Overloaded | en

“Always go for the cooler name”, was the advice given from Gene Simmons backstage after a Kiss concert at DTE arena in summer of 2004. With that in mind, Overloaded formed in the outskirts of Detroit, Mi USA on August 3rd, 2004. Within a year, the band went from nobodies to the go-to band for big local shows and support for nationals on their Detroit tour stops. In 2005, Overloaded released 2 eps, both of which sold out and were re-released as a full length 11 song cd entitled Hail the Kingdom. That same year, an indie label offered to sign Overloaded. The band considered the offer, but passed and released their follow up cd Regeneration independently in August of 2007.

Overloaded has been given all kinds of advice. Some of it has been good, but most is forgettable. Everyone thinks they have the answer when the reality is the music industry has been spiraling out of control for over a decade. Mainstream radio plays the same songs over and over and over. Concerts have become traveling freak shows where painted ladies and cheap trinkets are as big of an attraction as the music. Bands adhere to conservative guidelines written by industry professionals who wouldn’t be caught dead at a rock show. Punk has gone corporate, extreme metal has become a parody of itself, rap has skipped the same beat for fifteen years, and country has gone Bon Jovi. The music industry is in shambles and literally no one is buying it. Each day another record label crashes as experts try and re-invent the wheel in search of the next big thing. Through this sea of madness, Overloaded stays on course unaffected by the trends and know it alls. Is Overloaded metal or hard rock? We’ll leave that decision to the critcs.

Through hard work and research, Overloaded have forced themselves on the media. Old school press kits have been mailed worldwide. Popular metal magazines ala Metal Maniacs, BW&BK, Heavy, Burrn, Rock Station, Classic Rock, etc have given Overloaded favorable reviews. The list of interviews and reviews from metal websites on Overloaded’s myspace blog is impressive. Official sponsor Jagermeister continues its support through personalized merch and college metal radio programmers play Overloaded on their shows. New York’s Talking Metal podcast discovered Overloaded and featured the band on numerous episodes, and later as one of their top picks for up and coming metal artists on the pilot episode of Talking Metal on the fuse TV network. Fox TV almost had the cajones to feature Overloaded on their 2007 show “The Next Great American Band”, but chickened out. Overloaded has warmed up crowds for all types of bands. From Skid Row to Dope, from Bobaflex to Slaughter, from Hell Yeah to Jani Lane, from Soil to Krokus, the list goes on and on. In summer of 2007, Overloaded won the WRIF competition to open for Godsmack at the Fox Theater in Detroit. The show went over flawlessly, and Godsmack invited Overloaded to perform at the following day’s tour stop at Soaring Eagle Casino.

After three and a half successful years, behind the scenes drama had escalated to a critical level. In January 2008, vocalist Chris Gillen and lead guitarist Erik Kluiber parted ways with their rhythm section. Determined to keep pushing Overloaded to new levels of creativity and performance, Chris and Erik conducted a thorough search within the underground Detroit rock scene for a new rhythm section. Within 6 weeks, Overloaded was back on its feet with Frank Krukel on bass, Eli Brown on guitar, and Chris “Bootcheck” Buczek on drums. The new lineup has proven itself both on and off stage. An interpretation of the MC5’s Ramblin’ Rose was recorded for an upcoming PBS documentary, and the band travelled 1000 miles and rocked the fuck out at Rocklahoma 2008. Currently Overloaded is playing select shows and writing new material. .