BAND
who:
Joel - Lead Vocals
Benji - Vocals & Guitar
Billy - Guitar
Paul - Bass
Aaron - Drums
what:
The young band of not even twenty something's came out virtually from nowhere, (a.k.a Annapolis, Maryland). Good Charlotte dropped the year's most fiercely melodic and garage-gritty debut album, EVER.
Until just four years ago lead guitarist Benji had never strummed a single chord and front man Joel his identical twin brother had never sung a note. Put in the high school buddy drummer, Aaron and the bass player Paul, plus recently added Billy on guitar makes the perfect ingredients to form Good Charlotte.
The brothers, who hail from Waldorf, Maryland, were avid baseball players throughout their early teens and had never contemplated playing music until one extraordinary day. During what Joel calls "a weird time" when they were 16 and dealing with some serious family problems, the brothers attended their first rock concert for The Beastie Boys' "Ill Communi-cation" tour and felt the earth move beneath their feet.
Benji went home and took a guitar out of the closet. Their good friend and future bassist Paul taught Benji a few basic chords, sparking a lifetime talent. High school buddy, Aaron, quit the football team to play drums and suppllied all the studio space in his house.
Finally by senior year of high school the brothers music had become all encompassing.
While skipping college in 1998, the twins along with Paul and Aaron moved to Annapolis to join its thriving music scene.
Joel befriended Billy when the guitarist showed up to see the twins play an acoustic set at a local hangout.
"The Little Things" demo made its way to Philadelphia modern rock station WPLY (Y100) and broke a record on the station's show of dueling songs. The buzz around Good Charlotte was deafening. After being courted by a variety of labels, they took in it all and signed with Epic.