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Ladies And Gentlemen! I Give You The Most Important Band In The World That You Never Heard!

I guess its safe to say that we all look back at the glory days of Rock N Roll and say "Where did it all go wrong? I mean, how "Rock n Roll" can a tour sponsored by the Clear Channel and Nike really be? Rock was created by our forefathers to shake things up, excessive, explosive, and sometimes revolutionary. The more truthfull or truly dangerous the better.Case and point: Elvis, the MC5 and most notably The Stooges (a lil' band that then featured a budding Iggy Pop)....I think its fair to say all of us journos and music fans alike have our favorite Iggy story/rumour or maybe fable. The point is that true rock n roll should make a message or clearly has a true threat behind it, and it's wreckless abandon should have your parents running to sign you up for boarding school. What happened to our rock n roll? Our Iggy Pops or even David Bowies-- scaring your parents to believe that their child might come back from the show transgendered. For this we can thank MTV, Clearchannel, major labels, and all the rest of those money grubbing thieves stealing away our rock n roll. Hey, I just write about it, just the facts- just the facts here, sir...

5 years ago my editor flung a cd on my desk and said "Review this" and my eyes were opened. I felt my heart race and my blood pump as if i had been risen from the dead, its "metallic punk" sound was clearly going the opposite way mainstream society was and its anti-american stance would even make Karl Marx proud. Within a week I had to fly overseas and see it with my own two eyes and do a story on them. And sure enough by the end of the show, I had witnessed exactly what sucked me into this rotten business to begin with, the anger, the excitement, the energy, the message, the spectacle, all that IS rock n roll. I told their tour manager that this was the most important band I had seen in 10 years-- with tears in my eyes. And yes, I am a grown man, but I can still recognize the second coming. And i am not the first one, let me tell you, of the converted:

The Sex Pistols famously said "AMEN is more pissed off than we ever were." When touring with AMEN, Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke would enthusiastically be watching in the wings every night only to eventually shelter Casey under his maniacal wings and fill his head full of who knows what? Stating "AMEN is the most exciting band in the past 11 years. Now if we can only keep Casey alive long enough like myself maybe the masses will get to see a true artist and an unbelieveable performer. He has the ability to enthrall and truly excite you." Paul Raven stated "Casey is a human time bomb,you better catch him before he takes us all out!" Rat Scabies would state AMEN is "The most exciting band from America since The MC5." Nikki Sixx and Traci Gunns would go on record to fly the AMEN flag. Gary Numan and a long list of other legends would also attest. Even James Walsh of Starsailor fame was quoted "Thats about as rock n roll as it gets" in NME. And LEGEND Henry Rollins said "if i could be in any band with any real talent it would be Amen". He would later ask Casey to sing a Black Flag song on a benefit album for the West Memphis 3.

AMEN would go on to sell out their first show in London almost 2 months in advance and that was only the beginning. Their first festival outting at the Reading had 10,000 people chanting "Amen" for over 10 minutes before the band were to even take the stage-- and once they did the tent was ripped to shreds. Casey Chaos has worked with the most respected and eclectic artists of our time. From Iggy Pop, Daron Malokian, Josh Homme, Nick Olivera, Geordie White, Zach Hill, Paul Raven, Samoth & Faust of Emperor, Happy Tom & Euroboy of Turbonegro, Nocturno Culto, Mortiis, and Henry Rollins. It was Casey himself who presented Iggy Pop with the Kerrang lifetime achievement award,in which the press would commonly refer to as "the passing of the olympian baton of punk. And as a youth in his hardcore band Disorderly Conduct he played with just about every legendary hardcore band around- from Fear, Circle Jerks, Minor Threat, Meatmen, Government Issue, Scream, Subhumans, Gang Green, Agnostic Front, Nuclear Assault, and on and on...

I was asked to write this bio for Casey. Usually I get paid for this type of thing for that is my job, but in this case i only reported the facts and feel truly moved and motivated by the power of one mans work. IT IS NOT THE QUANTITY BUT THE QUALITY AND THE AUTHENTICITY OF WHAT FALLS UNDER THAT BANNER WE CALL ROCK MUSIC TODAY. But in this case there are some things that money or talent cant buy-- My Respect. Even just writing about this makes my jaded ass feel like a giddy writer putting together his first article-- as well as feel like im a part of the revolution. These memories of The Real Deal are what makes me get up in the morning and go to work to write. But I can tell you that there is no one that has inspired me since the good ole days in 1977 like Casey Chaos has with his band Amen. Jumping from label to label and schooling a cast of band flunkies that always fell short of the original line up but nonetheless Casey barrelled ahead just to fulfill his
maniacal vision. Creating more controversy and internet rumors than anyone before him, from beastiality to drug addiction to violent physical assaults. Hands down there is no one in the world like Casey Chaos. For better or worse is a matter of taste, but in the end how can you slate a man that has continued from Amen's beginnings:
-- 12/1999 Kerrang- AMEN "Coma America" is picked as single of the week, the review simply-"For me without a doubt the Album of the Decade."
-- Then #86 of the Most Important Albums Of All Time as voted by the readers of Metal Hammer
-- Then #62 for the best single of all time as voted by the readers of Kerrang
-- 08/2000 NME picks Amen as the #1 band not to miss at the Leeds Festival in England. And they were right as they picked Casey as one of the most eccentric rock stars of 2003 in the world next to Iggy Pop and Ozzy Osbourne. "Teetering on the brink of madness and violence, Casey
Chaos' indestructable punk rock revolutionary group have always been a startling live act" and "Amen are a force of nature-- unstoppable and likely to end in catastrophe."
-- Metal Hammer writes "AMEN knocks every single contender's spark out!! Album of the year"
Rock Sound, Melody Maker, NME, and all the rest shared the same opinion as Amen's debut album would be on everyones top 20 list of
the year. Being in NME's top 100 albums of all time. Voted Best Band In The World by the readers poll, best live band of the year 2 years in a row, man of the year, best video of the year, #2 vocalist of the year, and #5 personality of the year all by Metal Hammer who also handed Amen their Golden God award in 2003 for best live band in the world. Voted one of the coolest stars of all time right between Axl Rose and Sid Vicious by the readers of Kerrang. Melody Maker declares AMEN the most important band from L.A. since Black Flag. NME lands Casey on the cover as "the most fucked up band on earth!"
-- 09/2002 Metal Hammer dedicates its front 2 pages to Casey Chaos for making AMEN and his "antics" the highlight of the entire Reading/Leeds festival and put him in the top 10 rock n roll accidents of all time after getting knocked out in Spain.
09/2002 Rocksound votes Amen's self-titled followup "We Have Come For Your Parents" as 2nd best album of the year. Kerrang votes it 4th best album of the year. Metal Hammer picks "The Price of Reality" as best video of the year.
-- Amen play their first Ozzfest in England, proving once again AMEN lived up to all the hype and are noted as being one of the best live bands by magazines world wide.
-- 2003 After the collapse of Virgin Records, Time Out states "AMEN are now unsigned and playing a sold out tour of the UK tonight to 900+ teenage girls and boys chanting "Fuck George Bush!!" Its so very heartening to find a current group whose lyrics reflect that America eats its youth and spits on the rest of the world with impunity."
-- 2004 Big Cheese writes "THE MOST DANGEROUS BAND IN THE WORLD HAVE RETURNED" and "Amen remain one of Rock's most enduring and important outfits". The band tours in support of their third CD "Death Before Music", released on (System Of A Down) Daron Malokian's personal Sony imprint label. Amen is the first and only band to be signed to Daron's private stock. He states "I see Casey as someone who gives a 100% of his physical being and self, and it ain't fake. I have no doubts that Casey is a true visionary."
.--Kerrang writes "one of the few bands that walk their punk rock attitude like they talk it, Casey Chaos and crew just seem to get more pissed off with age!". Alternative Press praises AMEN as the second coming and Outburn magazine rates the DBM album a 9 out of 10.
-- 2004 Casey is featured in the political AMERICAN HERETICS book alongside activists Henry Rollins, Chuck D, Jello Biafra and Ian Mackaye .
And in 2005 Kerrang's #1 event pick for the week is "AMEN head up. The UK's biggest unsigned band showcase".
Few bands get the spotlight when their album comes out, fewer can keep your interest. Casey on the other hand has been in the spotlight ever since Amen's debut album and has graced the covers of NME #3 times, Metal Hammer #3 times, Kerrang, Rock Sound, Terrorizer...etc, etc. Since he was a child prodigy skateboarder at 10 years old to his teenage hardcore band Disorderly Conduct, not to mention his tour as bass player for Christian Death-- it seems to have followed him since birth as if the C.I.A. were conducting it themselves. Very few bands phase me and even fewer characters. If there is one, Casey Chaos is that 1 in a billion star, there is no one even speaking his language at this time. Let alone coming close to matching his integrity, charisma, talent, vision, and art.
In 2004 he would organize the highly controversial SCUM band in Norway featuring black metal legends Samoth & Faust (Emperor), Happy Tom (Turbonegro), Cosmo (Mindgrinder), featuring legendary guests Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone), Mortiis, & Euroboy (Turbonegro) to create one of the most unique ensembles of any supergroup and a sound truly of its own. SCUM was born and played 2 infamous shows. The album getting much critical acclaim including a surprising nomination for the European Alarm! Awards.
So, I may sound overzealous but true art inspires. It moves you, invokes reaction and defies laws or any sense of well being; basically achieving the impossible without selling your soul. As a human being, the question concurs "How can one little guy be so much larger than life and really be shaking up so much shit??" Right now, there is no band in the world more important than AMEN, on album or on stage. Casey Chaos is a living testament of pushing the limits of humanity to the fullest and living every minute as if it were your last while never giving in to the man or the almighty dollar-- a true testament to punk rock. In the last 2 years he has collaberated and recorded with other respected artists rangeing from Queens Of The Stoneage to System of a Down to Emperor, Turbonegro and most recently punk rock originators The Damned. Who's next?? Just watch him and see for yourself."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First off, I want to say thank you to everyone that has ever been a part of this rollercoaster of a life called AMEN. On both sides of the stage it has been an honor to be able to have released 3 albums on 3 different major labels in the last 5 years and tour the world more times than I can even count. If you would of told me at 11 years old when I first picked up a microphone and a guitar amp to scream through, that people like: Henry Rollins, Iggy Pop, the Sex Pistols, Emperor, Nocturno Culto from Darkthrone singing a duet with me (as well as Mortiis) for the Scum album, Misfits, The Adverts/TV Smith, being interviewed by Dimebag Darrell on MTV’s Headbangers Ball, Zyklon, Turbonegro, Killing Joke, Nikki Sixx, B.O.D., Queens of the Stone Age, System of a Down, Slipknot, Pitchshifter, Lemmy, Morat, Kaz, Nancy Berry, Phil Alexander, Blag and the Dwarves, Ian Ashbury+Billy (The Cult), signing a song with Camp Freddy (original Guns and Roses lineup with Dave Navarro), The 80’s Matchbox B-line Disaster, Torqamada, Satyricon ,Gary Numan, Slayer, The Mars Volta, Killjoy and Necrophagia, Rikk Agnew and the Adolescents, Rozz Williams and Christian Death, Sick of it All, David Grohl, The Clash, Greg Anderson, Ross Halfin, Minus, Charlie Harper from the UK Subs, Duane Peters, Brian May, Don Bolles (Germs), 45 Grave, Wattie (The Exploited), Gaye Advert and Soo Catwomen, Zach Hill (Hella), Twiggy/Jeordie White, Peaches, Ween, etc… would of ever heard my noise and someone like Henry Rollins, the man who literally changed my life with Black Flag, asking me to be a part of one of his albums, makes me very grateful and is more of an achievement than selling a million records, and this band was never about that. It was always a reflection of my life and what I was going through at those times. With a little help from the outside world, a lot of hard work, and years of years of belief I have gone beyond any semblance of reality and achieved the impossible. Being a financial loser, but reaching achievements by having projects aside from Amen like SCUM- with 3/4 of the original Emperor, Cosmo from Mindgrinder, Happy Tom from Turbonegro, Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone), Euroboy, and Mortiis; SCARS ON BROADWAY with Daron from System of a Down and Zach (Hella); HEADBAND with Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri (Queens of the Stone Age); as well as doing guest appearances or playing with such legends as Nikki Sixx, Henry Rollins, Killing Joke, Pitchshifter, t.v smith ,Bobby and Manny/Primal Scream, etc… As well as finding bands and helping expose new music like: The Blood Brothers, The Kinison, TV Smith and Sunshine. And having such great bands to share the stage with like System of a Down, TV Smith, The 80’s Matchbox B-line Disaster, Charger, Lamb of God, Shadows Fall, God Forbid, Slipknot, NOFX, Nikki Sixx, Misfits, Subhumans, Scream, SNFU, Minus, Ikara Colt, Red Harvest, Danzig, Fear, Circle Jerks, Government Issue, Deftones, Goldblade, Peaches, And you will know us by the Trail of the Dead, Ween, Fantomas, Black Sabbath, Tool, Roy Mayorga, etc…

This was just an 11 year old skateboarder hearing Black Flag for the first time and within 30 seconds my life was never the same, for better or worse, and I’ve been expressing myself through noise and music ever since then. I never thought of a future of actually being able to put out an album, which I did with my hardcore band at age 15, and to go on and to live in Los Angeles, a world where anything is possible. Hence, I am living proof of that.
I’ve had people tell me that Amen saved their life, as well as “Fuck Amen!” But it has always created a strong love/hate reaction. Amen rumors are akin to urban legends, but of course I am by no means a legend. im an easy target that followed my heart and played every note and screamed every scream like it was my last dying breath. People undoubtedly talk shit and put you down, all I can say to all the kids who ask me for advice is to be true to yourself and to never do what they tell you to. This industry has destroyed a lot of my friends and a lot of people I looked up to.
Certain people in America measure your success by record sales, but given the choice of being in Amen and touring the world several times versus being in Crazytown and selling millions of records in a classic one-hit-wonder fashion and having no credibility or integrity to their product in my eyes; I am financially in ruins, I think I have made the right choice. Having Brian May asking you to join him at his table for the Kerrang awards while giving Iggy Pop his lifetime achievement award that night, and then to have the Sex Pistols handpick Amen out of all the bands in the world to be the main support for their 25th anniversary show, is yet another fine example of my rewards. the respect from the people who have changed my life and the lives of millions. Winning best live band, man of the year, best vocalist, best overall band in the world, being included in the 100 most important and influential albums and singles of all time, playing the Reading and Leeds festival 5 years in a row, as well as being the only unsigned band to ever play the mainstage, I have by far exceeded any goals or expectations I’ve ever had.

That is my life, one giant surreal dream.

After this last tour and doing this Scum video and playing our debut live show in Norway, I come home to a house that has been robbed. Stolen are the tools of my trade, and this has not been the first time. I know a lot of people don’t like Amen, and I know a lot of people that have the name tattooed on their bodies, or even my name; both types of people are the driving force that keeps me going. If success was selling millions of records, I could have easily had any number of friends write me a hooky tune designed and aimed for commercial consumption. But that is the exact opposite of what I ever wanted. Instead I would have Shannon Larkin lay down the perfect drum tracks for me to play guitar, bass, scream and whatever else needed to create the sound of a band that never fit any genre, with a little help from Zach Hill and Roy Mayorga as well. I always wanted to present Amen as a group, and live that’s what it was. Five individuals living that lifestyle and believing in the same goal and the same intent, but in the studio it was just the drummer and I... thus the revolving door that hasn’t stopped since the original line-up (because no 2 tours had the same line-up in the group) will remain a backdrop to what menace I created.

Looking at bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Black Flag, The Mars Volta, Iggy Pop, The Smashing Pumpkins, Misfits and even Nirvana and the success of those bands; how there would be one or two of the original members left, it never seemed to be a big deal. Which is incredibly strange when it comes to Amen. Considering I wrote and played every note on all 3 records, the fact that people would dramatize the most trivial exits. Like all relationships, some grow and some die. Life moves forward.

I especially want to thank the original line up of Amen, for they were all pro’s and I was the new kid on the block. And they were around, for the most part, for all 3 of the albums. Shannon Larkin is a living legend and one of the greatest people I have ever had the honor of playing with. My heart goes out to you and your family and wish you all you deserve and more. Reflecting on all this I know that all the beauty and rewards outweigh the rumors, lies, traitors, and thieves that don’t ever get acknowledged, because I could care less what anybody wants to believe. People who know me….know. I believe you are only as good as your word and the trail you leave behind to your tombstone will determine the character and true identity of the sellouts and the puritans trying to make a change in a society that lets killers like O.J. Simpson free, while children like the West Memphis Three are in jail all because of their looks and society’s stupidity.
As for now, I only plan on playing the Scum record release party in London on September 9th. For the first time since I can remember, I am going to take some time off for myself and my personal life. There will be another Amen album recorded this year with an undisclosed and undecided label at this time.
Bloodied, broken and penniless yet again, I hope Amen has set an example that if I can do it, anyone can. And maybe,,,,,,,,just maybe, we changed a few peoples’ lives and opened peoples’ minds to other worlds of music. Nonetheless, my life has been an unmistakable journey with no compromises.
At 7 years old my life was skateboarding, doing demos, contests and tours, up until I was 15 and released my first album, until today. I guess in the immortal words of Bon Scott…it’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll!,,,,,,,,,,CC