What kind of name is Haji?

The name:

Yep... started out as Haji's Kitchen. It was yet another case of a band taking a name due to a lack of superior alternatives.

Eddie (gtr player) has an affinity for Indian food (ed. note: :Puke: ). Suffice to say it has a rather pronounced odor. Especially when brought into the rehearsal room as leftovers for Sunday Morning Rehearsal (also known as "Metal at 12").

Clint Barlow (our drummer at the time) walked into the room and said "Damn.. it smells like Haji's Kitchen in here".

Thus... a band name was born. I'm mostly sorry it's not a better story, truth be told.

Haji: we shortened it to Haji because most everyone referred to us as "Haji's" anyway. Which prodded the question "Haji's what, exactly?". So... we dropped the 's along with the kitchen.

What kind of band are we? Kinda depends on which disc you listen to.

The first (self titled) release back in '95 on Shrapnel is like Pantera meets King's X meets Alice in Chains with a crapload of shredding guitar solos, syncopated riffs, ensemble licks, (that'd be 2 guitars, 1 bass and the drummer doing harmony 64th note triplet runs), and some pretty amazing drumming. This is a pretty damn consistent & honest disc.

The second release, (Sucker Punch), we released on a small local independent back in '00 or '01. It's kinda scatterbrained & uneven, but there's some really bitchen stuff on the disc scattered here & there. (mostly the cool syncopated riffs)

We were exploring the idea of trying to make a living with this disc, so you'll hear some "radio intended" tracks, much less shredding overall, and only one real ensemble lick. There's only Eddie on guitar on this disc.. and there's a decent amount of industrial influence creeping in on about half the tracks.

I feel like my bass playing is quite a bit better on this disc.. (more room to play with things when you're not tied to a 2nd rhythm gtr player). and Rob is (again) his usual shredding self on the drums.

Hope this helps.. that's about as honest an answer as I've got for ya.

There really aren't any updates to speak of.. we're all busy doing other things, but are (again) tossing about the idea of recording an instrumental disc.

Derek
 
I like the second Haji CD...it's what I would like to call Progressive Nu-Metal and forgive me for using that term. I don't throw the term Nu-Metal around to try and say that the musical effort has been dumbed down or anything, it just has a commercial appeal. I also hear the blatant Texas blues influence in some solo's like in the track "Face Down"

I attened a Haji's Kitchen show at the Galaxy club in Dallas a few years back and I do believe Vince said it best with, "Just buy the CD, you'll love every song on it." I would even venture to say that it is an understatment.

And to actually answer the question posed...

Haji - A Muslum who has made his 1 obligatory pilgramage to Mecca.
 
I dont even really listen to metal that often, but if its all like haji im sure as hell bout to start, haji fuckin rules, and i got their shit from an anime, searched and searched for their shit, and my friend finally found it, haji if u guys read this shit, you fucking rock!
 
im aosphoenix's friend who found it...it was near impossible, ive been obessed for over 5 months at this point, and today, just in the last hour, i found the website and got it, i was so overfuckingjoyed i almost gripped my hand dead.. HAJI FUCKING ROCKS, imma b listenin to this shit thru to february befoe i get tired of it...man im bout to b rockin this so hard, i just put it in my stereo and the sound hypnotised me, i was rdy to fight, i feel like i could do ne thing with this song on..shit is like crack, i was listenin to lost, damn that shit is good!! HAJI RULES MY LIFE!!!! how the hell did u all make this shit, man... the sad thing is, no even knows u guys exist, i was actually about to say the song doesnt even exist until i found it, cuz i searched every possible music provider and filesharing possible without paying for it...then all i did afte all these months was type in some key words on google, fuk me soooo hard dude, cant believe it was that simple...the words were... "rock band haji" and that shit satisfied my unquenchable thirst for the best rock on the face of this stinking planet earth...the thing that rly got me hooked was the end of dragonball z movie 8, where i couldnt understand what the lead was saying but the beat was cold as hell, and broly was beating the shit out of goku mercilessly, and rock makes anger way better...broly hit him 75 times, and man......the song just enhanced that shit beyond ne thing supernatural in this world...haji members...u guys r the fucking best, uve been in the game since the mid 90's, too bad u guys rnt doin too well and all that shit, but hey...uve always got a place in this losers heart, and ur music is fucking timeless....peace b with u. try and make a comeback...go big with it, you'll get a massive audience, trust me. and u wont b reading this cuz u havent posted since 2 years ago...wtvr.
 
yeah man ive been into this band since they came out with the first record, 10 years on and im STILL not sick of it! i fucking love it...man, "Quench" what a chooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnn! the riff in that is absolutely ace :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock:
 
STORM: DUDE! That post is funny as shit... I laughed my ass off at that. Only difference is, Haji isn't really a derogatory term like the others you mentioned.

AOSPHOENIX & BROLY: Glad you guys dig it... even after all this time, it's still cool to hear.

I think I'm the only one who reads it, but yea.. I try to keep up with the boards every so often. (hell..I pay for it, might as well try & post now & then)

The chances of future Haji material are almost nil at this point.

Eddie has taken to the management side of things, working with a pretty amazingly talented 15 year old girl (www.cheyennekimball.us). There'll be an MTV reality show about her on the air early next spring I think. This sort of thing really allows him no time at all to explore his own musical future. Her debut album and all associated opportunities would have to bomb completely and force him into another line of work staying here in town in order for Haji to move forward again... and that ain't gonna happen.

Rob & I are working together on a couple of other projects. Our busiest thing is a band called Somsara (www.somsara.com, or www.myspace.com/somsara). We've also done a recording project that now just lacks mastering (I think). It's pretty much a straight up prog disc.. with Michael Harris on gtr, Ted Leonard (Enchant) on vocals and Bobby Williamson (Outworld) pitching in some keyboard solos. We have no idea who'll be distributing this yet, but it's turned out to be damned cool... I can't wait to hear the finished product.

DAVID: yea, Quench was always one of my faves too... seemed to rotate between that & Images mostly.
 
yeah they were my two favourites along with altered mind aswell. just wondering if youve had a chance to check out NERVE ENGINE yet id really like any advice or thoughts you have, i keep meaning to email eddie to tell him we have new stuff up but as hes so busy i dont want to bother him
 
haji:

hadji.gif
 
RE: The Llama. Sadly, by the time we started mixing the disc, we'd already forgotten what Rob was referring to. We *think* he might have been parodying some of Vince's lyrics, but we're not sure.

RE: Haji pic. Actually, in the ol Jonny Quest cartoon, they spelled it Hadji. Hadji (and indeed the whole Quest gang) was way cool, but had nothing to do with naming the band.

Derek
 
DerekB said:
Rob & I are working together on a couple of other projects. Our busiest thing is a band called Somsara (www.somsara.com, or www.myspace.com/somsara). We've also done a recording project that now just lacks mastering (I think). It's pretty much a straight up prog disc.. with Michael Harris on gtr, Ted Leonard (Enchant) on vocals and Bobby Williamson (Outworld) pitching in some keyboard solos. We have no idea who'll be distributing this yet, but it's turned out to be damned cool... I can't wait to hear the finished product.
Click to expand...

Hey Derek, what's the status on this? It looks like a very interesting band/project...
 
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