Butch Walker, Brian Vander Ark

Butch Walker, who has grunge to blame for the stagnation of his earlier major record label… Butch Walker, who has grunge to blame for the stagnation of his earlier major record label attempts, spent much time in the early ?90s away from the rock market and getting into indie rock records. After spending much of the rest of the ?90s playing 250 shows a year all over the country, he realized that he had lost touch with what he really wanted: to sell a million records.

He then put together the band The Marvelous 3, and watched as the memorable hit single ?Freak of the Week? blew up on radio and MTV. After all this, they were again dropped by a record label, forcing The Marvelous 3 to disband and Walker back underground.

To his credit, Walker also co-wrote the song ?Right Now? by SR71, exercised his producing skills for the Atlanta based band Injected and the punk/pop band Bowling for Soup. He even co-wrote the Grammy nominated single ?Girl All the Bad Guys Want.?

Walkers current record is Left of Self-Centered, which he wrote, performed, recorded, and produced. Left of Self-Centered has all of the intangibles that made ?Freak of the Week? a hit and more. The opening track is a clever parody of modern rock called ?Rock Vocal Power? which takes aim at the hackneyed vocal styles of the likes of Scott Stapp and Jonathan Davis.

Last year?s ?My Way? ? which Walker is adamant in not having anyone confuse with the Limp Bizkit song of the same name ? progresses from ?Freak of the Week? without forgetting the importance of solid vocal melodies and an infectious hook. It becomes the stand-out track, ending with an acoustic piece which showcases not only Walker?s songwriting and guitar skills but also his ability to create a great piece of music which does not rely on power chords. Look for more of this at his upcoming acoustic performance.