Chronic Future

Biography

Chronic Future is a rap rock/alternative rock band formed in Scottsdale, AZ in the summer of 1995. They have maintained their original lineup consisting of vocalist Michael Busse, vocalist/bassist Brandon Lee, drummer Barry Collins, and vocalist/guitarist Ben Collins. The members were at an average age of 14 when they started the band. Chronic Future released their self-titled debut album in August 1997 and a followup, 4 Elements, in August 2000. Both albums gained them local popularity, but th...

Chronic Future is a rap rock/alternative rock band formed in Scottsdale, AZ in the summer of 1995. They have maintained their original lineup consisting of vocalist Michael Busse, vocalist/bassist Brandon Lee, drummer Barry Collins, and vocalist/guitarist Ben Collins. The members were at an average age of 14 when they started the band.

Chronic Future released their self-titled debut album in August 1997 and a followup, 4 Elements, in August 2000. Both albums gained them local popularity, but the band didn't achieve commercial success until the release of their third album, Lines in My Face, in 2004. They signed their first major label deal with Interscope for the release of the album and it reached #18 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. The lead single was "Time and Time Again" which saw heavy airplay on MTV, MTV2, and Fuse. The single also reached #40 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart and was featured in the video games Burnout 3: Takedown and MVP Baseball 2004. During this time the band recruited Ryan Breen to play rhythm guitar on the road. He joined as a full-time member but quit in the same year to begin a solo project of his own, Back Ted N-Ted. He was replaced by Mike Loy who also left to embark on his own musical ventures.

In 2006, Chronic Future left Interscope to continue as an indie band. Members collaborated with Back Ted N-Ted, Busse began a hip hop side project with Charlie Brand of Miniature Tigers called Future Lords. On October 1, 2006, Ben Collins launched his own label Modern Art which signed Back Ted N-Ted, Miniature Tigers, Brothers Backward, Foxglove Hunt, Gospel Claws, and Future Lords.

In late 2006, Chronic Future released a limited edition album, This and of That. It was available exclusively from their official website in 1000 copies. Demos of some of the songs were uploaded to the website leading up to the album's release. The album showed their change from rap rock to an alternative/hip hop/electronic crossover style; their guitar sounds changed to a more electronic sound as opposed to the normal rock sound of previous recordings. Ryan Breen had also returned to provide programming on the album.

In 2008, Chronic Future performed at Bamboozle for its west coast show in Irvine, CA on April 6. They also toured with fellow Arizonans The Medic Droid later that year after opening for them twice in AZ earlier in the year. On November 11, they released the Modern Art EP. It further demonstrated their crossover style, but with far more melodic music than This and of That. The digital EP featured re-recordings of demos previously uploaded to their official website and MySpace page.

From mid-2009, the band stopped updating their online pages. No information was available until a fan posted an email from Ben Collins who stated that the band members had all moved to New York City and that Chronic Future "isn't over yet." According to his personal Facebook page, he had left the band in January 2010.

On March 12, 2015, Ben Collins tweeted that Chronic Future currently has "no plans to tour, but are having fun together (as we always have) and playing NYC this summer." The band is once again active and will be playing their first show together at Bowery Ballroom on July 18, 2015. Opening the show will be Jangula and Charlie Brand. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.