Joe Daniels (drummer)

Joe Daniels (August 4, 1970) started his career as a drummer in Zion, Illinois. Son of Joe Daniels Sr., a Blues musician, Joe William Daniels began playing drums at Age 2 and has gone on to be a commercial success as a drummer with band Local H selling near 1 million albums.

Biography

Family

Music has always come naturally to Joe Daniels. Joe’s father was a dedicated Blues musician who played drums and keyboards and spent Joe’s childhood playing the Blues in a Chicago based band. Joe’s father introduced him to the drums at Age 2 and once he discovered at Age 7 that Joe was left-handed, made a small adjustment to the drum set, enhancing Joe’s ability to play. By Age 8 Joe Sr. invited young Joe to join the Blues band and play drums and keyboards.

Joe’s mom was always a supporter of his musical talent and supported the family by being a beauty shop owner and hairdresser.

Early Years

Joe was a kid that had a lot of energy. At Age 10 he was involved in baseball, hockey and was focusing his energies on break dancing. He was a DJ at school dances and for awhile set aside the drums. In the 1980’s Joe and his friends would take their skills to New York and audition for the movie Beat Street. Nothing came from the audition but Joe was inspired by the experience.

Upon entering High School Joe joined the local gymnastics club and in 1988 was chosen to be a part of the Illinois Expo Gymnastics Team where he had the opportunity to travel to Brisbane, Australia, perform at the World’s fair, tour Australia and perform on television in shows like the Bozo Show.

Joe graduated high school from Zion Benton Township in 1989. In 1988 he would meet Scott Lucas who would come to be the other half of Local H. Joe and Scott met when a mutual friend mentioned Scott’s need from a drummer. The first time Joe and Scott played together they would spent all night together just connecting through the music.

After graduation Joe moved to Chicago, Illinois. Joe lived in Wrigleyville and worked at the Avalon night club. Here Joe would come into contact with various artists including Arrested Development Group, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, L7, White Zombie, Tool, Janes Addiction, Nirvana and many more. While working at the Avalon club Joe was on the college track at the University of Illinois as an Architecture major. Joe also spent time at Columbia College but would not have the chance to complete a degree before music would become his sole focus.

Local H

Starting in 1988, Joe Daniels and Scott Lucas played music together, eventually forming Local H. Local H was originally a three-piece band which consisted Joe Daniels on drums, Scott Lucas on vocals and guitar, and Matthew Garcia on bass. Local H played together almost 5 years generating a buzz and gaining popularity in the Chicago area. In 1993 Matt Garcia left the band to pursue other interests. Lucas and Daniels decided to continue the band, and after failing to recruit a bassist, Lucas took up three duties, adding bass pick-ups to his guitar.

In 1993 Local H received a call from major record label Interscope Records when an agent saw Local H play in Chicago. Local H negotiated with Interscope Records but never moved forward with a record deal. Soon after, PolyGram records contacted Local H and set up a showcase in Chicago at Dress Rehearsals. Agent Joe Bosso flew in from New York, experienced a half dozen songs and left without an offer to Joe or Scott. Within a week Joe Bosso contacted Local H’s attorney and said that PolyGram would like to do a demo deal with Joe and Scott. Instead of a demo Joe and Scott, Local H, signed with Joe Bosso and began to tour the nation.

In 1994 PolyGram Records merged with Island Records and Joe and Local H became Island Record artists. Local H recorded their first album Ham Fisted [ Local H Discography [http://www.localh.com/discography.html] ] with producer of the band Quicksand’s album Slip Steven Haigler. The album was not reviewed well. Local H toured for almost two years on their first album and were then instructed by Island Records to record a second album before touring could resume.

In 1995, Daniels would soon find himself in the midst of contributing to his biggest album to date, "As Good as Dead" [Local H Discography [http://www.localh.com/discography.html] ] . Daniels and Lucas completed the album in four weeks in their hometown. In mid-1995 Daniels was back in the studio to recording "As Good As Dead" with the same producer, Steven Haigler, who completed Local H's first record. Their small success allowed Local H to hire famous rock mixer, Tom Lord Algae, to mix the album. Algae was known as a hit maker and worked together with Daniels and Lucas to produce songs that would be popular. Local H's biggest hit to date, "Bound for the Floor", would be produced on this album. The song became an alternative cult classic, moving "As Good as Dead" to sell more than a half a million records and put the album at gold status.

Joe first saw his name on the Billboard charts with the hit single "Bound for the Floor" [ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?JSESSIONID=JNqLL9ZVpFyk0yTR97r0NKGY0m0hZ0JhZzCLSdLnV6n9hWJ3SgWy!1870602289&model.vnuArtistId=118555&model.vnuAlbumId=1115156 Billboard.com - Artist Chart History - Local H ] ] . The success of this song put Local H on the road with the Stone Temple Pilots. During Christmas week 1996, Local H sold 20,000 records in one week, which beat out any other band in the same category. The album would tour for two and a half years and produce 4 singles and 4 videos.

In 1996, Daniels career was in an upswing. Local H had songs in the movie “No Looking Back” [ [http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/1091/longtime.htm No Looking Back ] ] starring Lauren Holly, Edward Burns and Jon Bon Jovi, “The Great White Hype” [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116448/ The Great White Hype (1996) ] ] starring Samuel L Jackson, Jeff Goldblum and Peter Berg and the cult classic “Never Been Kissed” [ [http://www.foxmovies.com/neverbeenkissed/ Never Been Kissed ] ] with Drew Barrymore. The band began to show up on MTV shows including Darius and The Real World and they appeared live on MTV’s 120 minutes twice, as well as MTV’s Oddville. Local H experienced industry highs and also appeared on The Conan O'Brien Show, in addition to multiple shows overseas. 1998 would also see the writing and recording of Local H's third album, the critically well-received "Pack Up the Cats".

"Pack Up the Cats" received acclaim for The Village Voice in New York naming then number one album of the year [ [http://www.villagevoice.com/1998-09-29/music/consumer-guide/2 Consumer Guide, page 2 - Music - Village Voice - Village Voice ] ] . Spin magazine voted the album in its top 20 [ [http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/spinend.htm#1998 Spin End of year lists - From 1990 to 2006 ] ] best albums of the year. Local H hit radio stations with every modern rock, rock and alternative rock audience in the country. The band saw the sales of 30,000 albums its first week out. Soon after the release of the album Local H was informed that Island records had merged with Universal and the industry was cutting back.

Although Local H's option for a fourth album with Local H had been picked up with the successful release of the third album, it never came to be. June 1999 Joe Daniels and Scott Lucas played one of their last shows together as Local H by headlining Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Joe ended his career with the band by playing two shows back to back at The Metro in Chicago. In the following weeks, Daniels left Local H, though Lucas went on, recruiting Brian St. Clair, former member of Triple Fast Action, as drummer.

Continuing Music Career

STENDEC (1999-2001)
Joe moved to Los Angeles CA to pursue a band called Stendec, which consisted of Joe Daniels (Local H), J. Yuenger (White Zombie) , Chris Dye (Gordon) and Rob Reddick (16 Horse power, Candlebox). Stendec opened for bands such as Queens Of The Stone Age. Stendec dissolved in 2001.

THE BLACK PANELS (2001-2004)
From the ashes of Stendec, Daniels and Dye formed The Black Panels, also based out of Los Angeles. The band was comprised of Joe Daniels on drums, Chris Dye on guitar/vocals and Keith Brown formerly of the band “Catherine” on bass. Blackpanels would stay together for three years and signed a demo deal with Universal. Before the demo was made Joe left the band and moved back to Chicago.

BRUISER (2005-2007)
In Chicago Joe joined the band “Bruiser” to write songs. Joe agreed to do this to stay around music and to help “Bruiser” find their sound. Joe would soon record a full length album with “Bruiser” produced by good friend and producer Steven Haigler.

Continued career

In 2006 Joe married and expanded his family by welcoming a baby boy. Joe and his wife opened a children’s boutique in a Chicago suburb named after their son. Joe has been asked over the years to join numerous bands and is starting a project with several other artists in Los Angeles in Summer 2008.

Discography

Local H
*"Ham Fisted" (1995)
*"As Good as Dead" (1996)
*"Pack Up the Cats" (1998)

References

External links

*amg | id = 11:hqknikckbb69 | label = Joe Daniels