Crazy Town

Crazy Town is an American rock band, formed in 1995 by Bret Mazur and Seth Binzer. The band is best known for their 2000 hit single, "Butterfly", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and helped their debut album, The Gift of Game (1999) sell over 1.5 million units. Their follow up album, Darkhorse (2002) failed to achieve the same level of success, contributing to the band's break-up in 2003. Mazur and Binzer reformed the band in 2007, and released their third album, The Brimstone Sluggers, in 2015.

Bret Mazur and Seth Binzer, who go by the names of Epic and Shifty Shellshock, respectively, started collaborating under the name of "The Brimstone Sluggers" in 1995 in Los Angeles, California, along with Adam Bravin (a.k.a. DJ Adam 12) who preceded DJ AM. However they did not become serious about releasing any material until much later. By early 1999, Rust Epique, James Bradley Jr (a.k.a. JBJ)., Doug Miller, Adam Goldstein (a.k.a. DJ AM), and Antonio Lorenzo "Trouble" Valli joined the band. Their debut album, The Gift of Game, was released in November 1999, having been recorded earlier that year.

In 2000 Crazy Town was signed to tour with Ozzfest, however they were forced to withdraw after only two weeks when Binzer was arrested after he threw a chair through a window while he was drunk. Crazy Town then released their third single in 2001, "Butterfly" (which uses samples from Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Pretty Little Ditty"). It reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Soundscan reports 100,000 album sales of The Gift of Game prior to the release of Butterfly; after Butterfly reached number 1 sales exceeded 1.5 million.

heir second album, Darkhorse, was produced by Howard Benson and released on November 12, 2002. Benson's influence resulted in a more rock oriented sound. Prior to recording the album, drummer James Bradley, Jr. eventually left the band and was replaced by Kyle Hollinger. The album achieved little commercial success, spawning only two singles: "Drowning", which became a minor hit in the US, UK, Austria and Germany, and "Hurt You So Bad", which failed to chart at all. Shortly after the release of Darkhorse the band broke up in 2003, citing amongst other things, pressure from their record company for a "Butterfly" follow-up.

In late 2007, Crazy Town announced that the remaining members had reformed and were working on a new studio album, tentatively titled Crazy Town is Back, which would be released sometime in 2008, though no such release was ever made.
On August 28, 2009, former member DJ AM was found dead in his apartment, of an accidental drug overdose.
On May 17, 2016 the band announced that they will be taking part in the Make America Rock Again super tour throughout the summer and fall 2016. The tour will feature other artist who had success throughout the 2000s including Trapt, Saliva, Saving Abel, Alien Ant Farm, 12 Stones, Tantric, Drowning Pool, Puddle Of Mudd, P.O.D. and Fuel.



Current members
Bret "Epic" Mazur – vocals, rapping, bass guitar, keyboards, piano, turntables, beatboxing (1995–2003; 2007–present)
Seth "Shifty" Binzer – rapping, lead vocals (1995–2003; 2007–present)
Nick "Dax" Diiorio – bass guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Kevin Kapler - drums, percussion (2014–present)
Omar Gusmao - lead guitar (2015–present)
Rick "R1CKONE" Dixon - turntables, samples, keyboards (2010-2013, 2015–present)


Former members
Adam "DJ Adam 12" Bravin - turntables, samples, programming, keyboards (1995–1996)
Charles "Rust Epique" Lopez - guitars (1999–2000; died 2004)
James "JBJ" Bradley Jr. – drums, percussion (1999–2001)
Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein – turntables, samples, programming, keyboards (1999–2000, 2001, 2009; died 2009)
Doug "Faydoe Deelay" Miller - bass guitar (1999-2003)
Kraig "Squirrel" Tyler - rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2000–2003)
Antonio Lorenzo "Trouble" Valli - lead guitar (1999–2003)
Kyle Hollinger - drums, percussion (2001-2003)
Ahmad "Deadsie" Alkurabi – lead guitar (2014–2015)


Studio albums

The Gift of Game 1999
Darkhorse 2002
The Brimstone Sluggers 2015