Hellcharge,
formerly named Spitttin' Nails, was formed in early 2002 by Nick Evans, Josh
Whitlam and Fru Parsons but the band go back much longer and have a very interesting
history. Nick and Fru met at primary school when they were just 4 years old
but when they reached about 9 years old Fru went to Wells Cathedral School,
while Nick went to Millfield Prep School, in Glastonbury. Meanwhile, Josh was
being brought up in Brunai, Borneo by his British Parents and he lived here
until he reached 7 when he moved to the U.K. However, perhaps the birth of Spittin'
Nails was the chance meeting of future guitarists Nick and Josh. Nick lived
in Kingsdon a quiet village and his friend, Liam Nursey, told him that he had
met a 13 year old boy called Josh. Nick, intrigued by this went with his friend
to visit Josh. After a game of football, they could not be separated and they
grew to be close friends. But their love of music was sparked after Nick's brother
played "Nirvana: Unplugged in New York" while taking them somewhere
in the car. Nick's parents then invested into a keyboard along with an electric
guitar. Nick started off playing keyboards but took up the guitar soon after
Josh had bought his first guitar, a Les Paul. They both started learning simple
techniques, various chords e.t.c and the first song they ever learnt was "Polly"
by Nirvana. Josh started to rapidly improve his guitar playing by learning vaious
songs by the Stereophonics and Reef which left Nick bewildered but also determined
to become a guitar player. So inspired by the many artists in his parents record
collection (Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, Eric Clapton, Santana, The Beatles
and Chris Rea to name a few) he made sure he practised at least 3 hours a day
no matter what. It started off as a chore for the first few weeks after learning
as many chords and scales he could set his hands on but he then became able
to play and write songs. A year later and they both knew where they stood. Josh
would supply the chugging fat riffs and the occasional lead guitar part and
Nick would be supplying the furious stinging solos. And the more they wrote
songs the more their influences of Led Zeppelin, Metallica,Iron Maiden, Pantera,
Jimi Hendrix and Steve Vai, began to shine through. And so, 16 tracks later
in 2001 they searched for a drummer. Nick knew Kyle Williams, a drummer the
same age as him who went to Millfield also. However after 2 jam sessions with
Kyle, it became obvious that he couldn't handle the power and pace that Nick
and Josh were after in their drum patterns.They were back to square one, however,
Josh suggested Fru. Fru had been playing for 1 and a half years while Kyle had
been playing for 4 years. They were apprehensive but willing to try. A jam session
was organized on a Sunday in Janurary 2002 and as soon as Nick, Fru and Josh
began talking it was obvious that he was the kind of person they were looking
for in the band, but could he play drums. Yes. As soon as Fru began to play
they were certain that their search for a drummer had finally come to its conclusion.
His sheer power and speed on the drums was astounding and whats more, he was
heavily influenced by bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden. The only task left
for the boys was finding a bass player to lay down the foundations of each song.
But a week later Josh had managed to track down a bassist called Rosie who has
attended the same college as him. It didn't really work out though (clashing
influences etc). So after 2 years of the first idea to make the band, Josh got
talking to Ben Mewton-Phillips who has also attended at Stode College. As an
ex-member of Polaris, he had a little band experience, which is fuckin helpful!
So the lads had one tester practice and lo, the entire thing just KICKED ASS!
After drawing a basic list of names including Bloodlust, Black Maria and Fire
Hammer, they found one that truly reflected the type if music they wanted to
play. Spittin' Nails was chosen... disliked still, finally being changed to
Hellcharge, and the bands lineup was complete and they were ready to roll. ROCK
ON DUDES!!
