Local H's Scott Lucas Tells Us Why The Band's Original Drummer Is Coming Back

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 1, 2016 6:15PM

Local H has always attracted amazing drummers, including Ryan Harding and Brian St. Clair. But many longtime fans have a special affection for original drummer Joe Daniels, who was in the band during their meteoric rise in the ‘90s, but left somewhat acrimoniously in 1999. When we asked what led to the sustained rift frontman Scott Lucas simply left it at, “There was a bunch of childish shit that went down."

With the 20th anniversary of the release of the band’s breakthrough album As Good As Dead—a concept album about growing up in Zion, Illinois—fans speculated just what Local H had in store.

Earlier this year the band announced that As Good As Dead was going to be reissued on vinyl, with an accompanying digital download including ten previously unreleased demos from that time period. Lucas says he told the label doing the reissue, “We want to be involved and make sure you get the [extra] stuff that we have so it’s not just an empty cash grab.”

Around the same time period Lucas decided to try and work out his relationship with Daniels. So what actually led to the two musicians playing together again? Lucas told us the spark was as simple as inviting Daniels out to have a beer “and talk about what’s bothering us here."

“We had a couple of beers at Piece, and we hashed out a bunch of things and just kind of left things open. Maybe something someday but we don’t really have any plans," Lucas said. “Joe had made it clear that he would do some shows. [However,] Ryan had joined the band and things were going so well with him … so it just wasn’t [initially] working out.”

But Lucas kept thinking it over. “I tried to figure out how to make it interesting and do something with this record," he said, "but I also wasn’t willing to wipe out 16 years of work.”

Lucas outlined his plan for a couple reunion shows to current drummer Ryan Harding during a van ride and Harding thought it was a great idea. Lucas said, “So I got home and called Joe and said let’s go to another bar—someplace better this time—so we went and had drinks at Big Star.” Daniels had a couple reservations at first, but Lucas explained his idea for the shows, they hashed it out, and things fell into place.

Now, Daniels will be joining the band for their two shows at Metro later this month, when they will perform As Good As Dead in it’s entirety. They're playing the whole album, Lucas told us, because “I’ve always been this Pink Floyd freak, so our records tend to be concept records that work when performed as a whole.”

On Facebook Lucas confirmed the reunion will carry on beyond the Metro shows, though it's anyone's guess how long they'll continue:

We've spent the last few months practicing, shaking the dust off and crafting a set that A.) We're pretty sure you'll love, and B.) We're totally sure we're proud of. As of now, we've got shows booked into June. After that? Who knows? And if you're worried about what all this means for Ryan—don't be. We're taking him along. Everybody wins. An evening with Local H. No opener—just Joe, Ryan and Scott. Two drummers and a guitar player. The Two Balls And A Dick Tour.

Lucas wouldn't divulge specifics of the shows' construction—we wants to keep a few surprises up his sleeve—but with no openers we think it's safe for fans to expect marathon sets of Local H music.

Local H will headline Metro for the As Good As Dead shows on April 15 and 16