Bodyhammer
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| Record Labels: | Ancient Order Of Assassins, Noise Pollution | ||
| Started By: | Andy Schanie, Mike Harpring, Corey Lyons | ||
| Based In: | Louisville | ||
| Largest show: | 300+ | ||
| Last show: | Atlanta, GA, May 2002 | ||
| Reunion show: | 2006 | ||
| Number of Members: | 7 | ||
Fuck Mike Harpring! Just kidding. Bodyhammer was not only a lineup-changing machine, they were a noisy, screamy, sometimes chaotic hardcore band in the late 90s that was kind of Born-Against-ish (in fact they covered "Mary and Child"). They did two east coast tours (1999 + 2000). In their time they played shows with the Locust, Creation is Crucifiction, Catharsis, Converge, Isis, Majority Rule, Mastodon, Murder City Devils and many more. Not that any of that matters...
The band began in 1997 as a three piece with Mike Harpring, Corey Lyons and Andy Schanie.
In 1998 (?) Thommy Browne expressed interest in playing drums for the band, the trio gave it a shot and the 'Hammer was forever changed for the better. Mike temporarily moved to bass, until he moved back to drums with the departure of Thommy. Much to the benefit of the band, Ben Cundiff took over the bass duties (this isn't saying anything bad about Mike's bass playing, but rather emphasizing Ben's gifted musicianship. Mike also rules.). The migration of Andy from bass and vocals to just vocals gave the band an added dynamic that in many ways defined their live shows and reputation for going off.
Corey Lyons left for "higher" education at Antioch College, and the band was left in flux. He returned in the summer of 2000 with the intention of training his replacement, Eric Young, before heading off to a summer internship/co-op in Boston. To say Eric and Corey hit it off would be an understatement, and Corey quickly changed his summer plans to stay in Louisville and rock out with Bodyhammer. This, of course, was merely a summertime love affair, and although it led to a second east coast tour and the album, Die Young Amplifiers, it laid the groundwork for a series of lineup changes until the band finally called it quits in 2002, before the band could release another record that had already been recorded.
ZOMG IT'S TEH TRIVIA TIME: In an odd twist of fate, Corey filled in for Eric for two of Bodyhammer's last shows, in Nashville and Atlanta in May of 2002. A brief video is available at http://teamabunai.org/videos/bodyhammer.mov
Members:
- Mike Harpring - bass/drums
- Andy Schanie - vocals/bass
- Corey Lyons - guitar
- Thommy Browne - drums
- Chris Payne - guitar
- William Benton - bass
- Eric Young - guitar
Releases:
- s/t cassette (Ancient Order Of Assassins)
- Live cassette (Noise Pollution)
- Die Young Amplifiers (Noise Pollution)
Unreleases:
- So It Goes (Recorded and mixed but never released.)
Compilations:
Shirts/Merch:
- there were some, I'm sure...
Also Known As:
From http://louisvillenoise.com/v2/bands/bodyhammer.htm : Bodyhammer was formed by Andy Schanie, Mike Harpring and Corey Lyons in the Spring of 1998. With this three piece lineup in place, Bodyhammer began playing out and recorded a great, raw sounding demo cassette at an after hours recording session at WHAS televsion studios. The band went on to become a fixture in Louisville's punk/hardcore scene despite frequent reshuffling of the band's lineup. In the Fall of 1999, with college looming for Corey, the band's future was uncertain. The situation was stabilized with the addition of William Benton (aka Ben) on bass and Eric Young on second guitar. This lineup went on to do some touring and record their debut, "Die Young Amplifiers." More lineup changes followed the release of the CD including, most significantly, the departure of founding member Mike Hapring. Bodyhammer almost immediately began moving away from hardcore/punk toward a sound more infused with noise and experimentation. They went on to do more out of town shows and to record an album of their new material before Ben bowed out in the Summer of 2002 causing Bodyhammer to call it a day.