Chronic Future
Encyclopedia
Chronic Future was a band from Scottsdale
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...

, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

. The band was formed in 1995 when their average age was 14. They achieved a short period of mainstream success with the album Lines in My Face
Lines in my Face
-Personnel:*Mike Busse - lead vocals, backing vocals*Ben Collins - lead vocals, lead guitar, turntables, programming, backing vocals*Mike Loy - rhythm guitar*Brandon Lee - lead vocals, bass guitar, backing vocals*Barry Collins - drums, percussion...

, as well as the album's hit single, "Time and Time Again". The band consisted of vocalist Mike Busse, guitarist Ben Collins, bassist Brandon Lee and drummer Barry Collins, who are all founding members.

The band then operated under their independent label, Modern Art Records, and released the Modern Art EP
Modern Art EP
Modern Art EP is a limited edition EP by the American alternative rock band Chronic Future. It was released on November 11, 2008 on Amazon.com and iTunes under guitarist Ben Collins' record label, Modern Art Records...

online under this new label. The band has worked very independently after their departure from Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...

, rarely playing live and releasing albums independently as well as releasing online demos and purchasable songs.

The band's early/mainstream style was a mixture of hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 and punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

, but the band has now progressed into a unique fusion style of hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

/electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

/alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

. The band's vocal style incorporates three vocalists, being Mike Busse, Ben Collins and Brandon Lee.

Formation and early history: 1995-2000

Chronic Future began their musical career in the summer of 1995, and a year or so later, they released their first self-titled album
Chronic Future (album)
Chronic reissue track listing-Members:*Mike Busse – lead vocals, backing vocals*Ben Collins – lead vocals, guitar, backing vocals*Brandon Lee – bass guitar, backing vocals*Barry Collins – drums, percussion-Other Personnel:...

 when the band members were at an average age of 14. The album gained popular local airplay, but achieved no commercial success, and is now very rare, only available for purchase on such sites as Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...

 or eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

. Their followup, 4 Elements
4 Elements
-Members:*Mike Busse – lead vocals, backing vocals*Ben Collins – lead vocals, guitar, turntables, backing vocals*Brandon Lee – bass guitar, backing vocals*Barry Collins – drums, percussion...

, was released in 2000, and was even less successful, with only a few songs being praised. 4 Elements was released on Beyond Records, and the band toured with such bands as Face to Face
Face to Face (punk band)
Face to Face is an American pop punk band from Victorville, California formed in 1991 by frontman Trever Keith. Originally known as "Zero Tolerance", Keith had been the only constant member of the band during their years of touring and recording albums. The group was initially signed by Dr. Strange...

.

Mainstream success: 2000-2004

From 2000 to 2004, the band signed their first major label deal with Interscope Records, and their third full-length was soon to follow in mid 2004. The band released a promotional EP called the Lines in My Face EP, featuring three songs from the album as well as two rare songs. Soon after, the band released the album Lines in My Face
Lines in my Face
-Personnel:*Mike Busse - lead vocals, backing vocals*Ben Collins - lead vocals, lead guitar, turntables, programming, backing vocals*Mike Loy - rhythm guitar*Brandon Lee - lead vocals, bass guitar, backing vocals*Barry Collins - drums, percussion...

, reached #18 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

 Heatseekers chart. The album's single "Time and Time Again" saw airplay on MTV and MTV2 and reached #40 on the Billboard Modern Rock charts, as well as being featured in the video game Burnout 3: Takedown
Burnout 3: Takedown
Burnout 3: Takedown is the third game in the Burnout series of video games. Released on September 7, 2004, developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts , the game drew critical acclaim and a large fanbase.A GameCube version was planned but was scrapped during development...

.

Earlier during that year, the band recruited Ryan Breen from Back Ted N-Ted, to play second guitar on the road. He joined as a full time member, but then quit to begin on a solo music project of his own, which later became Back Ted N-Ted. He was replaced by Mike Loy, who after the release and recording of Lines in My Face, left to embark on his own musical ventures.

Notably, Lines in My Face
Lines in my Face
-Personnel:*Mike Busse - lead vocals, backing vocals*Ben Collins - lead vocals, lead guitar, turntables, programming, backing vocals*Mike Loy - rhythm guitar*Brandon Lee - lead vocals, bass guitar, backing vocals*Barry Collins - drums, percussion...

featured more metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

-orientated guitar styles, as well as Brandon Lee taking on a role as another lead vocalist
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...

.

Independent work: 2006-2009

Chronic Future left Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...

 for an unknown reason in 2006. Several CF members also collaborate with Back Ted N-Ted, although it now appears that Brandon Lee is pulling double duty as a live member of Ryan Breen's solo project Back Ted N-Ted. At around this time, Mike Busse started a solo, hip-hop oriented side project with Charlie Brand of Miniature Tigers called The Future Lords. On the 1st of October, 2006, Ben Collins officially launching Modern Art Records in partnership with Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...

, but have now denounced their partnership with Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...

. Collins signed Back Ted N-Ted, as well as the Miniature Tigers, Brothers Backward, Foxglove Hunt, Gospel Claws and The Future Lords.

The band released a limited edition album, This and of That
This and of That
This and of That is the fourth album by the American alternative rock band Chronic Future. It was released in 2006, and consisted of new songs, as well as several re-recorded versions of songs that had originally been recorded and released by the band on their website, which is currently inactive...

, in late 2006 for online purchase through their now inactive official website. The band had made a sudden change from their rap rock
Rap rock
Rap rock is a cross-genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock is often confused with rap metal and rapcore, subgenres that include heavy metal-oriented and hardcore punk-oriented bands, respectively....

 style to a electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

/alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

/hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 crossover style by changing their guitar sounds from the traditional rock sound to an electronic sound. Chronic Future had actually previously experimented with this style and uploaded demos of some of the songs from This and of That
This and of That
This and of That is the fourth album by the American alternative rock band Chronic Future. It was released in 2006, and consisted of new songs, as well as several re-recorded versions of songs that had originally been recorded and released by the band on their website, which is currently inactive...

to their official website, as well as other unreleased demos. The album was limited to merely 1000 copies. The album featured Ryan Breen, the band's former rhythm guitarist, doing programming
Programming (music)
Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...

.

The band recruited Lawrence Hearn (live guitarist for Back Ted N-Ted) in 2007 to play rhythm guitar for several shows, though he left shortly in 2008. Chronic Future performed at the West Coast show of The Bamboozle
The Bamboozle
The Bamboozle is an annual rain-or-shine, three-day music festival held in New Jersey. Every year, new bands compete for spots during the two days. The event evolved out of the Skate and Surf Festival.- The Characters:...

 in Irvine, California
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...

 on April 6, 2008.

Just before the release of the Modern Art EP
Modern Art EP
Modern Art EP is a limited edition EP by the American alternative rock band Chronic Future. It was released on November 11, 2008 on Amazon.com and iTunes under guitarist Ben Collins' record label, Modern Art Records...

, the following statement on their Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

 page appeared on the 29th of October, 2008:
On November 11, 2008 an EP entitled Modern Art EP
Modern Art EP
Modern Art EP is a limited edition EP by the American alternative rock band Chronic Future. It was released on November 11, 2008 on Amazon.com and iTunes under guitarist Ben Collins' record label, Modern Art Records...

was released on iTunes. The album further demonstrated their crossover style, but with far more melodic music than demonstrated on This and of That
This and of That
This and of That is the fourth album by the American alternative rock band Chronic Future. It was released in 2006, and consisted of new songs, as well as several re-recorded versions of songs that had originally been recorded and released by the band on their website, which is currently inactive...

. The digital EP featured re-recordings of demos previously uploaded to Chronic Future's website and Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

 page. The song "Rocket Science" was converted into techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

/alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

/hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 from its original punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

/rap
Rap rock
Rap rock is a cross-genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock is often confused with rap metal and rapcore, subgenres that include heavy metal-oriented and hardcore punk-oriented bands, respectively....

 style. By popular demand from the bands fans, a limited edition demo compilation, Demoitis
Demoitis
Demoitis is a limited edition compilation by the American alternative rock band Chronic Future, containing demos recorded between 2001-2006. It was released in April 2009 through Modern Art Records. This release was limited to 500 copies...

, was released in April 2009.

Hiatus: 2009-present

Chronic Future has stopped updating their official Myspace page and no information on the band is available on their previous record label's official website. No band activity has taken place since the July 21, 2009 post about Chronic Future merchandise on their official Myspace page. However, a personal email from guitarist Ben Collins explains that the band members have all moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and that the Chronic Future project "isn't over yet".

According to Ben Collins' Personal Facebook Page, he has left the band as of January 2010

Current members

  • Mike Busse - lead vocals, backing vocals (1995–present)
  • Brandon Lee - lead vocals (2004–present), bass guitar
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

    , backing vocals (1995–present)
  • Barry Collins - drums
    Drum kit
    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

    , percussion (1995–present)

Former members

  • Ben Collins - lead vocals (1995–2006), guitar
    Electric guitar
    An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

    , backing vocals (1995–2010), turntables, programming
    Programming (music)
    Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...

     (2004–2010), producer
    Record producer
    A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

     (2006–2010)
  • Ryan Breen - rhythm guitar
    Rhythm guitar
    Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...

     (2004)
  • Mike Loy - rhythm guitar
    Rhythm guitar
    Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...

     (2004)
  • Richard Tams - keyboard
    Keyboard instrument
    A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

     (1995)

Studio albums

  • Chronic Future
    Chronic Future (album)
    Chronic reissue track listing-Members:*Mike Busse – lead vocals, backing vocals*Ben Collins – lead vocals, guitar, backing vocals*Brandon Lee – bass guitar, backing vocals*Barry Collins – drums, percussion-Other Personnel:...

    (1996)
  • 4 Elements
    4 Elements
    -Members:*Mike Busse – lead vocals, backing vocals*Ben Collins – lead vocals, guitar, turntables, backing vocals*Brandon Lee – bass guitar, backing vocals*Barry Collins – drums, percussion...

    (2000)
  • Lines in My Face
    Lines in my Face
    -Personnel:*Mike Busse - lead vocals, backing vocals*Ben Collins - lead vocals, lead guitar, turntables, programming, backing vocals*Mike Loy - rhythm guitar*Brandon Lee - lead vocals, bass guitar, backing vocals*Barry Collins - drums, percussion...

    (2004)
  • This and of That
    This and of That
    This and of That is the fourth album by the American alternative rock band Chronic Future. It was released in 2006, and consisted of new songs, as well as several re-recorded versions of songs that had originally been recorded and released by the band on their website, which is currently inactive...

    (2006)

EPs

  • Lines in My Face EP (2004)
  • Modern Art EP
    Modern Art EP
    Modern Art EP is a limited edition EP by the American alternative rock band Chronic Future. It was released on November 11, 2008 on Amazon.com and iTunes under guitarist Ben Collins' record label, Modern Art Records...

    (2008)

Media use

  • Their song "Time and Time Again
    Lines in my Face
    -Personnel:*Mike Busse - lead vocals, backing vocals*Ben Collins - lead vocals, lead guitar, turntables, programming, backing vocals*Mike Loy - rhythm guitar*Brandon Lee - lead vocals, bass guitar, backing vocals*Barry Collins - drums, percussion...

    " was featured on an episode of One Tree Hill
    One Tree Hill (TV series)
    One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...

    , an episode of The Days, and two video games released by Electronic Arts
    Electronic Arts
    Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...

    : Burnout 3: Takedown
    Burnout 3: Takedown
    Burnout 3: Takedown is the third game in the Burnout series of video games. Released on September 7, 2004, developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts , the game drew critical acclaim and a large fanbase.A GameCube version was planned but was scrapped during development...

    and MVP Baseball 2004
    MVP Baseball series
    MVP Baseball was a baseball game series published by EA Sports, running from 2003 to 2007 with five games produced. In 2003, MVP became the official successor to EA's long-running Triple Play Baseball series, and it simulated Major League Baseball from 2003 to 2005...

    on various platforms. The same song was also covered by the critically acclaimed a cappella group Off the Beat on their 2005 album "Float", not to mention the 2004 G-Phoria Awards
    G-Phoria
    G-Phoria is an annual video game awards show started in 2003 and produced by G4. The awards are democratically voted on.Formerly the event was formatted like a regular awards ceremony taped in front of an audience, featuring celebrities such as Hal Sparks, Carmen Electra, Wilmer Valderamma and Anna...

     on G4, as they played the song live.

  • The song "Apology for Non-Symmetry", was featured on the Gran Turismo 4
    Gran Turismo 4
    is a racing simulator for the Sony PlayStation 2 which was developed by Polyphony Digital. It was released on December 28, 2004 in Japan and Hong Kong , February 22, 2005 in North America , and March 9, 2005 in Europe , and has since been re-issued under Sony's 'Greatest Hits' line...

     soundtrack.

  • The song "Static on the Radio" was also part of the Gretzky Hockey game for the PS2 soundtrack.

  • The song "Wicked Games" was featured on the CSI: Miami
    CSI: Miami
    CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....

     episode Crime Wave, during shots of various law enforcement agencies' boats racing to intercept a suspect on the ocean. The song was also featured in "Cereal Killerz" (a Paintball movie) for the professional paintball player Oliver Lang.

External links

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