Treble Charger

All Music Guide:

Begun as nc-17, this Canadian alternative pop/rock group changed its name after an American band with the same moniker threatened to sue. Greig Nori (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Bill Priddle (guitar, vocals), and Rosie Martin (bass, keyboards) met in high school in Sault St. Marie, Ontario, and paid the 5,000-dollar cost of releasing nc-17 on its own Smokin' Worm label as the band's full-length debut in 1994. After partnering with indie label Sonic Unyon and re-releasing nc-17, the album became Canada's best-selling indie record and the ballad "Red" received heavy play on college radio and Much Music (Canada's music television network). The following year, the band released the self-titled EP, which doubled as a CD-ROM zine dedicated to 30 of its favorite Canadian indie bands. The album was later released as Treble Charger in the U.S. and featured American indie bands. Treble Charger made its major-label debut with Maybe It's Me on BMG's Canadian imprint, Vik Records, in 1996. The album experimented with a full sound that included horns, keyboards, organs, Spanish guitar, and Mellotron. Drummer Trevor MacGregor of Calgary, joined shortly after, replacing Morris Palter. RCA later released the record in the U.S., but, after sluggish sales, passed on the band's next album, Wide Awake Bored. After complications with BMG pushed the album's Canadian release to 2000, the song "American Psycho" became a hit north of the border but not, ironically, in the U.S. The song helped push Wide Awake Bored to gold in Canada. Treble Charger spent the summer of 2000 touring on Canada's Summersault with Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, and Our Lady Peace. Nori produces and manages Canadian punks Sum 41. In 2003, the band resurfaced with Detox, their most consistent material yet.

Wikipedia:

Treble Charger is a Canadian indie rock music group formed in 1992 in Sault Ste. Marie, consisting of vocalist Greig Nori, guitarist Bill Priddle, bassist Rosie Martin and drummer Trevor MacGregor. The band had disbanded in 2006 only to reunite in 2012. They began with a melodic indie rock style, but evolved into more of a pop punk band after signing to a major label in 1997.

History

Early years (1992–1996)

Originally from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, the band consisted of Nori, Priddle, Martin and Morris Palter, and was named NC-17 (after the movie rating) until an American band with the same name threatened to sue. They adopted the name Treble Charger, but named their debut album NC17. NC17 was released independently at first by Smokin' Worm in 1994, but it was a hit on campus radio, MuchMusic, and CFNY when it was re-released by Sonic Unyon Records in 1997.

In 1995, the band released Self Title, which included a CD-ROM track promoting 30 of Treble Charger's favourite Canadian indie bands, including The Inbreds, Change of Heart, By Divine Right, Hayden and Thrush Hermit.

Irishman Michael Murphy who was born in Limerick, managed the band in the earlier days of their work.

Shift to pop punk (1997–2006)

1997's Maybe It's Me was the band's major label debut. Palter recorded drums for only a few tracks, and, after Nori considered recording the rest of the drums himself, session drummer Mike Levesque stepped in. The album featured a more polished, commercial sound than the band's earlier albums, and launched the hit "Friend of Mine". Soon afterward, Trevor MacGregor joined as the band's drummer. That lineup, along with several of their songs from this album, were also featured in the 1999 film Mr. Music. The band played the role of an 'undiscovered' indie band that gets discovered and helps to turn fictional Tone Records around from its slump.

Wide Awake Bored, released in 2000, completed the band's evolution to a pop-punk style. This album also featured the hit singles "American Psycho" and "Brand New Low".

In 2002, Treble Charger released Detox, featuring hit single "Hundred Million" and "Don't Believe It All".

Bill Priddle, identified with Treble Charger's early indie rock direction rather than the later pop-punk, left the band in 2003. Initially, it was said he was taking a break from the group, but it later came out the departure was permanent, and Nori had asked him to leave sooner than Priddle had intended. He told Chart:

Kelly Osbourne guitarist Devin Bronson filled in for Priddle for the rest of the Detox tour.

However, Priddle continues his collaborations with Broken Social Scene and is a member of his new band The Priddle Concern.

By this time, their work with and the success of their proteges Sum 41, whom Nori produced, had started to eclipse Treble Charger's own career. In late 2004, it was reported that Treble Charger itself was on hiatus, but an animated version of the group, including Priddle, would appear, with Sum 41, on The Comedy Network series Kevin Spencer.

However, a message posted on July 20, 2004, on their official website said they were continuing to record and the band is still together. But on September 1, 2005, Greig Nori said in an interview:

The hits "American Psycho" and "Brand New Low" were featured in EA Sports Hockey game NHL 2002 and "Hundred Million" was used in NHL 2003 and in Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild. EA also used "Wear Me Down" and "Business" from the Wide Awake Bored album in Triple Play 2002. "American Psycho" was used in promotional advertisements for the direct-to-video movie American Pie: Band Camp, and featured in the movie Dude, Where's My Car?.

On February 3, 2006, Greig Nori disbanded Treble Charger, at that time, ending their 14 year career.

Post-breakup activity (2006–2011)

Greig Nori has stopped managing Canadian band Sum 41, although he now manages other bands. He is currently a 'musical guru' for the Canadian reality show disBAND(Renamed Much Discovered) on MuchMusic. Bill Priddle pursues a solo career in Toronto, and released a solo album in 2008 with his new band The Priddle Concern. Trevor MacGregor currently writes music for TV and film. Morris Palter went on to pursue degrees in contemporary percussion performance, and continues to perform solo and chamber music of contemporary composers all over the world.

Treble Charger was one of the inaugural inductees into the Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame on September 30, 2006 during the grand opening weekend of the Steelback Centre, the city's new sports and entertainment arena.

Greig Nori produced Organ Thieves' first full-length studio album Somewhere Between Free Men and Slaves, which was recorded between 2010–2012 and released on April 3, 2012.

Reunion (2012–present)

On January 15, 2012, a twitter account was opened for the band, with the opening tweet saying "Wow - it's been a while. Might be time to knock the dust off...", which led to speculations about the band reuniting, also following Greig Nori's tweet "Thinking I should probably call Bill, and maybe pick up some new guitar strings, hmmmm. On January 20, 2012, it was confirmed that the band will reunite (without Martin and MacGregor) and has announced plans to play a reunion show at The Indie Awards in Toronto as part of Canadian Music Week. Another show for March 21, 2012, in Toronto, Ontario, was confirmed, with the band playing alongside Organ Thieves who release their debut album Somewhere Between Free Men and Slaves which Greig Nori produced.