Brian "Mitts" Daniels (born 1971) is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He was the guitarist of
Madball
Madball is an American New York hardcore band formed in New York City, that originated in the late 1980s as a side project of Agnostic Front. The band developed after Agnostic Front's front man Roger Miret would let his younger half-brother Fr ...
from 2001–2017.
Biography
Born in 1971, Daniels first discovered hardcore music during the mid to late '80s in New York. In addition to playing in bands, Daniels served as general assistant/assistant engineer at Skyline Studios in New York City from 1991-1994, before playing guitar in such hardcore-metal bands as
Crown of Thornz and
Skarhead
Skarhead is an American hardcore punk band from New York City, founded and fronted by Lord Ezec a.k.a. Danny Diablo (of Crown of Thornz). The group is considered the originators of thugcore music, a subgenre of hardcore punk "full of relentless ...
.
Daniels was the guitarist for Madball from 2001 to 2017, playing on such releases as ''NYHC EP'' (2003), ''Legacy'' (2005), ''Infiltrate The System'' (2007), ''Empire'' (2010), ''Rebellion EP'' (2012), and ''Hardcore Lives'' (2014).
Additionally, Daniels has either recorded or performed with other bands, including Hazen Street and Rag Men,
[Rag Men entry on rateyourmusic.com](_blank)
/ref> and is also a producer, having produced bands such as Sub Zero, Strength Approach, All For Nothing, Skull Pit, Eternal Struggle.
Since 2014, Daniels has been endorsed by BC Rich
B.C. Rich is an American brand of acoustic and electric guitars and bass guitars founded by Bernardo Chavez Rico in 1969.
History
The company started making electric guitars in the 1970s. In the following decade B.C. Rich gained a broad expos ...
guitars.
In October 2017, it was announced that Daniels had exited Madball. The split was amicable, as Madball singer Freddy Cricien
Freddy Cricien (born November 4, 1975), also known as Freddy Madball, is an American vocalist, primarily known as the lead singer of the New York hardcore band Madball. He is also the lead singer of Hazen Street and has a hip hop career from w ...
explained in an interview with Germany's Metal-heads.de site, "Mitts is an old friend and I love him dearly and he's still my friend. We're still very dear friends."
In 2018, Daniels produced the Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i hardcore band Eternal Struggle on their debut, ''Year of the Gun'', to be released winter 2021 on Demons Run Amok Entertainment.
In an interview with the No Echo website, Daniels discussed what he seeks to accomplish as a producer: "My goal is to bring out the best qualities of a band. I want every project I work on to be the best recording that band has released, to date."Unearth
Unearth is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 1998, the group has released seven studio albums.
History Early career (1998–2002)
Unearth was formed by Trevor Phipps, Buz McGrath, Ken Susi, Mike Rudberg, an ...
, Turbid North, Eternal Struggle.
Discography
* 1998: Skarhead ''Kings at Crime'' - Victory Records
Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several record labels. It has featured many prominent artists including Thur ...
(guitar)
* 1999: Various Artists/Skarhead ''Built for Speed: A Motörhead Tribute'' - Victory Records (guitar)
* 2000: Skarhead ''Victory Records: New York City Takeover, Volume 2'' - Victory Records (guitar)
* 2000: Skarhead ''Dirty Money Syndicate'' demo (guitar)
* 2003: Sub Zero ''Necropolis: City of the Damned'' - Stillborn Records (guitar)
* 2003: Rag Men ''Rag Men'' - Eulogy Records (guitar)
* 2003: Madball ''NYHC EP'' - Thorp Records (guitar)
* 2005: Madball ''Legacy'' - Ferret Music
Ferret Music was an American independent record label turned Warner Music Group subsidiary, founded in 1996. The label is owned by NORA's vocalist, Carl Severson, and based in West Windsor, New Jersey. Ferret recently started an imprint called N ...
(guitar)
* 2007: Madball ''Infiltrate the System'' - Ferret Music (guitar)
* 2010: Madball ''Empire'' - Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...
(guitar)
* 2012: Madball ''Rebellion EP'' - The BNB Label (guitar)
* 2013: Strength Approach ''Roma Hardcore State of Mind EP'' - Destroy Your World Records (producer)
* 2014: Madball ''Hardcore Lives'' - Nuclear Blast (guitar)
* 2016: Strength Approach ''Over The Edge'' - Fast Break Records (producer)
* 2017: All for Nothing ''Minds Awake / Hearts Alive'' - Redfield Records (producer)
* 2018: Skull Pit ''Skull Pit'' - Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...
(producer of vocals)
* 2021: Eternal Struggle ''Year of the Gun'' - Demons Run Amok Entertainment (producer)
References
External links
Songwriter Interview: Mitts of Madball
Interview: Madball Guitarist Talks Production, Hardcore Touring
Former Madball Guitarist Brian “Mitts” Daniels Talks About His Next Project
Living people
1971 births
Place of birth missing (living people)
Guitarists from New York (state)
American male guitarists
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American male musicians
Hazen Street members
Madball members
{{Madball