Members
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Wheat Chiefs | |
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| Also known as | Ship of Fools |
| Origin | Edmonton, Alberta |
| Genres | Rock, punk rock, pop-punk |
| Years active | 1990–1998 |
| Labels | Hom Wreckerds Music, Cargo Records |
| Past members | Marc Belke Brent Belke Curtis Creager Dave Rees Trent Buhler Rob Johnson Ed Dobek Dan Moyse |
The Wheat Chiefs were a Canadian melodic rock band with punk rock influence formed in 1990 in Edmonton, and later relocated to Vancouver. The group featured several members of SNFU and one from Jr. Gone Wild. They released their only album, Redeemer , in 1996, before disbanding two years later.
Late in 1989, guitarists and twin brothers Marc and Brent Belke disbanded their influential skate punk band SNFU due to a growing rift with singer Ken Chinn and their desire to experiment with playing different kinds of music. [1] [2] Several months later, the brothers formed the new band The Ship of Fools with SNFU bassist Curtis Creager and longtime acquaintance Dave Rees playing drums. With Marc Belke acting as lead vocalist, the band departed from the punk sound of SNFU by playing melodic alternative rock. After their initial string of performances, they renamed themselves the Wheat Chiefs. The members later remembered the early Wheat Chiefs songs as "kinda lengthy." [3]
Bassist Trent Buhler, a former member of Rees's group Broken Smiles, replaced Creager early in 1990. The group recorded a demo cassette to pitch to record industry representatives and embarked on several Canadian tours. [4] Their track "Redeem" was included on Thrasher Skate Rock Volume 10, issued by Thrasher magazine in 1991. The Belkes reformed SNFU in September 1991, while Rees and Buhler departed the Wheat Chiefs early in 1992 to form the new band Cowboy Dick. [5]
Despite the reformation of SNFU, the Belkes kept the Wheat Chiefs active. Drummer Ed Dobek (of Jr. Gone Wild and the pre-SNFU band Live Sex Shows) and bassist Rob Johnson (a former Wheat Chiefs roadie and future SNFU member) completed the new lineup. This incarnation debuted with a short tour, and recorded several new tracks with producers Marek Forysinski and Dave Ogilvie. [6] Brent Belke later remembered the new Wheat Chiefs material as "quicker and more straight ahead; it was great." [5]
The band was active sporadically in the time that followed, with a major run of touring coming in 1993. [7] Later this year, the band recorded the track "Joe Murphy" (named for the professional ice hockey player of the same name) with Ogilvie and returning guest drummer Rees, now a member of SNFU. The track was included on the Puck Rock Volume 1 compilation, a full disc of hockey-related punk rock songs assembled by John Wright of The Hanson Brothers and NoMeansNo. The Wheat Chiefs received a seven-figure recording contract offer from Mercury Records, but rejected this in anticipation of a better deal, which they never received. [8] Early in 1994, the group re-recorded two songs from their demo cassette, again with Rees returning as a guest. Now signed to Epitaph Records, SNFU remained heavily active over the next two years while Wheat Chiefs activity lessened. [1]
After spending two years focusing mainly on SNFU, Johnson and the Belkes returned to full-time Wheat Chiefs rehearsals early in 1996. Culled from three recording sessions held in 1992 and 1994, the Redeemer album was released later this year through BangOn Records, a subsidiary of the Canadian Cargo Records imprint. [9] [10] They promoted the album with tours of Canada and the United States, the largest in the band's career. [11]
In 1997, drummer Dan Moyse replaced Dobek. [12] The Wheat Chiefs continued to perform sporadically, but the members' careers were dealt a blow late that year when SNFU's contract with Epitaph expired. The Wheat Chiefs ultimately disbanded following Brent Belke's decision to quit both bands and pursue work in music composition for film and television. [1] They played a final gig on March 28, 1998, at a festival in Edmonton. [11]
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Albums
Demo cassettes
| Compilation appearances
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SNFU was a Canadian hardcore punk band formed in Edmonton in 1981, relocated to Vancouver in 1992, and disbanded in 2018. They released eight albums, two live records, and one compilation amid many lineup changes and several temporary breakups. Vocalist Ken Chinn led the group, which included twin-brother guitarists Brent and Marc Belke for much of its career.
FYULABA is the sixth studio album by Canadian hardcore punk band SNFU. The album was released in 1996 by Epitaph Records. Its name is an acronym for Fuck You Up Like a Bad Accident. The album was the last of three albums released by SNFU on Epitaph. Eight years would pass before the proper followup, In the Meantime and In Between Time, was issued in 2004.
...And No One Else Wanted to Play is the first full-length album from Canadian punk band SNFU. The album was engineered by David Ferguson, recorded at Track Record Studios in Hollywood, California, US in December 1984, and released by BYO Records in 1985.
The One Voted Most Likely to Succeed is the fifth studio album by Canadian hardcore punk band SNFU. The album was released in 1995 on Epitaph Records, their second of three albums for Epitaph. The band and label had high expectations for the album, which was released at the height of the third wave of punk rock. Ultimately the record did not chart as well as did contemporaneous albums by label mates such as The Offspring and Rancid, despite selling modestly well by punk rock standards. It nevertheless became a favorite among critics and fans.
Something Green and Leafy This Way Comes is the fourth studio album by Canadian hardcore punk band SNFU. The album was released in 1993 on Epitaph Records, the first of three SNFU releases on this label. Despite being released during the height of the third wave of punk rock by the revival's best-selling independent label and selling modestly well, the album was not commercially successful.
The Last of the Big Time Suspenders is a compilation album by the Canadian hardcore punk band SNFU. The album is composed of live recordings, demos, compilation and EP tracks, and studio outtakes. It was released in 1991, two years after SNFU's first breakup, to satisfy the band's two-album contract with Cargo Records. The group reformed to tour behind the album, leading to a full reunion.
Better Than a Stick in the Eye is the third album by Canadian hardcore punk band SNFU. The album was released in 1988 by Cargo Records. It marked a return to a direct and unadorned sound following its comparatively experimental predecessor, If You Swear, You'll Catch No Fish. It would also be the group's last studio album for five years, as they disbanded months after the record's release before again reforming in 1991.
The Ping Pong EP is an EP by Canadian punk rock band SNFU. Its tracks were taken from the 1996 recording sessions for the band's FYULABA album. It was released in 2000 on Alternative Tentacles.
Let's Get It Right the First Time is a live album by Vancouver, British Columbia hardcore punk band SNFU. The album was released in 1998. Although the record was billed as a live album and reportedly recorded at The Starfish Room in Vancouver in late 1997, SNFU biographer Chris Walter notes that the album was tracked almost entirely in the recording studio.
In the Meantime and In Between Time is the seventh studio album by Canadian hardcore punk band SNFU, released in 2004. The record was the band's first full-length studio album since FYULABA in 1996, and would be the last to feature founding guitarist Marc Belke. The band released the album on Belke's own Rake Records imprint.
Kendall Steven Chinn, known under the stage name Mr. Chi Pig, was a Canadian punk rock vocalist and artist born in Edmonton and long residing in Vancouver. He fronted the hardcore punk band SNFU from 1981 until their hiatus in 2018. Other, short-lived groups that he led included The Wongs, Little Joe, and Slaveco.
Brent Belke is a Canadian guitarist and composer. After playing in the punk and alternative rock bands SNFU and The Wheat Chiefs between 1981 and 1998, Belke began a career composing music for film and television.
Marc Belke is a Canadian musician and former radio personality. He played guitar in the punk and alternative rock bands SNFU and The Wheat Chiefs, and sang lead vocals in the latter. He was later an on-air personality with Rogers based in Victoria, British Columbia.
David Rees is an American-Canadian musician and television editor currently based in Montreal, Quebec. Rees played drums in the punk rock band SNFU and the alternative rock band Wheat Chiefs, and served for a time as the touring drum tech for Bad Religion.
Robert Arthur Johnson is a Canadian musician currently based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He played bass guitar in the punk and alternative rock bands SNFU and the Wheat Chiefs, in addition to recording his own hip hop and hard rock music in various incarnations.
Shane Smith is a Canadian drummer. He has performed with the punk rock bands SNFU and Slaveco., and the alternative industrial rock bands Neurosonic and Jakalope.
Curtis Creager is an American-Canadian bass guitarist, best known as a former member of the punk rock band SNFU and alternative rock band the Wheat Chiefs.
Slaveco. was a Canadian alternative rock band active from 2002 to 2003. The group was composed of three former members of the group OCEAN3, joined by Ken Chinn, the lead singer of the influential skate punk band SNFU.
Redeemer is an album by the Canadian punk-influenced alternative rock band the Wheat Chiefs. The album is a collection of songs from three separate recording sessions held between 1992 and 1994, and was released by BangOn Records, a subsidiary of the Canadian label Cargo Records, and the band's own Hom Wreckerds Music imprint. It is the only official release by the Wheat Chiefs.
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