Dave Baksh

Dave Baksh
Birth name	David Nizam Baksh
Also known as	Hot Chocolate, Brownsound, Pleasure
Born	July 26, 1980 (1980-07-26) (age 31) Ajax, Ontario
Origin	Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Heavy metal, hard rock, southern rock, pop punk, punk rock, alternative rock, reggae
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, drums
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Aquarius, Island, Universal
Associated acts	Organ Thieves, Brown Brigade, Sum 41, Blackjacket

David Nizam "Brownsound" Baksh (born 26 July 1980 in Ajax, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian guitarist, singer and producer of Indo-Guyanese descent, best known as the ex-lead guitarist of punk band Sum 41, but has since became a singer/guitarist in his own heavy metal/reggae project Brown Brigade. He also currently plays guitar for a band called The Organ Thieves, with two of his fellow Brown Brigade members.^[1]

Early years

Baksh was heavily influenced by the bands Anthrax, Megadeth and Metallica, which motivated him to play music. The first song Dave covered was "Caught in a Mosh" by Anthrax. Dave's first guitar was the Hamer Vector (Flying V lookalike) which he purchased for $400 on vacation in Florida. Baksh met his future band members, Deryck Whibley and Steve Jocz, at high school, but he later dropped out because he thought it was the only thing that kept him away from music.

Personal life

Baksh was born and raised in Ajax, Ontario, along with fellow Sum 41 bandmates Cone McCaslin, and Steve Jocz. He is married to Jennifer Baksh and works with his cousin Vaughn Lal in his heavy metal band Brown Brigade.

Professional career

Sum 41 (1996-2006)

Main article: Sum 41

Baksh joined Sum 41 as the third member, after Deryck Whibley and Steve Jocz formed the band in the summer of 1996. In addition to being the lead guitarist, Baksh also provided back-up vocals. He generally plays a Paul Reed Smith McCarty Double Cut Solid body, but he also plays Paul Reed Smith Single Cuts and Gibson Les Pauls and also a Gibson X-Plorers studio (Alpine White). He uses Dean Markley strings. For his pedals, he uses MXR Effects, a Digitech Whammy, and Dunlop wah Pedals. He uses Marshall Amplification. Baksh went by the name Pleasure in Sum 41's alter-ego band, Pain for Pleasure. Baksh also goes by the name Dave Brownsound Baksh, or also "Hot Chocolate", probably playing off of both his Indian heritage and brown sound, the name Eddie Van Halen coined for his own guitar tone. He has stated his favorite Sum 41 songs are "Mr. Amsterdam," "Machine Gun," "Pain for Pleasure," and "The Bitter End", and his least favorite to play with the band is "Pieces".

Dave joined Sum 41 once again on March 27, 2008, at their show at the Kool Haus in Toronto, surprising all the band members while going on stage for the final encore "Pain for Pleasure."

Brown Brigade (2006-present)

On May 11, 2006, Baksh announced in a statement through his management company that he was leaving Sum 41 for personal reasons. He explained that he could not keep trying to express himself through guitar skills without being a pain to the band. During the post-Chuck hiatus, he decided it was time to move on from Sum 41 and to focus on his side project "Brown Brigade", his new band that he founded with his cousin Vaughn and with which he currently plays lead guitar.

Brown Brigade's debut album Into the Mouth of Badd(d)ness was released September 18, 2007 in Canada and Japan only and became critically successful, even though it was not released widely in the US and have not brought the band any outside attention, the band still continues to tour Canada in support of the album.

Baksh stated that the band is currently working on a bunch of new and experimental songs to be released for free on the band's website. The new songs, unlike the band's traditional music, would feature varied music such as punk rock, funk and reggae and not metal like the debut album.

In a show that took place on March 27, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Baksh joined Sum 41 to play "Pain for Pleasure" at the end of the show. Some thought this might be a hint of him coming back, however, Deryck Whibley said in a YouTube video^{[dubious – discuss]} that Dave would continue with Brown Brigade. Deryck said that "Brownsound is not rejoining the band. He is happy doing his own thing."^{[citation needed]}

On September 12, 2008, Dave announced on the band's Myspace page that he would quit singing for the band, but would remain as the lead guitarist. The band was looking for a new lead singer to work on new material. On November 27, 2009, Dave announced that due to his cousin Vaughn Lal's involvement in his business, they intended to keep Brown Brigade strictly a studio act, releasing single songs and collaborating in the studio with many different artists, with a small chance of playing live. Dave's main focus will be The Organ Thieves and Vaughn's main focus will be his new business.

Dave currently works at Yorkville Sound, In Pickering, Ontario.

The Organ Thieves (2008-present)

In mid-2008, Dave started recording and producing his fellow Brown Brigade member Chuck Coles' new project The Organ Thieves. By November 2008, Coles has asked Baksh to join the band for a few live shows, resulting in Baksh joining as a full-time member. He recorded the band's first EP God's Favorite Sons in January 2009. The EP was released for free on the band's Myspace page and was later released into physical copies in March 2009. On the same month, Dave also joined Canadian hardcore punk outfit Blackjacket for a short UK tour.

Organ Thieves are currently working on their first full-length studio album, with former longtime Sum 41 producer/manager Greig Nori. Organ Thieves has since become Dave's main focus as he intends to keep Brown Brigade strictly a studio act.

Discography

Sum 41

For a full discography, see Sum 41 discography

Year	Album details	Chart peaks										Certifications (sales thresholds)
		CAN [2]	AUS [3]	AUT [4]	FRA [5]	NET [6]	NZ [7]	SWE [8]	SWI [9]	UK [10]	US [2]
2000	Half Hour of Power[A] Released: June 27, 2000 Label: Aquarius, Big Rig											CAN: Gold[11]
2001	All Killer No Filler Released: May 8, 2001 Label: Aquarius, Island	9	33	19	25	69	16	—	39	7	13	CAN: 3x Platinum[12] AUS: Gold[13] UK: Platinum[14] US: Platinum[15]
2002	Does This Look Infected? Released: November 26, 2002 Label: Aquarius, Island	8	56	49	28	—	—	41	17	39	32	CAN: Platinum[16] UK: Silver[14] US: Gold[15]
2004	Chuck Released: October 12, 2004 Label: Aquarius, Island	2	13	35	9	—	—	—	14	59	10	CAN: 2x Platinum[17] US: Gold[15]
"—" denotes a release that did not chart.

A^ Some sources consider Half Hour of Power to be a studio album and others extended plays.^[18][19]

Brown Brigade

Release date	Title	Record label
November 2006	Appetizer for Destruction (EP)	Aquarius Records
September 18, 2007	Into the Mouth of Badd(d)ness	Aquarius Records

Organ Thieves

• God's Favorite Sons (2009)

References

1. ^ http://www.myspace.com/theorganthieves
2. ^ ^{a b} "Sum 41 - Charts & Awards - Billboard Albums" allmusic. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
3. ^ "Australian Album Charts Search for Sum 41" australian-charts.com. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
4. ^ "Austrian Album Charts Search for Sum 41" austriancharts.at. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
5. ^ "French Album Charts Search for Sum 41" lescharts.com. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
6. ^ "Dutch Album Charts Search for Sum 41" dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
7. ^ "New Zealand Album Charts Search for Sum 41" charts.org.nz. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
8. ^ "Swedish Album Charts Search for Sum 41" swedishcharts.com. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
9. ^ "Swiss Album Charts Search for Sum 41" hitparade.ch. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
10. ^ "Chart Log UK (1994–2006) DJ S – The System Of Life" Zobbel. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
11. ^ "Gold & Platinum Certification - April 2003". Canadian Recording Industry Association. http://www.cria.ca/gold/0403_g.php. Retrieved 2010-05-11. 
12. ^ "Gold & Platinum Certification - November 2004". Canadian Recording Industry Association. http://www.cria.ca/gold/1104_g.php. Retrieved 2010-05-11. 
13. ^ "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2003 Albums" Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
14. ^ ^{a b} "BPI - Statistics - Certified Awards - Search for Sum 41" British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
15. ^ ^{a b c} "RIAA Database Search for Sum 41" Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
16. ^ "Gold & Platinum Certification - December 2002". Canadian Recording Industry Association. http://www.cria.ca/gold/1202_g.php. Retrieved 2010-05-11. 
17. ^ "Gold & Platinum Certification - October 2005". Canadian Recording Industry Association. http://www.cria.ca/gold/1005_g.php. Retrieved 2010-05-11. 
18. ^ "Sum 41 unleash their power (ready to release 2 albums).". Canadian Musician. July 1, 2000. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-27353938_ITM. Retrieved 2009-03-14. 
19. ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (February 21, 2002). "Sum 41 Plan DVD, Live B-Sides, Monthlong Tour". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1452491/20020221/sum_41.jhtml. Retrieved 2009-03-14. 

External links

• Sum41 official site
• Brown Brigade official site

Persondata
Name	Baksh, Dave
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 26, 1980
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death