AHTCK – DREAM TOUR

In this Dream Tour segment, the hard rock band, AHTCK, reveals who they would want on their ultimate tour lineup. You can check out their picks, after the break.

Hey there! My name is Tim (sometimes known as The False Prophet!) and I’m the lead singer and bassist for AHTCK (pronounced “attack”). We’re a hard rock/metal band from Northern Los Angeles County with an emphasis on the post-apocalypse. We like to call it Post-ApocaROCK. We’ve been rocking stages in the southwestern US for the last decade and after half a dozen EPs and numerous singles, we finally dropped our first full-length album – “Antagonist”! I can’t think of a better time to team up with Digital Tour Bus to throw together a list of the ultimate AHTCK tour!

Maximum the Hormone
This one is a wild card, right off the bat. It was in the early formative years of AHTCK that I first heard MtH screaming into my ears. I always imagined that this is the band you would get when you lock a bunch of insanely talented musicians in a room with a large pile of sugar and every System of a Down and Red Hot Chili Peppers record ever released. The raw energy they put out on stage was a HUGE inspiration to us when we began throwing our shows together. Sure, they sing in Japanese and I have no idea what they’re saying… and sure, there would be a bit of a language barrier, but that’s what Google Translate is for.

NOFX
Whelp, here’s another one out of left field (unless you look at my Spotify history). I grew up on punk rock when an old high school friend gave me some burned copies of Misfits, Propaghandi, Dead Kennedys, and NOFX. The love for punk bands has followed me well into my 30’s and it’s never too far fetched to hear AHTCK go from singing thrashy metal songs about zombies and nuclear war to singing a really shitty cover of “Linoleum.” As much as we strive to sound REALLY good when we’re on stage, we also know that 90% of the show is visual and we’re just there to have a good fuckin’ time. Plus, as a bassist/lead singer, I’ve always looked up to Fat Mike. Spoiler alert, we’d both be rocking a cute dress on stage.

My Chemical Romance
Thank the emo gods they’ve returned. Now is our chance to throw them on a tour with us. Say what you want about the early 2000’s emo bands – Frank’s obsession with Randy Rhodes brought a heavier edge to the genre that sucked me in. Combine that with Gerard Way’s vocal performances – an incredible range of not just notes but emotion as well – and you’ve got the formula to make me a fan for life. Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge was the album that forced me out of my “METAL ONLY” writing bubble – it doesn’t all have to be angry and aggressive. We can be heavy AND have feelings too, damn-it!

Cage9
This one is kind of cheating, but when I first met Evan of Cage9, he and the rest of the guys were basically the backing band for Powerman5000. Since our first meeting, he’s been not just the mastermind behind our mixing and mastering, but also the frontman for one of the greatest rock/metal bands to ever grace your ears. If you haven’t heard their high-energy riffs, catchy choruses, and slightly apocalypse aesthetic… then you’re missing out on one of Los Angeles’ greatest kept secrets. We’ve shared not just the Wasteland Weekend stage together, but also a tour bus many years ago (we watched Borat on VHS. Yeah, it was a while ago), I’d gladly hop on that bus again for more shenanigans.

Twelve Foot Ninja
Last, but certainly not least – we’re going to look to Australian heavy metal group Twelve Foot Ninja. Their intro to the video for “One Hand Killing” is the perfect representation of the madness that sets in while in the middle of a long recording session. Joke-y bands that don’t take themselves too seriously have always been a shining beacon in the world of tough-guy band images. 12FN reminds us that while we can strive to be a great sounding band, we can still have fun while doing it. It’s not rare to catch me grinding my butt on other members of the band while they try to nail a guitar solo. Life is too short to not have fun while creating art to share with the world and 12FN would probably give us enough tour stories to last a lifetime.

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