hHead
{{Short description|Canadian alternative rock band}}
{{Lowercase|hHead}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = hHead
| image =
| image_size =
| landscape =
| alt =
| caption =
| background = group_or_band
| alias =
| origin = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| genre = Alternative rock
| years_active = {{start date|1991}}–{{end date|1997}}
| label = I.R.S.
Handsome Boy Records
| associated_acts =
| website =
| current_members =
| past_members = Noah Mintz
Brendan Canning
Jason Ray
Mark Bartkiw
Roland Rainer
Zak Hanna
}}
hHead were a Canadian alternative rock band,"hHead takes another step forward". Calgary Herald, December 19, 1994. formed in 1991 in Toronto."Students' summer '91 - few jobs and low pay". Toronto Star, June 30, 1991.
History
=Origin story (1991 to 1992)=
The band was originally formed by Noah Mintz and Brendan Canning after the duo met as students at Brock University"Sloan party turns into a hHead trip". Toronto Star, August 13, 1992.
They were originally as an acoustic duo and played under the name The Happy.{{Cite news|title = EP77: hHead - Noah Mintz|url = https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ep77-hhead-noah-mintz/id1481004891?i=1000693138717/|website = Rave & Drool: A Chronicle of '90s CanRock (podcast)|date = February 18, 2025|access-date = February 22, 2025}} They eventually evolved into a harder rock band, echoing the grunge sounds of the early 1990s."hHead music simple, melancholy; Disc reminiscent of 'Seattle sound'". Ottawa Citizen, October 20, 1994.
Mintz and Canning called their new band Head but soon added a second h after discovering that another band was already recording as Head, although both hHead and the Vancouver band Rymes with Orange regularly joked in promotional interviews that the extra h had been traded between the bands by either donation or theft."Band gets the 'H' out, hits the road". Ottawa Citizen, October 20, 1994.
The band employed a series of drummers during their career. This includes Mark Bartkiw, who previously played in Fancypants Hoodlum (a project led by Merrill Nisker, who'd later go on to perform as electroclash superstar Peaches).{{Cite news|title = Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 785: Noah Mintz from hHead|url = https://www.torontomike.com/2021/01/toronto-miked-podcast-episode-785-noah-mintz//|website = TorontoMike.com|date = January 12, 2021|access-date = February 22, 2025|first = Mike|last = Boon}}
=Career highlights (1993 to 1997)=
The band's first album, Fireman, was released independently in 1992. It became popular on Canadian campus radio,"Power pop for flannel hHeads; Band on fan-finding tour, at Flamingo this weekend". Halifax Daily News, April 16, 1993. receiving wider distribution in 1993."T.O. trio making hHeadway". Toronto Star, May 27, 1993.
hHead became a popular live act in Toronto, playing at such clubs as the Drake Hotel, Lee's Palace and The Rivoli. At the latter, one performance saw a young Stone Temple Pilots open for hHead. This was STP's first Toronto appearance.[https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/the-time-rush-opened-for-the-new-york-dolls/p "The time Rush opened for the New York Dolls"]. A Journal of Musical Things!, May 19, 2018.
hHead also toured Canada and the United States as both as a headliner in rock clubs and as an opening act for a wide range of artists. hHead opened shows for international acts like My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr., Letters to Cleo, Goo Goo Dolls, The Lemonheads and Stone Temple Pilots."Stone Temple Pilots stake claim to their own brand of grunge". Montreal Gazette, October 17, 1993. hHead also played Canadian tours with The Tragically Hip, The Watchmen, Sloan and Eric's Trip.
In 1993, the band won CFNY-FM's Discovery to Disc contest, which awarded them $100,000 toward the recording of a new album.{{cite magazine|author=Larry LeBlanc|title=Canada: Who's Who|magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sAsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA80|date=4 February 1995|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=80–|issn=0006-2510}}
The band landed a contract with IRS Records in 1994, releasing their second album, Jerk, that year. The album was supported by a large-scale national tour as an opening act for Moist,"Will success spoil Moist?; West Coast band finds that not everyone cheers when an indie group makes it". Montreal Gazette, December 10, 1994. and by an appearance on the Edgefest bill in 1995."Music marathon fails to rouse teen-agers from summer haze". The Globe and Mail, July 4, 1995. However, IRS Records was at this point in financial trouble, and declared bankruptcy in 1996.
The band then moved to the Canadian independent label Handsome Boy Records for their final album, Ozzy in 1996."1996 was acrawl with fresh talent". Toronto Star, December 26, 1996.
hHead played their final show at Edenfest in 1996{{Cite news|title = EP77: hHead - Noah Mintz|url = https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ep77-hhead-noah-mintz/id1481004891?i=1000693138717/|website = Rave & Drool: A Chronicle of '90s CanRock (podcast)|date = February 18, 2025|access-date = February 22, 2025}} and the band broke up in 1997.{{cite book|work=Chart Attack|url=http://www.chartattack.com:80/DAMN/120597.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030818141220/http://www.chartattack.com:80/DAMN/120597.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=2003-08-18|title=hHEAD CALLS IT QUITS}}
=Post breakup (1997 to present)=
Mintz is now a mastering engineer for artists such as Hayden, Broken Social Scene and The Dears, and has recorded solo material as Noah's Arkweld. Leslie Feist was part of an early version of Noah's Arkweld.[https://www.cbc.ca/arts/q/feist-multitudes-q-tom-power-interview-1.6807925 "'Being a parent will incinerate you': Why Feist now writes about the little moments"]. Q (radio show), April 17, 2023.
In 2015, the previously unreleased track "Fempire" and a solo track by Canning titled "Born from the Ashes" appeared on Squirtgun Records' 20th anniversary Return of Our Stupid Noise compilation.[http://exclaim.ca/music/article/squirtgun_records_celebrates_20th_anniversary_with_return_of_our_stupid_noise_comp "Squirtgun Records Celebrates 20th Anniversary with 'Return of Our Stupid Noise' Comp"]. Exclaim!, March 26, 2015.
Canning joined By Divine Right for that band's third album Bless This Mess, and later formed the bands Broken Social Scene with Kevin Drew and Cookie Duster with Bernard Maiezza.[http://www.spinner.ca/2011/11/10/broken-social-scene-brendan-canning-cookie-duster/ "Broken Social Scene's Brendan Canning Reviving Cookie Duster Project?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009132008/http://www.spinner.ca/2011/11/10/broken-social-scene-brendan-canning-cookie-duster/ |date=2018-10-09 }}. Spinner, November 10, 2011. Broken Social Scene's album Bee Hives includes a song titled "hHallmark", alluding to the unique typography of hHead's name.
Members
- Noah Mintz - Guitar / Vocals (1991–1997)
- Brendan Canning - Bass guitar / Backing vocals (1991–1997)
- Jason Ray - Drums (1996–1997)
- Mark Bartkiw - Drums (1992–1995)
- Roland Rainer - Drums (1991–1992)
- Zak Hanna - Additional Guitar (on Fireman) (1991–1992)
Discography
Compilations
The band provided the non-album track "Want" to the 1996 and 1998 editions of More of Our Stupid Noise."The best of college rock; More of Our Stupid Noise '98 demonstrates Canada's talent". Edmonton Journal, April 11, 1998.
They also appeared on number of tribute albums during their career. They covered Neil Young's "Look Out for my Love" on the 1994 album Borrowed Tunes: A Tribute to Neil Young. hHead also provided a cover of Bob Snider's "They Oughta Bottle Friday Night" for the 1996 tribute album Poetreason: The Songs of Bob Snider
References
{{Reflist|2}}
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Category:Musical groups established in 1991
Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1997
Category:Musical groups from Toronto
Category:Canadian alternative rock groups
Category:1991 establishments in Ontario