Joel Birch
Joel Birch | |
|---|---|
 Birch at With Full Force in 2019 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 24 December 1981 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Instruments | Vocals |
Joel Birch (born 24 December 1981) is an Australian musician and photographer. He is currently the co-lead vocalist and co-frontman for the Australian metalcore band the Amity Affliction.
Early life
Joel Birch was born on December 24, 1981 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.[1] He is the eldest of three children; his mother, Christine, was a housewife, and his father was Daintry, whose profession was unknown as his father left the family when Birch was two years old. His mother later married Des, a bank manager, who became his stepfather. Birch never got along with his mother and stepfather. When it came to education, he was a gifted student and played volleyball in high school. As a teenager, he suffered from mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and chemical dependency. Instead of being sent to see a doctor about his mental health, Birch was sent to Christian counselling, where people sought to pray the demons out of him. Birch later ended up in the hospital due to his mental health and later met with a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with chronic depression.[2] During his schooling, he won a scholarship to Immanuel Lutheran College in Buderim. Despite being an intelligent student, he wasn't considered the model student, and he was pulled out of college. At age fifteen, he had his first beer, and at twenty he was a heavy drinker to the point where he was kicked out of his family's home.[3]
In Brisbane, he painted trains with graffiti and spent a period of time on the streets, stealing food, alcohol, and paint. His preferred method of thievery at the time was to hit Coles and stuff things down his pants.
Music career
In 2004, he joined the Amity Affliction as the co-lead vocalist, using mostly unclean vocals. The band released a three-track demo in 2004, followed by a self-titled EP in 2005, the first recording to feature Birch, who had joined the band the previous year, while Ahren Stringer was performing the clean vocals and playing the guitar at the time. Together in 2008, the Amity Affliction released their first album, Severed Ties, which debuted at No. 26 on the ARIA Albums Chart.[4]
In 2010, they released their second album, Youngbloods.[5] Their third album, Chasing Ghosts followed in 2012.[6] After the release of their fourth studio album, Let the Ocean Take Me, in 2014,[7] the album was given a Metacritic score of 76 out of 100, which indicated that the reviews were generally favorable. With the success of the fourth album, the Amity Affliction was nominated for the "Breakthrough Band of the Year" award at the 2015 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, alongside Halestorm, Bury Tomorrow, and In This Moment, but lost to Babymetal.[8] In 2016, they released their fifth studio album, This Could Be Heartbreak.[9] Their sixth album, Misery, was released in 2018.[10] This was the first album in which Birch utilized clean vocals compared to the unclean vocals he used in the past albums. Their seventh album, Everyone Loves You... Once You Leave Them, was released in early 2020.[11] Their eighth and latest album, Not Without My Ghosts, was released in 2023.[12][13][14]
Personal life
Aside from singing for the Amity Affliction, Birch is also an avid photographer and has his own self-named website.[15] When it came to religion, during an interview with V13, Birch admitted to being an atheist despite attending a Christian Outreach College and having a Jesus sleeve which he tried having removed, but was unable to due to the pain he would have endured.[16][17]
Controversies
In 2009, Birch hit rock bottom when he tried to kill himself. In 2013, he suffered an alcohol-related seizure while touring in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There was a point where he was kicked out of his own home that he shared with his wife, Bel, and three children. They later got divorced. After the incident, Birch stopped drinking for some time. In 2016, Birch came to a point where he realized he was an alcoholic and nearly died while on tour. Since then, he remained sober and hadn't drank since.[18]
During the 2013 Warped Tour, while in the middle of a set, Birch called out Memphis May Fire frontman, Matty Mullins, on supposed sexist comments that had been made to female attendees at the tour.[19] Mullins responded to the criticism saying that his comments were taken out of context, saying that women do not need to dress provocatively to get a man's attention.[20] Birch, in another interview, brought up racist taunts from the audience that had been made towards the band's replacement drummer, Chad Hasty.[21]
In 2019, while on tour with Senses Fail, Belmont, and Silent Planet, Birch received some criticism after calling out a fan during a show at the Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas, Nevada for sporting a Trump jersey and faced some serious backlash after the event. A video of the incident was posted on Music Feeds’ Instagram page. Things even got heated on Twitter as he defended his stances. It was later revealed that the person who sported the Trump jersey at the show was just a fan who was there to enjoy the show. Shortly afterwards Birch deleted some tweets based on the event after the incident.[22][23][24]
Discography
The Amity Affliction
Studio albums
- Severed Ties (2008)
- Youngbloods (2010)
- Chasing Ghosts (2012)
- Let the Ocean Take Me (2014)
- This Could Be Heartbreak (2016)
- Misery (2018)
- Everyone Loves You... Once You Leave Them (2020)
- Not Without My Ghosts (2023)
Collaborations
| Year | Song | Album | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | "Doomed from Birth" | Hate | Thy Art Is Murder[25] |
| "Set in Stones" | No Apologies | Heroes for Hire[26] | |
| 2014 | "Earthwalker" | Earthwalker | In Hearts Wake[27] |
| "51-73" | Life and Death | Confession[28] | |
| 2019 | "Torch" | The Deathbed Sessions | Cursed Earth[29] |
References
- ↑ Rod Yates (24 August 2016). "The Amity Affliction: The End of Heartache". Rolling Stone.
- ↑ "The Amity Affliction's Joel Birch Discusses His Experiences With Depression". Kerrang!. October 30, 2017.
- ↑ Rod Yates (24 August 2016). "The Amity Affliction: The End of Heartache". Rolling Stone.
- ↑ "Discography The Amity Affliction". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ↑ "Boomtown Records : The Amity Affliction - Youngbloods". boomtownrecords.com.au. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
- ↑ "Chasing Ghosts by the Amity Affliction". iTunes. 7 September 2012.
- ↑ "The Amity Affliction announce new album, release new song". Alternative Press. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
- ↑ "2015 Metal Hammer 'Golden Gods Awards' Winners Revealed". Theprp.com. 2015-06-15. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
- ↑ "THE AMITY AFFLICTION To Release 'This Could Be Heartbreak' Album In August". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
- ↑ "The Amity Affliction Part Ways With Drummer Ryan Burt". altpress.com. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- ↑ "The Amity Affliction Announce New Album, Everyone Loves You… Once You Leave Them". Kerrang!. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
- ↑ "THE AMITY AFFLICTION Announces New Album 'Not Without My Ghosts', Shares 'It's Hell Down Here' Video". Blabbermouth.net. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
- ↑ "The Amity Affliction Unveil 8th LP Not Without My Ghosts + Serve New Track 'It's Hell Down Here'". Wall of Sound. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
- ↑ "The Amity Affliction announce new album 'Not Without My Ghosts'". Distorted Sound. 26 March 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Christopher Gonda (July 22, 2014). "Tattoo Talk: The Amity Affliction Vocalist Joel Birch Talks About a Shitty Star, Fan Tattoos, and a Jesus Sleeve". V13.
- ↑ Rod Yates (24 August 2016). "The Amity Affliction: The End of Heartache". Rolling Stone.
- ↑ "The Amity Affliction's Joel Birch celebrates seven years of sobriety". NewFuryMedia. 3 June 2023.
- ↑ "The Amity Affliction Vocalist Calls Out Memphis May Fire's Matty Mullins At 'Vans Warped Tour'". Theprp.com. 16 July 2013.
- ↑ "The Amity Affliction Vocalist Calls Out Memphis May Fire's Matty Mullins At 'Vans Warped Tour'". Theprp.com. 16 July 2013.
- ↑ "Amity Affliction Frontman Calls Out Memphis May Fire Vocalist Onstage at Warped". Musicfeeds.com.au. 15 July 2013.
- ↑ "Headbanger's Brawl: Did Joel Birch do the right thing for calling out on fan's pro-Trump jersey? | Metal Insider". 9 January 2019.
- ↑ "The Amity Affliction Singer Blasts Fan in Crowd for Wearing Donald Trump Shirt". Loudwire. January 7, 2019.
- ↑ Tom Williams (January 8, 2019). "The Amity Affliction Frontman Slams Fan For Wearing Donald Trump Shirt". musicfeeds.
- ↑ "THY ART IS MURDER - Doomed From Birth with Joel Birch of The Amity Affliction (OFFICIAL AUDIO)". YouTube. 18 March 2014. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 13 April 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Heroes For Hire - Set In Stone (ft. Joel Birch)". YouTube. 26 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 13 April 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "In Hearts Wake - Earthwalker Feat. Joel Birch from The Amity Affliction [Official Music Video]". YouTube. 2 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 13 April 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "CONFESSION - 51-73 featuring Joel Birch (OFFICIAL AUDIO)". YouTube. 16 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 13 April 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Cursed Earth - Torch". YouTube. 8 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 13 April 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
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