audio Project and now living in Pennsylvania). They began looking for a guitarist, but with little success. The process wasn't rushed -- the band was more concerned with finding the right person than getting an immediate fix.

Ultimately, Moorman mentioned Andrew Coleman, one of his favorite local players. Coleman had dropped out of the music scene following the break-up of the psycho-jug band, Hogscraper (in which he played drums), but was itching to start playing again.

"I'd been working the same job for three years and just needed something," he says.

Dryden had been talking to his cousin, Jones, about starting something, but the singer -- who lived in Florida for several years and fronted the band, Puddin' Hogs -- was hard to track down. When he finally came around to jam, the members instantly recognized that they had similar intentions, and Broken Head (the name was originally thrown out by Butler and stuck) had all of the pieces in place.

"(Tim) said, 'I haven't really jammed in a while and, damn, I've got issues,' " Moorman says of Jones' desire to get back to the mic.

Jones has channeled his anger so accurately through Broken Head's music that he has been dubbed "Angry Tim" by the other members. Jones' singing style goes from full-on screams to pointed raps to a spitting wail, matching the band's riff-heavy, groove-oriented sound with an anxious fervor. Jones says his rage comes from the wrongs he sees in the world, and his goal is to knock listeners out of their apathy.

"There's a lot of evil shit in the world," he says. "People seem complacent nowadays, they're not thinking. Everyone's wandering around with no direction. And it makes me mad. When I write songs, I try to make people think about something."

In the jokingly formulated "manifesto," originally intended for the liner notes of 420, but now set for display on their Web site (brokenheadmusic.com), the band rails against numerous things, including the erosion of available public schooling, the gathering of personal information by corporations and the increasing sheep-like nature of the general public. But the band's only message is that people should be doing anything they can to be informed and to look at things with a critical eye.

"Basically, we just want people to open their minds and think," says Moorman. "We're not interested in forcing opinions down people's throats, but if you just open your mind and have and opinion, that's the important thing."

The band's immediate plans after the release of 420 include a road trip to Florida in August where they will play a series of shows booked by Jones thanks to his previous networking. The band enjoys its autonomy and hopes to build on the local following they've been amassing with each show and take it as far as they can.

"We just want to keep building it the way we are right now, being self-supportive," says Moorman. "Hopefully we can get to the point where we're making a little bit of money to offset (costs). If a label were to take interest, I think we're in a better position having our own 'whole package' that's self-supporting. We could be a little choosier and in a better negotiating position. Like, 'This is what we've done for ourselves. What can you add to that?' rather than looking for a label to do everything for us."

Broken Head's uniqueness has been key to building a fan base ... or at least a reputation. The band has taken shows with a variety of different acts and, even if they occasionally don't go over swimmingly, they know that people will remember them because their eccentric sound stands out. At a recent show on a bill loaded with Hardcore Punk bands, one concert-goer approached the group with some encouraging words, saying "I came here looking for Punk but you guys were pretty cool. It's weird, but it's cool."

" 'It's not what I expected, but I liked it,' " recalls Moorman. "We hear that a lot."

BROKEN HEAD will host a CD release party for 420 on Saturday at Top Cat's with guests Kailip and Unsung.

http://www.citybeat.com/2002-07-18/musiclocalsonly.shtml - City Beat

· Local rockers Broken Head, who released their slammin' debut CD, 420, last month, will perform on Thursday at the Mad Frog. The band will be joined by Game and Local Porn Star, a group Broken Head singer Tim Jones befriended while living and performing in Florida.

http://www.citybeat.com/2002-08-08/musicspillit.shtml - City Beat

Saturday at Top Cat's, local heavy, eccentric rockers Broken Head play their final show with the current band line-up, as guitarist Andrew Coleman departs town. The band plans to continue with a new guitarist. For more on the group, dig brokenheadmusic.com.

http://www.citybeat.com/2003-05-21/musicspillit.shtml - City Beat