Chad Szeliga

Chad Szeliga
Born	December 23, 1976 (1976-12-23) (age 34)
Genres	Alternative metal, post-grunge, hard rock
Instruments	Drums
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Hollywood
Associated acts	Breaking Benjamin, Switched, Forever Oeuvre, APG, OurAfter, Crystal Bowersox, Hourcast, Black Label Society

Chad Szeliga is an American professional drummer born in Elyria, Ohio and now from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He is best known for being the drummer for the bands Breaking Benjamin, OurAfter, and Black Label Society.

Switched

Chad Szeliga started out with Switched, a hard rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. He was released from the band sometime during 2001. After his release from Switched, Chad played drums for another Cleveland band called Another Path. Chad now plays in Black Label Society, alongside Zakk Wylde, Nick Catanese, and John Deservio.

Breaking Benjamin

While with Another Path, Chad recorded an audition video for Breaking Benjamin playing drums for the song "So Cold".^[1] The video submitted happened to be the only VHS tape submitted. Ben Burnley was forced to borrow a VCR from his neighbor to view the tape. After Ben reviewed the tape, the band decided he was the right guy for the job.^[2] His first official recording with the band was for the full-band version of the song "Rain" from We Are Not Alone in mid 2005, which was sent to modern radio, and later appeared on the band's cover of Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever". He recorded with Breaking Benjamin on their 2006 album Phobia, which was released August 8, 2006. He also joined the band on their tour supporting that album.^[3]

He is still with Breaking Benjamin at this point, and was the full-time drummer on their fourth album entitled Dear Agony, which released on September 29, 2009. Due to multiple personnel changes and other issues however, Breaking Benjamin is currently inactive.

OurAfter

December 2009, Chad started filling in for drums with Scranton based band OurAfter due to their drummer Eli Hludzik's departure. Chad filled in with several shows while opening for rock band Red. This caused a lot of speculation that Chad was quitting Breaking Benjamin or the band was breaking up. Chad said on his MySpace that he had no intention of leaving the band and that OurAfter was a side project.

OurAfter is currently writing new material for their next album and plan on recording a new album May 2011.

Hourcast

In Spring 2011, after a lineup change, Chad was asked by lead singer Patrick McBride to join Los Angeles rockers Hourcast as their fill-in drummer on the Inked Magazine Tour for the summer. The band was on the tour supporting headliners The Damned Things. Chad joined the group for the stint, though the tour was cut short by the promoters after the August 26th New York City date, for fears of problems in the northeastern US from incoming Hurricane Irene.

Chad was asked by Drummer and founding member of Hourcast Jerry Clews to fill in for him on Inked Magazine Tour.

Black Label Society

On September 14, 2011, in a hand-written letter, Zakk Wylde introduced Chad as Black Label Society's new drummer. Replacing Mike Froedge. They are currently on tour with Judas Priest.

Avenged Sevenfold rumors

In the summer of 2010 there were rumors circulating on the internet regarding Chad joining Avenged Sevenfold Chad denied these rumors on his official Facebook stating:

“

...The thought of drumming for them has occurred to me and I have briefly discussed it with the members of A7X this past summer. But I believe they may stick with Mike Portnoy who's a great fit for the band."[4]

”

Later that day Mike Portnoy announced that he is no longer working for Avenged Sevenfold. When asked again about joining Chad had no comment.

Instructional DVD

Chad posted in the summer of 2010 that he was planning on recording a drum DVD. In Late March 2011 Chad recorded the drum DVD in California with DW Drums.

Chad was endorsed by Yamaha Drums for many years. All of the "Sw1tched" albums were recorded using various models of Yamaha drums, as well as Breaking Benjamin's "Rain" (full band version), the entire "Phobia" album, as well as "Dear Agony", in its entirety. Chad switched to DW Drums, pedals, and hardware in the middle of the "D.A." Tour. The DW kit is in a "regal to royal fade" lacquer finish.

Equipment

Drums: DW Drums (May 2010)

• 20"x18" Bass Drum w/ 20"x8" Bass Drum Woofer
• 10"x5" Short Tom
• 8"x5" Short Tom
• 12"x6" Short Tom
• 14"x11" Floor Tom
• 16"x12" Floor Tom
• 14"x11" Floor Tom (left side)
• 13"x6.5" Edge Snare
• 10"x6" Side Snare

Cymbals: Zildijan^[5]

• 12" A Custom Mastersound Hi-Hats
• 13" A Custom Mastersound Hi-Hats
• 19" K China
• 8" ZXT Trashformer Splash
• 6" A Custom Splash
• 15" A Custom ReZo Crash
• 17" A Custom Projection Crash w/ 6" Zil-Bel on top
• 8" A Custom Splash
• 11" Oriental Splash
• 20" A Brilliant Earth Ride (Custom Brilliant Coating)
• 16" Oriental China w/ K Hybrid Splash on top
• 18" Classic China
• 19" A Custom ReZo Crash
• 19" K Custom Hybrid China

Heads: Remo

• Toms: Clear Emperor over Clear Ambassador
• Snare: Coated Emperor-X over Clear Ambassador
• Side Snare: Coated Emperor over Clear Ambassador
• Bass: Clear Powerstoke 3 over Ebony Powerstroke 3

Others

• Vic Firth American Swinger SD10 Sticks
• LP Jam Block, Medium Pitch, Red (mounted near side snare)

Sponsorship

Chad is now sponsored by the popular energy drink company Liquid Lightning.^[6] He was slated to appear in ads for the company sometime in 2010. He is also sponsored by Remetee, Skull Candy. Instrumentally, he is sponsored by Drum Workshop (DW Drums), Remo drum heads, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Drumsticks and Vestal.^[7]

References

1. ^ "Chad Szeliga Video Audition for Breaking Benjamin So Cold Elyria Ohio". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmyIS84BQz8. Retrieved 2011-10-29. 
2. ^ "Breaking Benjamin Underground". The Shallow Bay. http://www.shallowbay.com/forum/faq.php?faq=section_1#faq_question_9. Retrieved 2011-10-29. 
3. ^ "Breaking Benjamin - Chad Szeliga". http://www.shallowbay.com/bio/chad/. Retrieved 2009-04-07. 
4. ^ Chad Szeliga Facebook Page December 16th 2010
5. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
6. ^ "Liquid Lightning Energy Drink". Llenergy.com. http://www.llenergy.com. Retrieved 2011-10-29. 
7. ^ "Zildjian Artist Chad Szeliga". http://www.zildjian.com/EN-US/artists/artistDetail.ad2?artistID=2984. Retrieved 2007-12-21. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Official website
• Official Facebook
• Official Myspace

Persondata
Name	Szeliga, Chad
Alternative names	Baggs
Short description
Date of birth	December 23, 1976
Place of birth	Elyria, Ohio
Date of death
Place of death