22nd Century (band)

In the late 1970s, drummer Zippy Pinhead (Bill Chobotar) formed The Stiffs with Gerry Useless, aka Gerry Hannah (who later formed the Subhumans) and Mike Normal; later forming "Sgt. Nick Penis and the Brassball Battalion" with D.O.A. founders Randy Rampage and Chuck Biscuits. Duane met Zippy and Randy while playing bass for Chrissy Steele and became friends. Zippy moved to San Francisco to play with the influential band K.G.B. before returning to Vancouver to join D.O.A. Over the next six years, Zippy shifted between Vancouver and California, playing in some well-known bands (The Dils, Art Bergmann, The Mutants, Los Popularos, Black Molly's, The Beat Farmers and The Fiends), and appeared on music videos with Sheena Easton and Rick Springfield. Duane had been with the band Centerfold but, when it lost its funding, he left the music scene to pursue a career in professional cycling. He returned to music nearly a decade later after joining up with Wade Morissette,[5](brother of Alanis Morissette), to play acoustic performances. During this time, Tim Plommer, previously known for soft rock, enjoyed success by co-founding a band called Anthill which had the radio single Child of Ambition.

In 2007, the group came together as 22nd Century. Rob Lulic (of Rymes with Orange fame) briefly played with the band but left before the recording of the first CD. Duane continued playing part-time for Punk-Metal band Stress Factor 9 which included former Annihilator drummer Ray Harttman, and D.O.A. bass player/founder Randy Rampage. 22nd Century made its first trip to California in late 2008, playing in San Francisco.

In 2009, the band released a six-song EP entitled The Twenty Second Century, produced by John Webster. By December 2009, the single 509 had hit No. 1 on the Somojo UK Indy charts and stayed in the top 5 for several weeks.[6] 22nd Century also received an honorable mention [7] in Billboard's 2009 global songwriting contest. The band enjoyed early success by licensing their music to Adobe TV (owned by Adobe Systems, Inc.) and has radio airplay in many countries. In late 2009, 22nd Century again headed south and headlined in Los Angeles, playing to a crowd of thousands. 38 Special road bass player Scott Fegette joined the group on stage for a version of The Ramones' Blitzkrieg.[8]

In June 2010, producer John Webster once again brought the band to Mushroom Studios in Vancouver and, in January 2011, 22nd Century released Where's Howie?!! on Bugnut Records.[9] The seventh track on the CD is a cover of Echo Beach written by Mark Gane and originally recorded in 1979 by Martha and the Muffins. Where's Howie?!! also contained a cover of The Angels single No Secrets, written by Doc Neeson and Graham Bidstrup. 22nd Century placed first via popular vote in a nationwide indie contest sponsored by Supernova entitled Band on the Run,[10] and played several venues in Western Canada and New York. During the contest performances, D.O.A. co-founder Randy Rampage joined the group on stage[11] for a few older songs. The band sold or streamed well over 5,000,000 songs globally from numerous sites.

In 2011, Vancouver's Jesus Krysler joined the band as second guitarist. The band rapidly climbed the ReverbNation charts, reaching No. 1 (locally) and No. 21 (nationally),[12] and appeared on the front cover of Punk Globe magazine.[13] The second video from Where's Howie!?, based on the title track, was launched in August 2011.[14]

Jesus Krysler died in early 2018, leaving behind his wife Jackie and their four children. Zippy, Duane and guitarist Danny Nargang played at his service March 16, their first gig as a new rock trio named The Sacked.

Zippy Pinhead (William Chobotar), died in Vancouver on March 13, 2019, age 57.[15]

• 2009: The Twenty Second Century
• 2010: Radio Hits 3 (Eastern European Compilation)
• 2011: Where's Howie?!!
• 2011: Riot on the Sunset (Compilation)

• 22nd Century on Myspace