Champion was an American

straight edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated as sXe or signified by XXX or simply X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs in reaction to the punk subculture's excesses. Some ...

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

band formed by vocalist Jim Hesketh and guitarist Chris Williams in the spring of 1999 in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

History

Jim and Chris formed Champion and after a few months of shows, the band released its first demo on cassette and went on a West Coast tour of the United States. In the early days, the band was plagued with constant line-up changes, but in 2000 the majority of the core lineup came together to release the ''Come Out Swinging'' EP on Platinum Recordings (Germany). After playing with American Nightmare Timbomb suggested Chris Wrenn of Bridge Nine Records check out the band. After a couple of calls, Champion joined the label

Bridge 9 Records Bridge 9 Records is an American hardcore record label located outside Beverly, Massachusetts. Bridge Nine is owned by Chris Wrenn of Salem, Massachusetts, who began the label in 1995 and produced its first release in 1996. In 2022, the label o ...

and recorded another EP, entitled ''Count Our Numbers'', followed by the re-release of ''Come Out Swinging.'' They toured hard on these records and traveled with American Nightmare, Death Threat, The First Step, Comeback Kid, Terror, Slapshot, and

Sick of It All Sick of It All is an American hardcore punk band formed in 1986 in Queens, New York City. The band's lineup consists of brothers Lou and Pete Koller on lead vocals and guitars respectively, Armand Majidi on drums, and Craig Setari on bass. Sic ...

. They toured all over the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, and South Korea. Champion's full-length LP, ''Promises Kept,'' was released on Bridge 9 Records. Right after this Andy joined and completed the core lineup of the band. After a second

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an tour and an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n leg, Champion toured the United States in early 2005. "In the spring they were to become one of the first Western independent act to visit the famous country of South Korea where Kill Your Idols and Ensign also played around 2001." 2005 also saw the band re-release their previous two EPs on one CD, entitled ''Time Slips Away.'' The band announced through Bridge 9 on January 31, 2006, that they were disbanding, with a final show that occurred on May 27, 2006, at El Corazon in their hometown of Seattle, Washington. Their reasoning for breaking up can be found on their MySpace page. Here is a small excerpt:

With all the pressure to do another record and to tour, it wasn't what we "wanted" to do anymore; it was what we "had" to do. So before making any commitments that we would be bounded to, we decided to end it now, while everyone in the band was still friends and still loved everything we did as a band together. NO ONE SOLD OUT.

Since the breakup, all of the members of Champion have continued to be active in the punk/hardcore scene. Aram Arslanian played guitar in The First Step, The Vows, sang for Betrayed, and ran REACT! Records. He recently plays guitar in True Identity, Keep It Clear and plays bass in Union of Faith. Chris Williams sings in Dead Weight and played guitar The Vows, The Poverty Bay Saints, and The Crew as well as bass in Gone But Not Forgotten. Vocalist Jim Hesketh sang in ON and True Identity, who disbanded following accusations of sexual assault and rape from multiple women, all of whom were children at the time of the alleged assaults. Todd Preboski played drums in Betrayed and Lonewolf. Andy Norton played in Time to Escape and Warpriest currently sings in Praise and plays bass in Nerve Endings and Peace. In 2020, Aram Arslanian formed the band CHANGE, who released the LP "Closer Still" on React! Records. Chris Williams performs live with the band.

Members

;Current members * Jim Hesketh – vocals * Aram Arslanian – guitar * Chris Williams – guitar * Todd Preboski – drums * Andy Norton – bass ;Former members * Ben Colton – bass * Eagle Barber – guitar * Timm McIntosh – guitar * Joe Preston – drums * Jeff Boltz – drums * Nikki Platter – drums * Sean Spear – bass * Brandon Wallace – drums

Discography

* ''Demo Tape'' (1999) * '' Come Out Swinging'' ( Platinum Records, 2000) * '' Count Our Numbers'' (

, 2002) * '' Promises Kept'' (

, 2004) * '' Time Slips Away'' (

, 2005) * ''Champion/Betrayed split EP'' (Rivalry Records, 2006) * '' Different Directions'' (

, 2007)

References

External links

MySpace SiteBridge 9 Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Champion Straight edge groups 1999 establishments in Washington (state) Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups disestablished in 2006 Hardcore punk groups from Washington (state) Bridge 9 Records artists