Local H

Infobox musical artist
Name = Local H


Img_capt = Local H in concert
Background = group_or_band
Years_active = 1987 - present
Origin = Zion, Illinois, United States
Genre = Post-grunge Hard rock Alternative rock
Label = Island (1995-1999) Palm Pictures (2001-2002) Thick (2003) Studio E (2004) Cleopatra (2005) Shout! Factory (2008)
Current_members = Scott Lucas Brian St. Clair
Past_members = Joe Daniels Matt Garcia
URL = http://www.localh.com

Local H is a rock band, formed by Scott Lucas (lead vocals, guitar, bass) and Joe Daniels (drums). The two began playing together while attending their Zion, Illinois high school in 1987. After their original failed attempts at recruiting a bassist, Lucas took the unique approach of adding bass pickups to his electric guitar, an attribute of Local H that survives to this day.

History

Local H's first album, "Ham Fisted", was released in 1995. Their 1996 follow up album, "As Good as Dead" had a successful release due to the popularity of the hit song "Bound for the Floor." Two years later, in 1998, the band released "Pack Up the Cats", a critically acclaimed album which spawned the single "All the Kids Are Right". During the period surrounding the album's release - their label, PolyGram, merged with Universal Music Group and the album's promotion became a casualty of the transition. Despite these difficulties, both "As Good as Dead" and "Pack Up the Cats" were eventually certified as gold records, meaning that they sold in excess of 500,000 copies in the United States, according to the RIAA standards at the time.

Joe Daniels left the band in July 1999, prompting Scott Lucas to recruit former Triple Fast Action drummer Brian St. Clair in September of the same year. Brian St. Clair had also previously worked with Chicago-based Liz Phair as her tour manager, and with Cheap Trick as a drum technician. The duo released the band's fourth fourth album "Here Comes the Zoo" in 2002 under the Palm Pictures record label. "The No Fun EP" followed in 2003 and their fifth album, "Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles?", was released in April 2004 to favorable reviews.

In 2005 the band received a good deal of publicity after recording a cover of the Britney Spears single "Toxic". The studio-recorded cover was available for free on the band's website, and it can now be found as the last, and only studio recorded, track of "Alive '05", a live album the band released in 2005 that constituted the sixth major release from the band.

The next year, in 2006, the band released the limited edition record "99-00 Demos" which contained early versions of many songs from the recording sessions of "Here Comes the Zoo" as well as several songs that were not included on the studio release.

Their seventh traditional album, "12 Angry Months", was released on May 13, 2008 on the Shout! Factory label. The album is a concept album about the different emotions felt for the 12 months after the end of a romantic relationship. Each track is associated with one of the months of the year, from January "One with Kid" to December "Hand to Mouth" .

Local H is managed by former Triple Fast Action member Wes Kidd for Silent Partner Management which merged with Charlottesville, Virginia, based Red Light Management in 2007.

Live shows

Local H is known for their frequent and energetic live shows. Scott Lucas has a reputation for being relatively combative with the crowd during these performances. It is not unusual for Scott Lucas to verbally abuse specific members of the crowd. However, the members of the band can usually be found at their own merchandise table after shows - laughing, signing autographs, and selling t-shirts.

Local H also has a reputation for creative ideas with regards to its live shows. In addition playing a show in Chicago every New Year's Eve, the band has also participated in several unconventional concerts over the years.

In 2003, the band auctioned off a live show to the winner of an eBay auction.

In 2004, the band played a show to celebrate the release of their fourth album at a bar named Fritz's Corner in Zion, Illinois. "Fritz's Corner" is the name of a single off of the 1996 release "As Good as Dead" and by all accounts the name was taken from this specific establishment.

In 2005; Local H performed an "all request tour" in which a ballot resembling a traditional sushi menu was handed out to the audience upon admittance to the venue; containing a breakdown of most of the bands' songs organized into various categories. Audiences were allowed to pick seven songs from the "menu" and the setlist for each show was derived from these ballots.

In the summer of 2007, Local H played an early morning show at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago before a White Sox game. Tickets to this show were only available by spotting Scott Lucas in public and speaking the phrase "Attention all planets of the Solar Federation, we have assumed to control" directly to him. Later that same year, Local H announced a contest in which fans could make videos of themselves covering Local H songs. The winner would then get to be the opening act for Local H's New Years's Eve show . A band from New York called Kung-Fu Grip won the contest with their cover of "Cooler Heads," a song from Local H's No Fun E.P.

Most recently, Local H played a series of shows to promote the May 13, 2008 release of their new album 12 Angry Months. Starting on May 7th; Local H consecutively played each of their albums in chronological order, one album a night, at the Beat Kitchen in Chicago. According to the band's website that allowed "hardcore fans" to get "the chance of a lifetime" to see the band perform their entire studio catalog, with one night devoted to b-sides and rarities. A presale/promotional package for this event went on sale on before the bulk of the tickets were released on March 8th, and the special week long passes that included a commemorative t-shirt sold out in seconds. The final show on May 13th was filmed by Seattle-based King of Hearts Productions for a soon-to-be-released live DVD.

In addition, for Halloween from 1996 to 2006 Local H would play at the Double Door night club in Chicago, masquerading as another group. In previous years they have performed as bands including Nirvana, Tom Petty, Oasis, The Doors, and Sex Pistols. In 2006, the band announced that the Halloween show that year would be the last and played headlining shows as Kiss and Led Zeppelin on consecutive nights.

Trivia

* Frontman Scott Lucas drinks Maker's Mark. Sometimes, he will even drink an entire bottle during a set. Drummer Brian St. Clair does not drink alcohol.
* Scott Lucas is a vegetarian.
* Brian St. Clair is an avid bird watcher.
* The songs Bound For The Floor from the 1996 album As Good As Dead, and Hands on the Bible from 2002 album Here Comes the Zoo was featured in the 2006 film, Big Nothing, starring Simon Pegg and David Schwimmer. "Bound for the Floor" was also featured in the video game Saints Row.
* A friend of the band, Gabe Rodriguez, often accompanies the band on tours and will spring from behind an amplifier during songs to provide backing vocals or to play the kazoo, or the tambourine.
* An extensive collection of live recordings is available at the Internet Archive
* Scott Lucas is involved in numerous side projects. His most recent activities include collaborating with several other Chicago area musicians to form the electronica-influenced Prairie Cartel. Scott also performs with members of Cisco Pike (a band he also recorded with); and that group focuses exclusively on covering unusual songs from lesser known bands bands. In 2007, Scott Lucas toured with The Tossers in Europe, playing bass, after their bassist had a last minute visa related problem.

Band members

;Current
*Scott Lucas - lead & rhythm guitars, lead vocals, bass, percussion (1987-present)
*Brian St. Clair - drums (1999-present)

;Former
*Joe Daniels - drums, whistling, backing vocals (1987-1999)
*Matt Garcia - bass (1987-1992)
*John Sparkman
*Mike Lindine

;Touring
*Wes Kidd - lead & rhythm guitars on the "Pack Up the Cats" tour
*Gabe Rodriguez - backing vocals, kazoo, and tambourine.

Discography

Albums

* "Ham Fisted" (1995)
* "As Good as Dead" (1996)
* "Pack Up the Cats" (1998)
* "Here Comes the Zoo" (2002)
* "Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles?" (2004)
* "Twelve Angry Months" (2008)

EPs

* "Half-Life E.P." (2001)
* "The No Fun EP" (2003)

Live albums

* "Alive '05" (2005)

ingles and Splits

* "Drum" (1991)
* "Local H/Sybil Vane Split" 7" (1994)
**A vinyl split single which featured the unreleased "Disgruntled Xmas" and Sybil Vane's cover of "White Christmas"
* "Local H/The Blank Theory Split" 7" (2000)
**A vinyl split single which featured the unreleased cover of The Godfathers song "Birth, School, Work, Death" (later re-recorded for "The No Fun EP") and The Blank Theory's "Corporation"

ingles

Demos/Demo Albums

* "Scratch Demos" (1991)
* "The '92 Demos" (Originally Released in 1992 under the name Local H, Re-Released in 1999)
* "'99-'00 Demos" (Released in 2006)

Compilation appearances

*"The Great White Hype" (1996)
**Features "Feed" in the movie
*"Sling Blade soundtrack" (1996)
**Features a cover of Guided by Voices' "Smothered in Hugs"
*"Gravesend soundtrack" (1997)
**Features two unreleased songs, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "Tag-Along"
*"Where is my Mind? The Pixies Tribute" (1999)
**Features a cover of "Tame"
*"Oil thick records compilation" (2002)
**Features an early version of "Mellowed"

ee also

*List of alternative music artists
*List of musicians in the second wave of punk music

References

External links

* [http://www.localh.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.thehcorner.com/ The H Corner - Informative Fan Site]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Bqtamqjoyojaa All Music Guide entry for Local H]
* [http://www.studioerecords.com/ Studio E Records]
* [http://www.gandprecords.com/ G&P Records]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/LocalH Local H collection] at the Internet Archive's live music archive