Member Biography

Stabbing Westward was born of the convergence of Chris and Walter at a summer music camp in Macomb, Illinois sometime around 1981. The two became friends and Walter told Chris of how he was forming a rock band for a talent show. Chris, wanting to be a part of it, told Walter that he played bass, which was not a complete truth or a complete lie, as when Chris went back home and got his dad to buy a bass guitar and teach him how to play, he really did play bass. They both graduated high school in 1982 and attended Western Illinois University the year after, which is around the time the two started playing in Last Visible Band, Chris on bass and Walter on drums. Around 1984 or '85 the two got sick of playing in other people's bands and decided to do their own thing. They started writing songs which, as opposed to their later goth/industrial influenced sound, were actually quite melodic and similar to The Cure. As they were only a two-some they could never actually play any of the songs they wrote, so they bought a drum machine, got Walter's four track, learned how to use a MIDI keyboard and started recording. The band's name derives from the fact that they were working at a college radio station at the time (1985) and were writing down liner notes of bands' names they thought were clever, and thus Stabbing Westward was born. The band was named to reflect their hatred for the small and close-minded town they were living in and also because it had a 'kill everybody in the school feel'. As soon as Chris got the opportunity to play in a band in Chicago, he immediately dropped school and moved. Chris and Walter were still demoing over the mail while Walter was pursuing a professional DJ career back in Illinois and Chris was playing in Odd Man Out.

Walter joined Chris in Chicago a few years later and with the 50 or so demos they had by the time, they took off with Stabbing Westward. They played on the local club scene for a while and went through alot of personnel changes, but the core members, Chris and Walter remained. They didn't make it very big at the time so they decided to record a number of demos and go national. This gave birth to the 'Iwo Jimma' demo tapes, which were recorded in 1990 and rehashed into newer versions in '91. After having Chris Vrenna of Nine Inch Nails jam with them on drums, (Chris Hall and Chris Vrenna both played in Die Warsaw at the time) they realized they could be a pretty good organic rock band if they wanted to be, without the drum machine. This is around the time that Chris broke up with his long time girlfriend of 9 years to be with another girl, who turned out not wanting him, and thus changed his lyrical direction from politics and the evils of society to depression, pain, loss, obsession, love and hatred. So Stabbing Westward recorded another demo featuring 'Nothing', 'Lies' and 'Throw' which attracted the attention of Columbia Records and got the band signed to the label by David Kahane. Following this, Chris Vrenna got the idea that Stabbing Westward were only getting signed because he was in it and the band eventually ended up firing him. Chris Hall, at the time, was working at Chicago Trax which was the recording home of Chicago's Wax Trax industrial and techno artists. It's here that he met Stuart Zechman of Filter and recruited him for the band. With their first band line-up, Chris Hall on vocals, Walter Flakus on keyboard and programming, Jim Sellers on bass, Stuart Zechman on guitar and David Suycott on drums, Stabbing Westward were set to record their first album.

In 1993 the band recorded their first album with Jon Fryer in Chiswick, England. After the six-week recording phase, the band toured in September opening for Rage Against The Machine at the CMJ Music Marathon. The band's line-up at the time was Chris Hall, (vocals, keyboards) Walter Flakus, (keyboards) Jim Sellers, (bass) Stuart Zechman, (guitars, bass) and David Suycott (drums, percussion).

The album, Ungod, (which is a metaphor for 'having the power of life and death, taking that power away from god') was officially released in February of 1994 and the band prepared for a year of rigorous promotional touring with the likes of Therapy?, Paw, Machines of Loving Grace, Depeche Mode and Primal Scream. During the tour Stabbing Westward parted ways with David Suycott, who felt the band wasn't going anywhere, and Andy Kubiszewski (who later became the band's full-time drummer, percussionist and an integral part to musical direction) took over. Overall, the tour itself was a success although the album had only received enough airplay to earn the band a small but loyal fanbase. The members of Stabbing Westward always had an open relationship with one another and ideas were brought in by everybody, but the band having recruited guitarist Stuart Zechman only because they liked the way he played guitar proved to be a rash move as he was very much into his own thing and was the main reason Stabbing Westward were chained to an industrial sound on the album. There was alot of conflict in the band with Stuart, as he wasn't very open to other people's ideas and Ungod turned into a kind of power struggle where not everyone's ideas got heard. So after the tour Stuart was fired.

During a well-deserved holiday, Chris Hall thought about the band and how Ungod fell short of most people's ears. Needless to say, this was no fault of the content of the album itself, just the lack of airplay and promotion. After this period of time, Chris decided that the band really was something special and was worth the effort that they had put into it. So Stabbing Westward went on to record a second album.

In 1995, the band's line-up; Chris Hall, (vocals, guitar) Walter Flakus, (keyboards, programming, guitar) Jim Sellers (bass, guitar) and Andy Kubiszewski (drums, guitar) rented a rehearsal space in Libertyville, IL and re-enlisted Jon Fryer because they were so happy with the chemistry they had on the debut. With the loss of Stuart Zechman, the band interviewed countless guitarists but couldn't find anybody to fit the job, so they took turns playing guitar on the album themselves. The approach this time was a more organic one... they had the intent to capture a 'live' sound and use as little effects as possible to capture the feeling of each individual player and their style, rather than overshadowing everyone's abilities with synth basses, effects and samples. The band wrote all the material on the next album in that rehersal space and started recording in a barn in Woodstock, NY where they claimed to have experienced paranormal activity. The real story behind this was that the barn was actually not haunted, however the cottage where Chris stayed was. With that aside, the band still experienced some freaky things inside the barn and Chris, taking advantage of the whole situation, would go to the barn at night and bang on the windows to scare the hell out of the other members.

With the release of Wither Blister Burn + Peel on January 23rd, 1996 the band prepared themselves for yet another year of rigorous touring with the likes of Kiss and The Sex Pistols. For the tour, the band recruited Mark Eliopulos to play guitars. This, the band's second album boasted 2 singles, first 'What Do I Have To Do?' then 'Shame' which gained the band a small yet hardcore following. The imported version of Wither Blister Burn + Peel had two extra tracks, 'Everything I touch' (which later appeared as an official track on their third album) and 'Dawn' which was featured on the 'Escape from LA' soundtrack. The album went Gold on September 26, 1996, and with the band somewhat riding high on its success, they looked to the future.

Stabbing Westward moved from Chicago to LA and spent the majority of 1997 in seclusion writing material for their third album. The band was on the verge of breaking-up and everybody's ideas were conflicting out in the open. As Chris recalls 'there was no tiptoeing', everyone was aiming to write the best songs they've ever written and shut out everybody else's. In the end the band reached a compromise and everybody had their material heard in what was to become, by a majority of fans' opinions, Stabbing Westward's best work ever. The album was to be the 'next step in the evolutionary chain', the darkest yet and it was to have the album art to reflect it. Being drawn by Dave McKean (Sandman comics), the images suited the album almost perfectly. After almost half a year spent song-writing the band entered the studio in June with Dave Jerden and stayed until September fine-tuning what was to be 'Darkest Days', the climax to almost a decade of musical soul-searching and a tribute to the magnificence which is Stabbing Westward. However, they didn't like the way that the album was mixed so they decided to do it themselves. The band had remained identical to the line-up of 'Wither Blister Burn + Peel' apart from the addition of Mark Eliopulos who stayed after the Wither Blister Burn + Peel tour to play guitars on Darkest Days.

April 7th of 1998 saw the release of Darkest Days. The album consists of 4 phases which depict the deterioration of a relationship and the aftermath. The first phase shows the ways you fuck up, the second phase shows some hope of the person still being around, the third phase shows hitting rock bottom and the final phase shows getting over it and moving on with your life, but as opposed to your average 'and he lived happily ever after story' the album takes a twist on the final track. The band followed up the release of the album with a tour with Depeche Mode during which Andy broke his collarbone while rollerskating and the band had to hire a temporary replacement. Chris Vrenna, who was with the band for a while in the demo era filled in for Andy while the band searched for a long-term replacement. The band tried Geoff Dugmore from Killing Joke, but he had to withdraw due to family reasons. Afterwards, the band tried Johnny Haro who was formerly of Star 69 and he stayed until Andy recovered. Early 1999, the band found themselves headlining in another tour with Placebo opening. During the tour they were playing a show at Irving Plaza, NY and the band were getting changed in their dressing room and had Claudia Schiffer walk in on them only to see a very naked Jim Sellers. Claudia became a big fan. Darkest Days boasted 3 singles, the first being 'Save Yourself', the second being 'Sometimes It Hurts' and the third being 'Haunting Me' which was also featured on 'The Faculty' soundtrack. 'Torn Apart' was also remixed and placed on the 'Spawn' soundtrack. 'The Thing I Hate' was featured on the introduction video to 'Duke Nukem: Time To Kill' and a remixed version of 'Waking Up Beside You' appeared on 'The Crow: Salvation'.

In June of 1999 the band started writing material for their fourth album, but just as they were to start recording, they received word that they had been dropped from their label along with 11 other bands. After six years, Stabbing Westward and Columbia Records parted ways. The band immediately started getting calls from hopeful labels and this encouraged them to go on. After shopping their material around to various record studios, they signed a contract with the relatively new and small-time Koch Records. The band liked the idea of being signed to a smaller label that would actually pay attention to their needs and would be intelligent with the handling of expenses. By now getting tired of bearing the industrial tag that had been plastered onto them almost a decade ago, the band decided to make a different approach to the new album and make it somewhat poppier. Mark didn't like this idea, so he parted ways with the band (on friendly terms). For the new album the band worked with suede producer Ed Buller, and hired former 'Closer' guitarist Derrek Hawkins. Ed Buller refined the band's sound, by virtually abolishing all synth equipment Stabbing Westward had used and proving that they don't need huge walls of sound to boast powerful music. Feeling that this new sound was a new beginning of sorts for them, the band decided to title the fourth album, just simply, Stabbing Westward.

The new album, Stabbing Westward, was released on May 22nd of 2001, and the band yet again, sticking to their traditional routine prepared for a tour, proving that their new sound is a force to be reckoned with in the live department. The new album definately marks a poppier approach but still stays true to the integrity of the old material, and the band has definately not softened down, especially in concert. The approach this time was to make a record that would capture the 'live' fury of Stabbing Westward, so in turn, no click-track was used and the album was recorded totally 'live' without much improvisation, so many disappointed fans found themselves appreciating the album more after hearing it played live. Following their headlining club tour with Apex Theory opening, the band set out for a tour with The Cult and Monster Magnet, but that didn't draw in alot of money or fans, so Koch pulled them out. The official press line on that was that Andy had developed a condition he had to have surgery for, but that was dismissed as the truth came out. The new sound may have alienated alot of the hardcore fans, but it was a change that was made so that the band would not stagnate and die as the they had more or less done all they could with their former style. The new album boasted 2 singles and they were 'So Far Away' and 'Angel'.

The band broke up around February of 2002. They issued a statement saying "Thank you very much for the support and love. We are very sad and as well very excited about all our futures" however no clear explanation was given but speculation leads to believe that with the change of style being more or less a failure for Stabbing Westward, they believed that it was time to put it to rest and move on.

I would like to wish the core members, Chris Hall, Walter Flakus, Jim Sellers and Andy Kubiszewski all the best with their futures and a big thank you for being a part of the greatest group to grace the music scene of the 90's and beyond.

Video Clips:

Ungod; 'Nothing', 'Lies'
Wither Blister Burn + Peel; 'What Do I Have To Do', 'Shame'
Darkest Days; 'Save Yourself', 'Sometimes It Hurts'
Self-Titled; 'So Far Away'

Member Information:

Christopher Hall

Vocals, guitar, keyboard, drums and trumpet.
Birthdate: May 18, 1965.
Previous Bands: Last Visible Band, Odd Man Out and Die Warsaw.
Formed Stabbing Westward.

Walter Flakus

Programming, guitar, vocals and drums.
Birthdate: September 20, 1966.
Previous Bands: Last Visible Band.
Formed Stabbing Westward.

Jim Sellers

Bass, guitar and vocals.
Birthdate: February 25, 1965.
Previous Bands: Cathedral Burns.
Part of the band since the 1991 demo tape (Iwo Jimma).

Andrew Kubiszewski

Drums, guitar, programming and vocals.
Birthdate: September 30, 1961.
Previous Bands: Exotic Birds, Prick, Nine Inch Nails, The The, Crowded House, and the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.
Joined during Ungod tour.

Previous Members:

Derrek Hawkins

Guitar and vocals.
Previous Bands: Closer.
Joined for recording of Self-Titled.
Left during Self-Titled tour.

Marcus Eliopulos

Guitar and vocals.
Previous Bands: Stranger Things.
Joined during Wither Blister Burn + Peel tour.
Left in 2000.

Stuart Zechman

Guitar.
Joined for recording of Ungod.
Left after Ungod tour.

David Suycott

Drums.
Joined for recording of Ungod.
Left during Ungod tour.

Demo Members:

DJ - Keyboards, samples, rhythms.
Andrrew Hunter - Guitars, E-bow.
Jim Clanin - Guitars.
Chris Vrenna - Drums.

Replacement Members:

Geoff Dugmore - Drums.
Hired during Save Yourself tour to fill in for Andy.
Johnny Haro - Drums.
Took over after Geoff left to fill in for Andy.