Honcho Overload

Indie rock band Honcho Overload was active in the Champaign-Urbana, IL, scene for the first half of the '90s. The group was made up of musicians from previous Champaign-Urbana bands, and consisted of singer Bill Johnson and guitarist Jeff Dimpsey, both of Bad Flannel, guitarist K.C. Driscoll of We Ate Plato, bassist Matt Talbott from We Ate Plato, and Poster Children, and drummer Mike Rader, also of the Poster Children. Guitarist Balthazar de Ley was originally in the band, but left to form the group Mother (which later changed its name to Menthol) before Honcho Overload entered the studios. The band put out two albums -- Smiles Everyone (1993) and Pour Another Drink (1994) -- and two singles on Mud Records before calling it quits in 1995. At the same time that Honcho Overload was active, Dimpsey and Talbott were also in the band Hum, along with de Ley. Following Honcho Overload's breakup, Bill Johnson went on to play in Morning Becomes Electric, Dimpsey continued in Hum and co-founded National Skyline, Talbott remained in Hum and eventually played in Centaur, and Rader joined in the Great Crusades.