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Head Automatica was an American rock band from
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
fronted by
Daryl Palumbo Daryl Palumbo (born February 10, 1979) is an American musician, originally from Bellmore, New York. He is the frontman of the bands Glassjaw, Head Automatica and Color Film. As a youth he was a member of the Long Island straight edge band ''Xbus ...
(also of Glassjaw).


History

The beginnings of the band stemmed from singer
Daryl Palumbo Daryl Palumbo (born February 10, 1979) is an American musician, originally from Bellmore, New York. He is the frontman of the bands Glassjaw, Head Automatica and Color Film. As a youth he was a member of the Long Island straight edge band ''Xbus ...
's interests in the hip hop and
Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...
genres. Palumbo felt that the material that was inspired by these genres did not fit into Glassjaw's spectrum and so Head Automatica was created to showcase this. The band's debut album, ''Decadence'', was released August 17, 2004. Charting on the ''Billboard'' 200 and Top Heatseekers charts, the album was the brainchild of Palumbo, who was known better for his work in
post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has bee ...
music, and
Dan 'The Automator' Nakamura Daniel M. Nakamura better known by his stage name Dan the Automator, is an American record producer from San Francisco, California. He is the founder of the publishing company Sharkman Music and the record label 75 Ark. Early life Nakamura was bo ...
, famous for his production work with groups including
Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (character), 2-D (Singing, vocals, Musical keyboard, keyboards), Murd ...
and Handsome Boy Modeling School. The two allegedly met at a party and worked on what later became the album. Palumbo then recruited the other current members as a touring group, and toured the United States, playing with bands such as
Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cr ...
,
The Rapture The rapture is an eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurrected believers, will rise "in the c ...
, The Used and
The Cure The Cure are an English rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member. The band's ...
. The band released their second album, entitled ''Popaganda'', on June 6, 2006. This album was produced by Howard Benson, who had already worked with Head Automatica on several tracks from ''Decadence''. With the departure of Nakamura, the band took a more organic, classic power-pop approach citing Squeeze and
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nom ...
as influences. In 2006, the band toured with
Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance ...
and
Coheed and Cambria Coheed and Cambria are an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York, formed in 1995. The band consists of Claudio Sanchez (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Travis Stever (guitars, vocals), Josh Eppard (drums, keyboards, backing vocals), an ...
, and joined
Taking Back Sunday Taking Back Sunday is an American rock band from Long Island, New York. The band was formed by guitarist Eddie Reyes and bassist Jesse Lacey in 1999. The band's members currently are Adam Lazzara (lead vocals), John Nolan (lead guitar, key ...
, Angels & Airwaves, and The Subways for a month of touring on June 22. In October 2006, drummer and founding member
Larry Gorman Larry Gorman (born May 9, 1972, in Astoria, Queens) is a rock drummer. Gorman has played in numerous hardcore punk, post-hardcore, and alternative rock bands, including Reach Out, voice, Direct, Fountainhead, Orange 9mm, A Day for Honey, Glassja ...
was fired from the band for undisclosed reasons, with Brandon Reid being announced as his replacement. The band scheduled a headlining fall tour with
Rock Kills Kid Rock Kills Kid was an American art punk/ alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California that consisted of Jeff Tucker (guitar and vocals), Shawn Dailey (bass), Sean Stopnik (guitar), Reed Calhoun (keyboards/vocals), and Mike Balboa (drums ...
, but chose to cancel it after playing only a few dates. Instead, they supported
Thirty Seconds to Mars Thirty Seconds to Mars (commonly stylized as 30 Seconds to Mars) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1998. The band consists of brothers Jared Leto (lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Shannon Leto (drums, p ...
on their Welcome to the Universe Tour along with The Receiving End of Sirens, Cobra Starship, and
Rock Kills Kid Rock Kills Kid was an American art punk/ alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California that consisted of Jeff Tucker (guitar and vocals), Shawn Dailey (bass), Sean Stopnik (guitar), Reed Calhoun (keyboards/vocals), and Mike Balboa (drums ...
. In early 2007, Head Automatica played direct support on The West Coast Winter Tour with
Jack's Mannequin Jack's Mannequin was an American rock band formed in 2004, hailing from Orange County, California. The band originally began as a solo project for Andrew McMahon, the frontman of Something Corporate. The band was signed to Maverick Records an ...
, We Are The Fury, and The Audition. The band visited the UK for the first time for a headlining tour that started at Southampton University on May 23, 2007, and performed at
Rock Am Ring The (German language, German for "Rock at the Ring") and ("Rock in the Park") festivals are two simultaneous rock music festivals held annually. While ''Rock am Ring'' takes place at the Nürburgring race track, ''Rock im Park'' takes place at ...
festival in Nürburg, Germany on June 1. August 2007 saw yet another change in the line up, with
New York hardcore New York hardcore (also known as NYHC) is both the hardcore punk music created in New York City and the subculture and lifestyle associated with that music. New York hardcore grew out of the hardcore scene established in Washington, D.C., by ...
veteran Sammy Siegler taking over the drum kit. Head Automatica started pre-production on their third album in late September 2007, aiming for a "darker" sound and "grimy, dancefloor-friendly" songs. The band recorded half of the material with producer Jason Lader and the other with The Brothers (the production team of
Josh Topolsky Joshua Ryan Topolsky (born October 19, 1977) is an American technology journalist. He is also a record producer, and DJ under the stage name Joshua Ryan. Topolsky was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of technology news network ''The Verge'', ...
and Eric Emm). Sammy Siegler handled the drumming duties, and Albert Wing, Bruce Fowler and Gary Grant recorded the brass section. The band appeared in a Christmas-themed skit on ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ' ...
'' on December 18, 2008 and went on a short North American tour with Radio 4 in January 2009. They appeared at the 2009
South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...
music conference. In May 2009, Palumbo confirmed that they had finished recording their next album, entitled ''Swan Damage''. In an interview with Revolt online magazine Palumbo stated that the record "captures everything we ever intended Head Automatica to be. It covers the genre spectrum; there are powerful clubby tracks, garage-pop tracks, and body-rocking tracks. This album really reflects the full spectrum of music this band is capable of playing.” The band have been performing songs from ''Swan Damage'' live, working titles including "Can't Stand Amadeus", "End of Heat", "Too Ashamed", "Face Upon the Floor", "Spitzer", "Sega", "It's a Lie" and "Hard as Mud". In July 2009 Head Automatica played a string of US dates with
Cubic Zirconia Cubic zirconia (CZ) is the cubic crystalline form of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2). The synthesized material is hard and usually colorless, but may be made in a variety of different colors. It should not be confused with zircon, which is a zircon ...
and have gone missing from the public eye for more than a year, with no announcements regarding ''Swan Damage''. The band re-emerged with a new rhythm section of drummer Guy Licata (
Cold Cave Cold Cave is the moniker for the music of Wesley Eisold, described as a "collage of darkwave, noise, and synthpop." A number of reviewers note the affinity with early 1980s post-punk and early synthpop, in particular Joy Division and New Orde ...
, Hercules & Love Affair) and bassist Rick Penzone ( Men, Women & Children) to perform at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York on October 20, 2010. On October 21, 2010 Palumbo tweeted a link to the Cubic Zirconia remix of the still-to-be-released track "Can't Stand Amadeus". On May 30, 2012, Palumbo revealed via Twitter that Warner Bros. Records have effectively shelved the masters for ''Swan Damage''. July 2012 issue of Southampton Music featured an interview with Palumbo, in which he cited legal issues (that supposedly arose when he decided to end his contract with the label) as the reason for the three-year delay, but expressed confidence in the album being released "soon". In August 2012 Head Automatica toured the UK as a four-piece, performing material from ''Swan Damage'' and new versions of songs from their first two records. It was announced in mid-December 2022, that Head Automatica would play the Furnace Fest in September 2023.


Band members

*
Daryl Palumbo Daryl Palumbo (born February 10, 1979) is an American musician, originally from Bellmore, New York. He is the frontman of the bands Glassjaw, Head Automatica and Color Film. As a youth he was a member of the Long Island straight edge band ''Xbus ...
— lead vocals (2003–2012) * Jessie Nelson — keyboards (2005–2012) * Rick Penzone — guitar, bass (2010–2012) * Steven Heet — drums (2012) * Vinnie Caruana — guitar (2003) * Brandon Arnovick — guitar (2003–2004) *
Craig Bonich Craig Bonich (also known as Bon) is best known as the guitarist for alternative pop rock band Head Automatica. Bonich co-wrote the hit song from Head Automatica's 1st album '' Decadence'', called "Beating Heart Baby". Bonich recently joined Jere ...
— guitar (2003–2010) * Josh "Jarvis" Holden — bass (2003–2009) *
Larry Gorman Larry Gorman (born May 9, 1972, in Astoria, Queens) is a rock drummer. Gorman