Christopher Aaron Hornbrook is an American
drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...
and a founding member of Metalcore/Post-hardcore band,
Poison the Well.
He also is working with
Dhani Harrison
Dhani Harrison (; born 1 August 1978) is an English musician, composer and singer-songwriter. He is the only child of George and Olivia Harrison. Dhani debuted as a professional musician assisting in recording his father's final album, '' Brainw ...
and
Killer Be Killed
Killer Be Killed is an American heavy metal supergroup founded by Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato and Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera in early 2011. The lineup also features Mastodon bassist and co-vocalist Troy Sanders and Converge ...
and
The Black Queen singer,
Greg Puciato
Gregory John Puciato (born March 27, 1980) is an American musician best known as the former lead vocalist and lyricist of the metalcore band the Dillinger Escape Plan. He is also the lead singer of the Black Queen and Killer Be Killed, in which ...
. From 2014 to 2018, Hornbrook was also a member of
Senses Fail
Senses Fail is an American rock band formed in Ridgewood, New Jersey, in 2001. Founded by vocalist James "Buddy" Nielsen, drummer Dan Trapp, guitarists Garrett Zablocki and Dave Miller, and bassist James Gill (replaced by Mike Glita shortly afte ...
.
Early life
Chris Hornbrook was born in
Hollywood, Florida
Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now ...
to
French-Canadian
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...
immigrants, Donald Hornbrook and Moisette Maltais, in the early nineteen eighties. He started playing local
South Florida
South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...
punk shows at the age of fifteen with his high school garage band before being asked to join a local punk band called Last Minute. He met future band member
Ryan Primack
Poison the Well is an American metalcore band from Miami, Florida who were last signed to Ferret Music. In 2010, they announced a hiatus to explore other interests. Lead guitarist Ryan Primack and drummer Christopher Hornbrook were the only r ...
as he was playing bass in the band. At seventeen Hornbrook was asked to join an early incarnation of
Poison the Well dubbed Doubting Thomas. Not too long after the bands' formation they had to change their name to An Acre Lost due to Doubting Thomas already being a side project of industrial band
Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial music group formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group is among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crompton ...
.
After a brief hiatus with An Acre Lost Hornbrook rejoined the band and the name was changed to Poison the Well. During his junior year of high school, he toured with the band during breaks from school. Then during his senior year, Poison the Well played a few shows up the east coast of the United States one weekend a month.
There is footage of the band performing at the now defunct
CBGB
CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...
's on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
from around this period. Once he graduated high school he started to pursue the band more seriously as a career.
Drumming style and influences
His drumming style has been described as very musical and heavy hitting with an emphasis on groove and feel. He was quoted as saying: “I think fundamentally I always strive to do what the song calls for. Whether it’s a lot, or really simple, or whatever. I think that’s the most important thing. That’s the role that the drummer has, to hold everything together. Play a beat and be really musical. Not to say that I don’t enjoy overplaying, but it has to be the right sort of environment for that. I’m not a big fan of guys that like to do a lot and it sounds like they’re trampling over the music because they’re trying to prove whatever point they’re trying to prove. Ultimately, I look to serve the song and do exactly what it needs to be effective from the drumming department."
''Ghostcult Magazine'' was quoted as saying "Chris is one of the most distinctive drummers in music for almost 20 years".
Hornbrook has stated that he was "obsessed" with English rock band
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
drummer
Roger Taylor Roger Taylor may refer to:
*Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen
*Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran
*Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series
*Roger Taylor (college pr ...
when he first started playing. Other early influences were
Matt Cameron
Matthew David Cameron (born November 28, 1962) is an American musician who is the drummer for the rock band Pearl Jam. He first gained fame as the drummer for Seattle-based rock band Soundgarden, which he joined in 1986. He appeared on each of ...
,
Dave Abbruzzese
David James Abbruzzese () (born May 17, 1968) is an American musician who was the drummer for the American rock band Pearl Jam from 1991 to 1994. He replaced drummer Dave Krusen in 1991, shortly before the release of the band's debut album, '' ...
and
Dave Grohl
David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...
. His later influences expanded to
Billy Cobham
William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian Americans, Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
He was indu ...
and
Chris Dave
Chris "Daddy" Dave is a drummer, composer, and bandleader from Houston, Texas. He attended Howard University. He is a drummer in jazz, gospel, hip hop, noted for his extremely virtuosic sticking technique and ability to play with a high deg ...
.
Poison the Well
![CHPTW](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/CHPTW.IMG_5102.JPG)
Hornbrook started working with
Poison the Well in 1998. He has drummed on all five of the bands' full-length records, both EPs and performed on all the touring in support of those records. Alongside being a founding member he is also considered to be a part of the core lineup alongside guitar player
Ryan Primack
Poison the Well is an American metalcore band from Miami, Florida who were last signed to Ferret Music. In 2010, they announced a hiatus to explore other interests. Lead guitarist Ryan Primack and drummer Christopher Hornbrook were the only r ...
and vocalist Jeffrey Moreira.
In an interview he did with ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' during the promotion of the bands' fourth record "
Versions
Version may refer to:
Computing
* Software version, a set of numbers that identify a unique evolution of a computer program
* VERSION (CONFIG.SYS directive), a configuration directive in FreeDOS
Music
* Cover version
* Dub version
* Remix
* ''Ve ...
", he stated, "I wanted to push the envelope. Thinking deep down I wasn’t trying to prove anything to anyone else, but prove to ourselves that we could make a record better than our last one and make something different and innovative.” Poison the Well is considered by many as the "fathers" of what is now referred to as contemporary "
Metalcore
Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...
" helping to popularize the genre. They have also been acknowledged as being an influential band during the early 2000s Post-hardcore "boom".
Notable work outside of Poison the Well
Shai Hulud (1999)
In early February 1999, Hornbrook joined
Shai Hulud
Shai Hulud is an American metalcore band formed in Pompano Beach, Florida, in 1995, and later based in Poughkeepsie, New York. The band is named after the giant sandworms in Frank Herbert's novel ''Dune''.
The two mainstay members of Shai Hul ...
filling in as their drummer after the departure of
Steve Kleisath
Steven Lee Kleisath is an American musician and has been a drummer for PULL, Strongarm, Shai Hulud, Further Seems Forever, and En Masse. The band PULL was originally called Friend or Foe. He also currently plays drums for the band The Darling Fi ...
. Hornbrook performed with Shai Hulud for roughly three weeks including a one-off show at
Middlesex County College
Middlesex College, formerly known as Middlesex County College, is a Public college, public community college with its main campus in Edison, New Jersey. Founded by the Middlesex County Board of Elected Freeholders in 1964, the two-year college ...
in Edison, New Jersey on February 27, 1999, with
Hatebreed
Hatebreed is an American hardcore band from Bridgeport, Connecticut, formed in 1994. The band released its debut album '' Satisfaction is the Death of Desire'' in 1997, which gave the band a cult following. The band signed to Universal Records ...
,
Cave In
Cave In is an American rock band that formed in 1995 in Methuen, Massachusetts. The band's lineup solidified with the 1998 release of ''Until Your Heart Stops'' through Hydra Head Records, and their early albums were prominent in the metalcore ...
, The Judas Factor, Linus, As Darkness Falls and Degenrics. Hornbrook departed when Shai Hulud recruited drummer
Andrew Gormley.
Big Black Delta (2012–present)
In 2012, Hornbrook was invited to perform live with electronic pop artist
Big Black Delta
Big Black Delta is a solo project of Mellowdrone vocalist/bassist Jonathan Bates.
History
Bates began the project in 2010 after becoming frustrated with the logistics of a band. Thanks to help from Alessandro Cortini, of Nine Inch Nails, he di ...
. During his time with Big Black Delta, they toured with
M83,
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands from t ...
, and
Gary Numan
Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...
. The group performed at
SXSW
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
,
Rock en Seine
Rock en Seine () is a three-day rock music festival, held at Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, the Château de Saint-Cloud's park, west of Paris, inside the garden designed by André Le Nôtre.
Name
The name is a pun, based on exactly the sam ...
,
Reading Festival
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
,
Leeds Festival
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
,
Electric Picnic
Electric Picnic is an annual arts-and-music festival which has been staged since 2004 at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland. It is organised by Pod Concerts and Festival Republic, who purchased the majority shareholding in ...
,
Berlin Festival
Berlin Festival was an annual two-day outdoor rock/electronic music event that took place every September in Berlin.http://www.berlinfestival.de/ Berlin Festival It was first organized in 2005, and over time its audience grew to about 20,000 vi ...
, and
Boston Calling Music Festival
Boston Calling Music Festival is a Boston-based music festival. The festival debuted in May 2013 and previously took place twice a year, May and September, at City Hall Plaza. The festival reportedly attracted 20,000–22,000 fans with its earlie ...
. Big Black Delta also performed live on ''
Last Call With Carson Daly
''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with ''Th ...
'' during their time at SXSW in 2013.
Senses Fail (2014–2018)
It was announced on June 2, 2014, via
Alternative Press
Alternative press may refer to:
Individual publications
* ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine
Alternative journalism
* Alternative media
** Alternative media (U.S. political left)
** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...
that Hornbrook would be replacing original
Senses Fail
Senses Fail is an American rock band formed in Ridgewood, New Jersey, in 2001. Founded by vocalist James "Buddy" Nielsen, drummer Dan Trapp, guitarists Garrett Zablocki and Dave Miller, and bassist James Gill (replaced by Mike Glita shortly afte ...
drummer Dan Trapp on the band's tenth-anniversary tour of their seminal release "
Let It Enfold You
''Let It Enfold You'' is the debut studio album by American emo band Senses Fail, released on September 7, 2004, through Vagrant Records. After finalizing their line-up, the band released their debut EP, ''From the Depths of Dreams'', in 2002, whi ...
". It was revealed later that year that he would also be participating in the band's seventh studio record "
Pull The Thorns From Your Heart
''Pull the Thorns from Your Heart'' is the sixth studio album by American post-hardcore band Senses Fail. In March and April 2015, the group supported Bayside on their headlining US tour. It was released on June 30 through Pure Noise Records.
B ...
". Hornbrook toured with Senses Fail from 2014 through 2018 before announcing his departure on January 8, 2018.
Dhani Harrison (2018–present)
![Chris Hornbrook DH](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Chris_Hornbrook_DH.jpg)
Hornbrook was invited by
Dhani Harrison
Dhani Harrison (; born 1 August 1978) is an English musician, composer and singer-songwriter. He is the only child of George and Olivia Harrison. Dhani debuted as a professional musician assisting in recording his father's final album, '' Brainw ...
to be in his backing band for the touring and promotion of his first solo record: "
IN///PARALLEL". The bands' first show was at The Echo in Los Angeles, California on July 4, 2017 with an additional appearance at the
Panorama Music Festival
The Panorama Music Festival (commonly referred to as Panorama) is a multi-day music festival held on Randall's Island in New York City. It is presented by Goldenvoice.
History
''Goldenvoice'', the company behind Panorama, is a subsidiary of AEG ...
on
Randall's Island
Randalls Island (sometimes called Randall's Island) and Wards Island are conjoined islands, collectively called Randalls and Wards Islands, in New York County, New York City, on July 29, 2017, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. They performed live on ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...
'' and ''
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (19 ...
''. The band also performed at In Bloom Festival,
Bottlerock Napa,
Sasquatch! Music Festival
Sasquatch! Music Festival was an annual music festival held at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, United States. It took place on Memorial Day weekend, running for three to four days.
In 2018, it was announced that the festival was ...
, The RIDE Festival, and
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
.
Hornbrook also makes an appearance on Harrison's live performance film "IN///PARALIVE" alongside musicians
Davide Rossi
Davide Rossi (born 7 August 1970) is an Italian violinist, string arranger, composer, conductor and a record producer, perhaps best known for having been the violinist, guitar and keytar-player for the British electronic music duo Goldfrapp fr ...
of
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...
,
Stephen Perkins
Stephen Andrew Perkins (September 13, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter. A drummer and percussionist, he currently plays with Jane's Addiction and Hellride.
Following the dissolution of Jane's Addiction, Perkins continued to play ...
of
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands from t ...
, Big Black Delta,
Camila Grey
Camila Grey (born Camila Cristinna Gutierrez; January 6, 1983) is an American musician currently performing in the duo Uh Huh Her and also the supergroup Summer Moon composed of Nikolai Fraiture (The Strokes), Stephen Perkins (Jane's Addiction) ...
of
Uh Huh Her and Mereki Beach. "IN///PARALIVE" was filmed and recorded at
Jim Henson Studios
The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...
in Los Angeles, California in late 2017. It was produced and engineered by
Paul Hicks. The film was also mixed by Hicks and Ryan Williams. It was released via Harrisons's
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page on June 14, 2019.
Greg Puciato (2019–present)
It was announced in early 2020 that
Greg Puciato
Gregory John Puciato (born March 27, 1980) is an American musician best known as the former lead vocalist and lyricist of the metalcore band the Dillinger Escape Plan. He is also the lead singer of the Black Queen and Killer Be Killed, in which ...
's first solo record: ''
Child Soldier: Creator of God'' would predominately feature Hornbrook's drumming. Puciato was quoted as saying "I’ve known Chris Hornbrook since we were 23. He knows how to hit a drum. For a lot of the songs on this record, I knew he was the guy." Out of the fifteen tracks on ''Child Soldier: Creator of God'' Hornbrook drummed on a majority of the record with
Chris Pennie
Chris Pennie (born May 31, 1977) is an American musician who is the former drummer for the progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria and former drummer and co-founder of mathcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan.
Background
Pennie began playing d ...
(ex-
The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Dillinger Escape Plan was an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of odd time sign ...
,
Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria are an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York, formed in 1995. The band consists of Claudio Sanchez (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Travis Stever (guitars, vocals), Josh Eppard (drums, keyboards, backing vocals), an ...
) and
Ben Koller
Ben Koller (born July 29, 1980) is an American drummer who has played with Converge, Mutoid Man, Killer Be Killed and All Pigs Must Die. He started playing a full drum kit at age 14.
Musical career
Early bands (1997–1999)
Koller played i ...
(
Converge
Converge may refer to:
* Converge (band), American hardcore punk band
* Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body
* Limit (mathematics)
* Converge ICT, internet service provider in the Philippines
*CONVERGE CFD s ...
,
Mutoid Man
Mutoid Man is an American heavy metal band formed in 2012 in Brooklyn, New York City by Cave In vocalist/guitarist Stephen Brodsky, Converge drummer Ben Koller and bassist Nick Cageao (with High on Fire bassist Jeff Matz replacing Cageao in 202 ...
) drumming on a few other tracks. A majority were programmed by Puciato with some assistance from Rowe. The record was produced and engineered by
Nicholas Rowe. It will be released on Puciato's record label Federal Prisoner on October 23, 2020.
On May 1, Federal Prisoner announced the premiere of Puciato's second single, "Deep Set" which features Hornbrook on drums The single was released on two limited quantity pressings of colored vinyl. Hornbrook was in a drum play-through feature of "Deep Set" exclusively with
Modern Drummer Magazine
''Modern Drummer'' is a monthly publication targeting the interests of drummers and percussionists. The magazine features interviews, equipment reviews, and columns offering advice on technique, as well as information for the general public. ''Mo ...
on May 27.
On July 9 Puciato premiered his third single "Do You Need Me to Remind You" via
Sirius Metal Liquid Metal show accompanied by a music video that premiered with ''
Revolver Magazine
''Revolver'' is a heavy metal music and hard rock magazine, published in North America. It has been in print since 2000, and is about both established acts and up-and-comers in heavy music. In the fall of 2017, ''Revolver'' underwent a brand re ...
'' on July 10. Hornbrook is both featured on the track and in the music video alongside Puciato. The single was released on two limited quantity pressings of colored vinyl. Hornbrook was featured in an exclusive drum play-through of "Do You Need Me to Remind You?" with
''DRUM!'' on July 17.
[
On October 2, Puciato released the fifth single "Down When I'm Not" which featured Hornbrook on drums.
On November 24th, Federal Prisoner announced via Instagram that ]Greg Puciato
Gregory John Puciato (born March 27, 1980) is an American musician best known as the former lead vocalist and lyricist of the metalcore band the Dillinger Escape Plan. He is also the lead singer of the Black Queen and Killer Be Killed, in which ...
would premiere “Fuck Content,” a stream performance "marrying visual art, audio, live performance, studio footage" on December 11th, 2020. Hornbrook was featured on drums throughout the film.
Discography
Videography
References
External links
ChrisHornbrook.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hornbrook, Chris
1981 births
Hornbrook, Chris A.
Hornbrook, Chris A.
21st-century American drummers
Poison the Well members
Shai Hulud members