ACOUSTIC VOMIT is an American rock band formed in Hammond, Indiana on December 25, 1987 by "The Iceman" Chris Royal, Butch Oatmeal, and V.O. Mitt. Although the band is commonly misclassified as metal they have always classified their music as simply "Rock and F*ckin’ Roll."

Acoustic Vomit’s current line-up consists of “The Iceman” Chris Royal (rhythm guitar), Butch Oatmeal (bass), Growlin’ Mike Meadows (lead vocals), and Jim Shepard (lead guitar and everything else).  The band goes through drummers faster than groupies and is currently looking for a new beat master.

In the early days, the band's original name was The Lugnuts - derived from the band's passion for classic cars.  Royal was the lead vocalist and played rhythm guitar, Oatmeal on bass, and V.O. on drums and vocals.

Desiring to take their music in every direction, the band added keyboardist Dag Stir and female lead singer Lulu Basaldua.  For a brief time the band was called Lulu & The Lugnuts.  In early 1988, Royal left the band citing "visionary differences."  But he soon returned with a name and a plan that would launch the band into local stardom.

Royal was influenced by the recent rash of acoustic recordings (in particular the announcement of a Guns N’ Roses acoustic album) and a co-worker's band name of "Vomit" to form the name “Acoustic Vomit” a.k.a. “AV”.  A book at the Hammond Public Library titled "Badger at My Window" inspired Royal to pen the band's first single of the same name.  That title, Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction, and the band M.O.D. influenced the title of their first album "Badgers Of Destruction" or "B.O.D."

Royal's return was not without consequences.  Lulu was forced out of the band in a "her or me" coup d’état staged by Royal.  With his new vision and persuasive attitude, the rest of the band could not resist and Acoustic Vomit, minus Basaldua, was formed.

Taking a key from Eddie from Iron Maiden and the crazy guy from Anthrax, the band created a mascot - Bubby Badger.  He’s a cigar smoking, gun-toting, militaristic badger with one hell of an attitude.

Word of the name, lineup, and direction change spread quickly and rhythm guitarist Y. Transmission Magnolia tried to join the band. Having no need for Magnolia's antics, the band declined.  However, Magnolia brought something to the table the band desperately needed - a lead guitarist.

Magnolia had befriended "wunderkind" lead guitarist Joe Scott.  The band agreed to let Magnolia join Acoustic Vomit only if they could get Scott to join as well.  Magnolia set up a meeting with Royal, Oatmeal, Mitt, and Scott. After watching and listening to Scott battle it out with Eddie Van Halen on a turntable, Mitt asked Scott if he would like to join Acoustic Vomit.  His reply was simple - "Yeah."

The band called on friend Chachi Chavez to manage them.  Manager was more of a title than his job description, as Chavez did mostly gopher work and roadie assignments.  He was also their verbal beat toy, which kept them from taking jabs at one another and created a solid group harmony.

But the band wasn't without its tiffs.  Keyboardist Stir was replaced by Pork Chops.  Rumor has it that Oatmeal wanted him thrown out of the band for losing a Tesla compact disc cover.  Stir was never told of the change, and it lasted all of a weekend.

Rather than remove Chops, they decided to go with two bass players.  When that failed, Chops' love for drums and percussion and the band's desire to be different prompted the final lineup change - two drummers.  This would also allow V.O. the ability to help more with vocals and on-stage antics, but at the same time give the intimidating look of two drum sets - rarely seen in the rock world.

Soon the group's popularity exploded.  The Acoustic Vomit name and AV symbol began popping up on notebooks, gym shoes, t-shirts, bathroom walls, etc.  Tickets were sold to a concert that hadn't even been booked.  Woodmar Records, a local record store, was inundated with requests for the new Acoustic Vomit album.

Calls for Acoustic Vomit to play in a local battle of the bands prompted them to take things seriously, but a lack of funds and private lives soon had the band heading in different directions.  Royal went to college, Mitt began pursuing a professional wrestling career, Stir ran off with his fiancée, Chops got caught up in high school sports, Scott and Magnolia joined the band "Truck Driver", and Oatmeal just continued being Oatmeal.

The band’s demise left Royal and Oatmeal with bruised egos.  The two soon began pursuing other musicians to join and reform Acoustic Vomit.  The third time was the charm.  The guys enlisted Jim Shepard to play lead guitar.  But he brought so much more to the band then they ever imagined.  As Royal and Oatmeal started a lyrical brigade, Shepard began composing masterpieces that would define the band’s sound for decades and Acoustic Vomit was officially formed.

The band quickly ripped out twelve tracks for the album “Badgers of Destruction” and began auditioning drummers.  That’s when tragedy struck.

An infected hickey left Royal with serious vocal chord problems.  His four octave high-tenor offerings were gone forever and it seemed the world would lose Acoustic Vomit.  But Shepard would once again come to the rescue. 

Shepard suggested to Oatmeal that they add Mike Meadows to take over the frontman duties.  Oatmeal wasn’t too keen on the idea, mostly because he wasn’t sure how Royal would take this.  However, this was one of the few times in his life Royal put his ego in check and agreed to go and see Meadows perform.  Oatmeal and Shepard would learn later that Royal had been secretly auditioning lead singers on the side. 

Meadows did not disappoint.  Royal and Oatmeal were ecstatic.  The first time Royal heard Meadows sing “Badger at My Window,” Royal said “that guy growls, I love it.”  The name Growlin’ Mike Meadows morphed from there and “Badgers of Destruction” was back on track.

The twelve tracks for “Badgers of Destruction” were laid down in a Jolt Cola, whiskey, and stripper infused mere 96 hours.  But it didn’t stop there.  The band had waited so long to finally record, that they had amassed lyrics to over 50 songs.  Shepard, with some help from the other three, began writing music and monster guitar riffs for the rest of the lyrical collection.

In an unprecedented move, Acoustic Vomit stayed in the studio and finished tracks for all the songs.  The band decided to release a self-titled monster album, containing over 50 tracks.  It would be the largest debut album in history.

That’s when tragedy struck.  A fire at the studio destroyed all the master recordings and one set of dubs.  Since it was the 80’s, copies were generally not made because of cost and time consumption.  All of Acoustic Vomit’s hard work was gone.

The band refused to give up and Acoustic Vomit returned to the studio.  However, Shepard is known for not writing down music, so there were no score sheets to turn to.  But the band decided to take a crack at what they could remember and 12 tracks were recorded just before they had had enough of studio life. 

Conspiracy theorists surmise that Royal had the fire intentionally set because he was once again not happy with the direction of the band.  Another theory says that Royal had the arsonists steal the masters before they set the fire and that he still has the original master recordings to this day.  Royal vehemently denies any wrong doing.

The band decided to hit the road in the fall of 1989.  They played numerous small scale clubs throughout the Midwest before embarking on a tour of Western Europe.

One night during a gig in West Berlin, Meadows boasted on stage that “we should all jump that f*cker [Berlin Wall] and continue the party.”  The crowd roared in approval.  Later that night, a local concert promoter called him on this.  The band quickly and unanimously agreed to do the unthinkable.     

Through a series of back-alley deals, Acoustic Vomit would be smuggled over the Berlin Wall and play a concert for freedom in a local warehouse.  However, the fall of the Berlin Wall just days before the scheduled concert kept the band from rock and roll history.    

While on tour, the idea of a monster album was scrapped.  AV decided to bi-annually release albums instead.  The tracks were meticulously separated into four twelve-track albums: “Badgers of Destruction”; “Memoirs…”; “Ho! Ho! No! An Av Christmas”; and “IV-Some” (pronounced “for some”).

One Acoustic Vomit trademark is to cover songs with a twist.  Every album contains a cover, some have lyrics changed, and some are just musical changes.

Rumor of a “super” reunion surfaced in December 2006 when Royal was visiting Hammond from his home in Southern California.  Royal approached Oatmeal with the idea of combining the original members with Sheppard and Meadows.  The two sought out Scott and Magnolia.  After a couple failed attempts, the meeting never took place and Royal returned to his home in Southern California., but talk of a new album with Royal, Oatmeal, Shepard, and Meadows began to pick up steam.

However, that was short lived.  Royal ripped the tendon on the ring finger of his fret hand and could not play guitar for almost a year.  He has since learned to play with the shortcoming, but still struggles with three and four finger chords that utilize the third or ring finger.

In May of 2009, Royal began writing "Region Rats" - a screenplay about the antics and the early days of Acoustic Vomit and the Lug Nuts.  He contacted Oatmeal, Shepard, and Meadows to discuss the script.  

While searching for old lyrics and the original Bubby Badger picture, Oatmeal stumbled across a shoebox that contained demos from the early days.  Oatmeal sent the demos to Royal, who began releasing them on the internet.  This once again fueled rumors that Royal still had the original demos.  

A lost demos album titled “Sloppy Seconds” is currently being mixed and is targeted for release in the near future.  It is the most anticipated album since “Chinese Democracy” from Guns ‘N Roses.

In addition, Royal and Oatmeal began writing lyrics again and have been in constant contact with Shepard and Meadows.   Talk of a 25 year anniversary album is being whispered around the rock community, but the quartet refuses to confirm nor deny the rumors.

Currently, Meadows fronts the hard rock groups Afflicted Brigade and Ditchwater.  Royal is working on an album with his Southern Country Rock band The American Vagrants.  His new sound has been described in some circles as the unemployed man’s Johnny Cash.  Shepard is writing and composing material for a new band.  Oatmeal, well he just continues to be Oatmeal. 

Acoustic Vomit can also be fanned and followed on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Reverb Nation. Afflicted Brigade, Ditchwater, and The American Vagrants can be fanned and followed on Facebook.