Stabbing Westward
was an American industrial rock and alternative rock band. They formed in 1985 in Chicago, Illinois and began recording in the 1990s.
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STABBING WESTWARD TICKETS
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History
The Early Years, 1985-1992
Christopher Hall and Walter Flakus decided to start an industrial rock band by the name of Stabbing Westward. The phrase "Stabbing Westward" first appeared in a 1950s
newsreel film that declares "Soviet Russia was expansively stabbing westward, knifing into nations left empty by war."
Moving to Chicago in 1986, the original lineup consisted of Christopher on bass and lead vocals, Walter on keyboards, and Jim Clanin on guitar (Clanin later purchased, and as of 2004, operates the
Dairy Queen in
Macomb, Illinois). In 1990, a four song demo tape was recorded by an early conception of Stabbing Westward. This "EP" called, "Iwo Jimma" featured an early version of "Violent Mood Swings" (titled, "Violent Mood Swing") which eventually wound up on the compilation CD,
The Cyberflesh Conspiracy
. Two of the three remaining demo songs were later reworked over the years and became "Shame" and "The Thing I Hate".
Hall took a brief break to tour with
Die Warzau as that group's percussionist before continuing work on Stabbing Westward. Christopher and Walter later recruited
Chris Vrenna (
Nine Inch Nails) on drums, as Hall had met Vrenna when playing in Die Warzau. Vrenna played drums on all the demo recordings that ultimately landed Stabbing Westward their record deal with Columbia Records. Those demo recordings included Violent Mood Swings, Lies, and Nothing. They were recorded at a studio in
Evanston, Illinois and included Stuart Zechman on guitar. After Vrenna returned to Nine Inch Nails, the band hired Dave Suycott who was a high school friend of Walters.
The Ungod era, 1993-1995
The trio added
Wax Trax recording artist Stuart Zechman on guitar and David Suycott on drums. In 1993, the band recorded in
Eden Studios;
London, England with producer John Fryer. This resulted in their major label (
Columbia Records) debut,
Ungod
, which hit stores in 1994. The band landed an opening slot on the
Depeche Mode Exotic Tour, but Stabbing Westward album sales were still sluggish.
David Suycott abruptly dropped out of the band toward the end of the Ungod tour. Andy Kubiszewski was called in to replace Suycott's position for the remainder of the shows. This fast replacement required Andy to learn all of Dave's parts while on his flight to meet with the band. Andy became a permanent fixture of Stabbing Westward.
Andy was the singer and chief-songwriter of the Cleveland-based band,
Exotic Birds. Several songs off of various SW were actually demoed under the moniker Exotic Birds before the Exotic Birds dissolved in the early 1990s. A few of the Stabbing Westward songs that Kubiszewski is responsible for include "Crushing Me," "What Do I Have To Do?," "Haunting Me," "Desperate Now," "Sometimes It Hurts," and "Perfect".
The Wither, Blister, Burn & Peel era, 1995-1997
Stuart Zechman departed from the band after the Ungod tour, which left the members of Stabbing Westward to record all of the guitar parts on
Wither, Blister, Burn & Peel
themselves. The recording of their second album took place in a barn in
Woodstock, New York. The band recruited Mark Eliopulos after the
Wither, Blister, Burn & Peel
recording sessions were completed to handle the live-element of the main guitar parts.
In 1996, the
Wither Blister Burn & Peel
LP became a success, landing them their first
certified gold album, aided by the singles "Shame" and "What Do I Have to Do?" which granted the band heavy rotation on
MTV and radio. Tour mates for this album included
Sponge,
Kiss, and
The Sex Pistols.
The Darkest Days era, 1998-2000
Stabbing Westward relocated to
Los Angeles, California where they began work on the 1998 album, titled
Darkest Days
. Darkest Days was envisioned as a four-act story by the band (but never marketed as such). This is the only release featuring studio work by Mark Eliopulos. The first single, "Save Yourself," had success yet the album failed to sell as well as its predecessor. Stabbing Westward continued to tour with bands like
Placebo,
The Cult,
Monster Magnet, and
Depeche Mode, while playing numerous summer festivals.
The day before the band was to fly to
Hawaii to record the follow-up to Darkest Days with producer
Bob Rock, the band was dropped by Columbia Records.
The title "The Thing I Hate" was featured in its entirety as the opening theme to
Duke Nukem: Time to Kill (also released in 1998).
The song "Save Yourself" was featured in the 1998 teen-slasher movie "
Urban Legend"
The "Self-titled" era, 2001-2002
Stabbing Westward signed to
Koch Records. Mark Eliopulos left, thus, yet another guitar change ensued, resulting in the recruitment of Derrek Hawkins as both a studio musician and live musician for the band. The addition of producer Ed Buller to the project led to a new, somewhat softer sound. The self-titled album,
Stabbing Westward
, was released in 2001 and featured the hit "So Far Away". Before a fifth LP could be recorded, Stabbing Westward formally announced that the band had broken up on
February 9,
2002.
After Stabbing Westward, 2003-current
- Lead singer Hall has formed the L.A. based band The Dreaming.
- Walter Flakus has been working with The Clay People and Chokt. He now hosts "Lovesick Singalong" on Goom Radio's Rock-It Radio.
- Jim Sellers and his wife have opened a natural foods market called Sellers Market.
- Andy Kubiszewski has filled in as the drummer for a handful of Prick shows, joined a new project called Affected with Chris Schleyer, has done some producing for the band t.A.T.u., produced a CD for a Cleveland band called State Of Being (Metropolis Records), has produced music for TV shows (including Monster Garage
, Monster House
, Johnny Zero
, Queer Eye for the Straight Girl
, and The Missy Elliott Show
), and has even formed a new production company with Ed Buller.
- Mark Eliopulos now plays guitar in the band, Violent New Breed.
- Derrek Hawkins now plays rhythm guitar with ex-Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley on Ace's Rocket Ride tour.
Specificity
Christopher Hall's vocal style has been called "understated". Never deviating from signature, Hall manages to navigate the octaves of most of Stabbing Westward's tracks. Able to venture from a whisper to a high-pitch, Hall's voice is instantly recognizable in SB's tracks. Many of the song lyrics deal with a loss of relationship. Some of them have been aligned with a spiritual aspect of human/divine relationships.
Members
- Christopher Hall - vocals, guitar (1992-2002)
- Walter Flakus - keyboard (1992-2002)
- Jim Sellers - bass (1993-2002)
- Andy Kubiszewski - drums, guitar, keyboard, backing vocals (1995-2002)
- * began as live drummer at the end of the 1995 Ungod tour following David Suycott's departure.
- Derrek Hawkins - guitar, backing vocals (1999-2002)
- Chris Vrenna - drums (1992)
- Stuart Zechman - guitar (1993-1995)
- David Suycott - drums (1993-1995)
- Mark Eliopulos - guitar, backing vocals (1996-1999)
- Johnny Haro - drums (1998 - filling in for an injured Andy Kubiszewski)
Discography
Year
| Title
| Label
|
1992
| Iwo Jima EP
|
1994
| Ungod
| Columbia
|
1996
| Wither Blister Burn & Peel
| Columbia
|
1998
| Darkest Days
| Columbia
|
2001
| Stabbing Westward
| Koch
|
2003
| The Essential Stabbing Westward
| Sony
|
2003
| What Do I Have to Do?
| Sony
|
Singles
Year
| Song
| US Hot 100
| U.S. Modern Rock
| U.S. Main- stream Rock
| Album
|
1994
| "Violent Mood Swings"
| -
| -
| -
| Ungod
|
1994
| "Lies"
| -
| -
| -
| Ungod
|
1994
| "Nothing"
| -
| -
| -
| Ungod
|
1996
| "What Do I Have to Do?"
| 60*
| 11
| 7
| Wither Blister Burn & Peel
|
1996
| "Shame"
| 69*
| 14
| 7
| Wither Blister Burn & Peel
|
1998
| "Sometimes It Hurts"
| -
| 39
| 20
| Darkest Days
|
1998
| "Save Yourself"
| -
| 20
| 4
| Darkest Days
|
1999
| "Haunting Me"
| -
| 34
| 19
| Darkest Days
|
2001
| "So Far Away"
| -
| 21
| 23
| Stabbing Westward
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- "What Do I Have to Do?" and "Shame" charted on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay, due to the fact no commercially available singles were released for the songs.