Cameron Heacock, the lead singer of American Head Charge, has resurfaced after a near decade of being off the grid. Soft White Underbelly, a YouTube documentary channel, uploaded a 45 minute interview with him that fills in the blank spots where neither his former bandmates or family knew. It's not good. He is homeless, living on the streets of Los Angeles, and addicted to fentanyl.
When I wrote about The War of Art, American Head Charge's 2001 major label debut album, for our 100 Greatest Nu Metal Albums of All Time list I compared it to albums like Dark Side of the Moon, Disintegration, and OK Computer, rock records that overwhelmed with their scope, the sheer size of their ideas. The lead singers of those bands will never have to worry about money ever again. The lead singer of The War of Art is clinging onto existence. He is desperately gaunt, frail, and haunted. His black jacket looks like a bodybag. His voice, an awe inspiring instrument during AHC's glory years, has been reduced to a whisper. He's so dependent on drugs that at one point he thanks fentanyl for saving him from heroin addiction.
This is intolerable. This is an unacceptable state of affairs. Nobody capable of music as grand, as brilliant, as The War of Art should be living like this. Frankly, nobody should be living like this and it's so goddamn fucking awful that we let anyone sleep on the fucking street without a second thought. But Cameron is one of ours. He is one of the greatest singers and songwriters that nu-metal has ever known. His music saved my life. And I can't rest knowing that this is what his life has become.
What do we do? I know what I want to do. I want to throw a War of Art 25th Anniversary Show at First Ave in Minneapolis and donate the proceeds to Cameron's recovery. But I don't know where to start. Just as briefly as Cameron reappeared he's gone again. As soon as the cameras stopped rolling the most we can assume is he went right back to sleeping on the street.
But we have to do something. We can't fix the socioeconomic conditions that allow this to happen at all but we can do something about this. If you have any ideas at all, comment on this post with contact info and I will reach out.
