Richard Charles "Chip" Walbert II (born January 16, 1979) is an American musician, songwriter, and disc jockey, originally from

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, but long-established in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. He is best known for his time playing guitar in the

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 ...

and

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

bands

Where Fear and Weapons Meet Where Fear and Weapons Meet was a hardcore punk band from South Florida. The group's first EP appeared in 1998; they followed it with a full-length in 1999, both on Revelation Records, and won nationwide exposure. They then released a split wit ...

Until the End Until the End may refer to: * ''Until the End'' (Kittie album), or the title song * ''Until the End'' (Eleine album) * ''Until the End'' (EP), an EP by coldrain * "Until the End" (Breaking Benjamin song) * "Until the End" (Norah Jones song) * ...

, Target Nevada,

On Bodies On Bodies was an American Hardcore punk, hardcore band active from 2009 to 2017. Principally based in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the majority of its members resided, it also included members from Michigan, Florida, New Jersey, and Kentucky. The gr ...

, and

Morning Again Morning Again is an American metalcore band from Florida. They were known for their metallic sound as well as for their straight edge, vegan, anti-religious and anti-government ideals. The band was a "sister band" to Culture, often switching mem ...

. He also played in the bands Destro, All Hell Breaks Loose, Dance Floor Justice, Phantom Drive, No Excuses, and More Than Ever.

History

Walbert was born on January 16, 1979, in Tampa, Florida, to Richard Charles Walbert and his wife Lynn (née Sannino). He has two siblings, a brother Alex and a sister Brittany. His father was a doctor who eventually became Co-Director of Emergency Services at

Baptist Health South Florida Baptist Health South Florida is a faith-based not-for-profit healthcare organization and clinical care network in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Baptist Health has 11 hospitals and in excess of 100 physician practices and outpa ...

's South Miami Hospital. Walbert became active in the

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

scene in 1995, and started affiliating as

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 ...

that same year. He formed his first band, Destro, in 1997, with high school friends Roy Ugarte and Ariel Arro (who later played in

Glasseater Glasseater was a post-hardcore band from Miami, Florida. The band formed in 1998 as a duo, eventually expanding to a quintet. History The band signed to Matt Fox's record label Ides of March in 1999, releasing their debut album ''Miles Ahead ...

). When Destro went on a brief hiatus in 1998, he formed which only played a few shows. Destro started up again in late 1998, after drummer Ully and singer Manny left. New drummer Julio Marin (formerly of Promise No Tomorrow and later of

) joined, as did vocalist Kenn Marshall. The band recorded an extended play and a full length album, and played at such festivals as Hellfest 2K (2000),

Furnace Fest Furnace Fest is an American music festival held over three days at the Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, National Historical Landmark in Birmingham, Alabama. It ran annually each August from 2000 to 2003, and ran again from September 2 ...

(2000), and Hellfest 2001 (2001), before breaking up in 2002. Walbert then formed All Hell Breaks Loose with members of Santa Sangre and Target Nevada. In 2002, Walbert also joined

and

, playing second guitar alongside John Wylie (formerly of

). In 2003, Walbert started Dance Floor Justice with Alex Leon (who also played in Target Nevada, All Hell Breaks Loose, and Hockey Temper). In November 2004, All Hell Breaks Loose's drummer Joe Lamadrid died suddenly, which prompted the band to disband. Walbert then briefly played in Target Nevada. Between 2004-2005, Walbert and his wife Crystal Preston Walbert operated the record label Lotus Effect Records. In 2006, he recruited Ariel Arro, Chad Kishick, and vocalist

Damien Moyal Damien Zev Moyal (born September 25, 1976) is an American vocalist, lyricist, musician, songwriter, and designer. Born in Amstelveen, North Holland, Netherlands, he moved to the United States as a child and grew up in Miami, Florida, where he n ...

for the band Best Wishes. He also played guitar in No Excuses, a

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

-based straight edge hardcore band. In July 2011,

(then cromprising Damien Moyal and

Richard Thurston Richard Thurston (born January 6, 1973) is an American musician. He notably performed in such hardcore and metalcore bands as Timescape Zero, Culture, Blood Has Been Shed, Until the End, Diecast, Terror, Walls of Jericho, On Bodies and A ...

) recruited Walbert, who, in turn, enlisted fellow Florida-based drummer Julio Marin and guitarist Chad Kishick (formerly of Shai Hulud and Where Fear and Weapons Meet). He next filled in on

's tours in 2012 and 2014. Between 2017 and 2019, Walbert was the guitarist for the band Phantom Drive. All Hell Breaks Loose reunited in 2023 and are set to play a sole performance on September 8, 2023 at the South Florida Hardcore Unity festival. Walbert also performs as a disc jockey under the stage name DJ Chip Rock. Since 1997, he has held weekly nights at such venues as Hot Wheel Skating Center, Super Wheels Skating Center, Miami Roller Rink, Galaxy Skateway, and Astro Skating Center, all located in Miami, Florida. He is also a collector of band t-shirts, especially of 1990s hardcore bands, and was the editor of ''The South Florida Music Scene Past and Present'' webzine as well as the co-editor and contributor to ''xStuck in the Pastx'' webzine.

Related bands

* Destro: 1997–1998, 1998–2002 * : 1998 * All Hell Breaks Loose: 2001–2004, 2006–2008, 2016, 2023 *

: 2002–2004, 2012 *

: 2002–2005 * Dance Floor Justice: 2002–2003, 2004–2008 * Target Nevada: 2005 * Best Wishes: 2005–2006 * No Excuses: 2007–2008 *

: 2011–2014 *

: 2012, 2014 * Phantom Drive: 2017–2019

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walbert, Richard 1979 births 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American singers 21st-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American singers American heavy metal bass guitarists American heavy metal guitarists American male bass guitarists American male guitarists American male songwriters American punk rock bass guitarists American punk rock guitarists American punk rock singers DJs from Miami Guitarists from Florida Hardcore punk musicians Living people Morning Again members Musicians from Miami Musicians from Tampa, Florida On Bodies members Post-hardcore musicians Songwriters from Florida Straight edge musicians Until the End (band) members Where Fear and Weapons Meet members