Treble Charger

Treble Charger is a Canadian rock band formed in 1992 in Sault Ste. Marie, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Greig Nori, and co-lead vocalist and guitarist Bill Priddle and current drummer Richard D Mulligan. The band, initially consisting of four members, had disbanded in 2006 and reunited in 2012. They began with a melodic indie rock style, but evolved into more of a pop punk band after signing to a major label in 1997. The band has not been active since August 28, 2014.^[1]

History

Early years (1992–1996)

Originally from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, the band consisted of Nori, Priddle, Rosie Martin and Morris Palter, and was named NC-17 (after the movie rating) until an American band with the same name threatened to sue. They adopted the name Treble Charger, but named their debut album NC17. NC17 was released independently at first by Smokin' Worm in 1994, but it was a hit on campus radio, MuchMusic, and CFNY when it was re-released by Sonic Unyon Records in 1997.

In 1995, the band released Self Title, which included a CD-ROM track promoting 30 of Treble Charger's favourite Canadian indie bands, including The Inbreds, Change of Heart, By Divine Right, Hayden and Thrush Hermit.

Shift to pop punk (1997–2006)

1997's Maybe It's Me was the band's major label debut. Palter recorded drums for only a few tracks, and, after Nori considered recording the rest of the drums himself, session drummer Mike Levesque stepped in. The album featured a more polished, commercial sound than the band's earlier albums, and launched the hit "Friend of Mine". Soon afterward, Trevor MacGregor joined as the band's drummer. That lineup, along with several of their songs from this album, were also featured in the 1999 film Mr. Music. The band played the role of an 'undiscovered' indie band that gets discovered and helps to turn fictional Tone Records around from its slump.

Wide Awake Bored, released in 2000, completed the band's evolution to a pop-punk style. This album also featured the hit singles "American Psycho" and "Brand New Low".

In 2002, Treble Charger released Detox, featuring hit single "Hundred Million" and "Don't Believe It All".

Priddle, identified with Treble Charger's early indie rock direction rather than the later pop-punk, left the band in 2003. Initially, it was said he was taking a break from the group,^[2] but it later came out the departure was permanent, and Nori had asked him to leave sooner than Priddle had intended. He told Chart:

"I was always into music for music's sake, when it got all corporate and about gimmicks and imaging and wearing the right clothes and having the right lingo, that kind of rubbed me the wrong way. We had a market of 16-year-old kids and we had to try to guess what our fans wanted. Which is really the opposite of where I was coming from. I've always thought the best music was, obviously, done by people that did music for themselves."^[3]

Kelly Osbourne guitarist Devin Bronson filled in for Priddle for the rest of the Detox tour. Priddle continued his collaborations with Broken Social Scene and is a member of his new band The Priddle Concern.

By this time, their work with and the success of their proteges Sum 41, whom Nori produced, had started to eclipse Treble Charger's own career. In late 2004, it was reported that Treble Charger itself was on hiatus, but an animated version of the group, including Priddle, would appear, with Sum 41, on The Comedy Network series Kevin Spencer.^[4]

However, a message posted on July 20, 2004, on their official website said they were continuing to record and the band was still together. But on September 1, 2005, Nori said in an interview:

"Thanks for all the amazing support you have given us. It seems like we're bigger now then we have ever been. I only wish more people had caught on to our music sooner so that we could have had an easier time at being a band. I'm not saying it's over yet but I am saying that right now I need to focus on other things. Maybe in a while I will get the urge to write a new TC album but right now my heart's not in it. Thanks for enjoying our music."

The hits "American Psycho" and "Brand New Low" were featured in EA Sports Hockey game NHL 2002 and "Hundred Million" was used in NHL 2003 and in Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild. EA also used "Wear Me Down" and "Business" from the Wide Awake Bored album in Triple Play 2002. "American Psycho" was used in promotional advertisements for the direct-to-video movie American Pie: Band Camp and featured in the movie Dude, Where's My Car?.

On February 3, 2006, Nori disbanded Treble Charger, ending their 14-year career.

Post-breakup activity (2006–2011)

Nori has stopped managing Canadian band Sum 41, although he now manages other bands. He is currently a "musical guru" for the Canadian reality show disBAND (since renamed Much Discovered) on MuchMusic. Priddle pursues a solo career in Toronto, and released a solo album in 2008 with his new band The Priddle Concern. MacGregor currently writes music for TV and film. Palter went on to pursue degrees in contemporary percussion performance and continues to perform solo and chamber music of contemporary composers all over the world.

Treble Charger was one of the inaugural inductees into the Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame on September 30, 2006 during the grand opening weekend of the Steelback Centre, the city's new sports and entertainment arena.

Nori produced Organ Thieves' first full-length studio album Somewhere Between Free Men and Slaves, which was recorded between 2010–2012 and released on April 3, 2012.

Reunion (2012–present)

On January 15, 2012, a Twitter account was opened for the band, with the opening tweet saying "Wow - it's been a while. Might be time to knock the dust off...", which led to speculations about the band reuniting, also following Nori's tweet "Thinking I should probably call Bill, and maybe pick up some new guitar strings, hmmmm."^[5] On January 20, 2012, it was confirmed that the band will reunite (without Martin and MacGregor) and has announced plans to play a reunion show at The Indie Awards in Toronto as part of Canadian Music Week.^[6] Another show was confirmed for March 21, 2012 in Toronto, with the band playing alongside Organ Thieves. The band played 3 more Canadian festival shows, in June, July and November.^[7]

In 2013, the band played one headlining show on July 12, in Windsor, Ontario, with support from The Trews and Neverending White Lights.

Nori and Priddle entered the studio to record new music in September 2014.^[8] However, there have not been any updates on a new album and they have not been active on social media since 2014. Since August 2016 they have recruited Richard D Mulligan as their new drummer. Since then no news on a new album has been announced.

Band members

Current line-up

• Greig Nori – lead vocals, guitar (1992–2006, 2012–)
• Bill Priddle – guitar, co-lead vocals (1992–2003, 2012–)
• Richard Mulligan – drums (2016-)

Touring members

• Darcy Yates – bass (2012–)^[8][9]

Former members

• Jason Pierce – drums (2012–2016)
• Morris Palter – drums, percussion (1992–1996)
• Rosie Martin – bass (1992–2006)
• Mike Levesque – drums, percussion (1997)
• Trevor MacGregor – drums, percussion (1997–2006)
• Devin Bronson – guitar, backing vocals (2003–2004)
• Dave McMillan – bass (touring) (January – July 2012)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

See also

• Canadian rock
• Music of Canada

References

Citations

External links

• Treble Charger Official website
• Treble Charger at ViK. Recordings
• Treble Charger at urArtist Network