Hundred Caliber is an energetic local up and coming rock band that originates from Lakeside, CA. Three of its members, Bradley “Havoc” Craighead Derek “Wrek” Altringer, and Nick “Nikki Styles” Bedrosian, attend Grossmont College.
“The name Hundred Caliber came from one of our old drummers,” stated Styles. “He was walking one day and saw a Dodge Caliber and came up with the name.” Nikki explained, “It was kind of a filler name that we were supposed to find a replacement name for but never did. It kinda just grew on us the more we would use it.”
The group is composed of “Adamus on Lead vocals and piano, Bradley Havoc on Lead Guitar and vocals, Nikki Styles on Guitar, Wrek on Bass, and The Duke on drums,” according to the band’s Facebook page. Hundred Caliber has gone through an extensive line-up change since the bands inception.
Hundred Caliber formed in 2009 at El Capitan high school with an original line up of mutual friends. Styles and Havoc originally started the band. “Through disagreements about the direction of the band,” stated Styles “we decided to part ways.”
Bradley and Nikki met Adamus and The Duke at a benefit concert for breast cancer awareness in 2011. Adamus and The Duke were members in another band. “At first I didn’t really care for Hundred Caliber,” Stated Adumus “But once I joined it started to grow on me”. Wrek attended high school with Styles and Havoc and filled in on bass in 2010.
The band all had interesting stories on how they got their stage names. “Adamus is my last name so that’s how I got mine,” stated Adamus. Havoc added “plus it sounds like a Greek god from the heavens.” Havoc stated “I was going through a dark time in my life and it was either between Bradley Riskay or Bradley Havoc and it seemed like Havoc fit me better. It showed my darker side.”
The band balances each other out in their attitudes and in their attire. While Adamus and Havoc bring a sense of darkness to the band, Styels, as his name suggests, brings a sense of class to the group.
“I got my stage name because I like wearing bowties and old fashion styles,” stated Nikki Styles. “I like dressing up and looking good and not like a d-bag all the time.” Adamus stated “Originally, the Wrek was going to be called Ace, like the ace at bass.” “They call me Wrek because I wreck everything I touch,” jokingly stated Wrek.
“I was at the river with one of my friends,” explained The Duke, “and this girl kept confusing my friends name and my name. So she said to my friend ‘I’m gunna call you Pickles.’ Then she looks at me and says ‘I’m gunna call you Duke’ and the name stuck ever since.” Wreck added “and he’s also The Duke of drumming!”
Hundred Caliber has played many prestigious venues in San Diego and L.A. including Soma, The House Of Blues and Whiskey A-Go-Go. “We are trying to book as many shows as we can” stated Adamus. “We plan on making a comeback show at either House of Blues or Soma,” explained Nikki.
The band does not currently have any shows planned as their drummer is recovering from a broken arm. “I broke my arm while skating,” explained The Duke, “I cleanly snapped the middle of my humerous.”
Hundred Caliber recently recorded and released a new extended play album (EP) entitled Shattered. The eight track EP includes songs such as “Nighthawk”, “Sweet Venom”, and “Shattered”. The band plans on releasing their album sometime in the near future. “We have some ideas for the artwork and were just in the process of finalizing everything.” said Styles.
“My favorite track,” stated The Duke, “is ‘To the Kings’ because it has one of the more fun drum parts to play.” Adamus explained “My favorite track is ‘Shattered’ because it is one of the more mature tracks that we’ve come up with.”
“I don’t see myself playing guitar with anyone other than Nick and these guys” stated Havoc. “We just have this brainwave that we’re all on.”
“It’s 90 percent fun and 10 percent business.” said Styles. “We’ve finally shaped into the bad we’ve all wanted to be for a long time now,” Havoc said of his band mates. “It’s just easy to write songs with these guys. Something just clicks with us.”
Hundred Caliber has a variety of influences ranging from Avenged Sevenfold to Charles Mingus to Motley Crue. “We all have a variety of influences” stated Styles.
Bradley Havoc stated “I’m an 80’s junkie. I’m mostly influenced by bands like Rat, Motley Crue, and Poison. Recently though I’ve discovered heavier bands like Bullet For My Valentine, and Atreyu.” Wrek has a stark contrast in his musical influences. “I started playing trumpet in 5th grade,” stated Wrek “I was in the Afro-Cuban Ensemble with Derek Canon for a while.” “
Being in a full time band, as well as attending college can be quite challenging. A full load of classes, work, homework, and band rehearsals pack the members schedules. “I think the hardest thing about going to school and being in a band is waking up in the morning.” stated Wrek.
