Mushroom Music Publishing

Nash and King originally met in college. They formed Urge Overkill (getting the name from a Parliament song) in Chicago, United States in 1986, with drummer Patrick Byrne, and released an EP, Strange, I..., on Ruthless records produced by Nash's roommate, Steve Albini. A full length album, Jesus Urge Superstar, soon followed, again produced by Albini, and with Chris Bataille taking over the drums. These two releases showcased a noise-rock sound common to other Chicago acts of the period.

Their next effort, Americruiser, saw a drastic change in style. Jack "The Jaguar"Watt was the new drummer and their sound from then on has been described as a "Stonesy fusion of arena rock and punk". Produced by Butch Vig, Americruiser was widely praised, and scored a college radio hit with the lead-off track, "Ticket To LA."Drummer Johnny "Blackie Onassis"Rowan took over for Watt on the next album, The Supersonic Storybook, released in 1991. This completed the switch in sound, and got even better reviews, becoming an underground hit.

After opening for Nirvana on the American Nevermind tour, Urge Overkill returned to the studio to record another EP, Stull, in 1992 which featured the tracks, "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon"and "Goodbye to Guyville."Having a strong following by this time, they jumped from their indie label, Touch & Go to major label, DGC Records.

Despite much criticism for the label switch, Urge Overkill's Butcher Brothers produced major-label debut, Saturation, received strong reviews upon release in 1993. Pop success wasn't forthcoming however, and only the single, "Sister Havana", received any airplay. Furthermore some members of the alternative crowd began to criticize the group, and a few anti-Urge campaigns emerged.

As the band recorded a follow-up album, cult filmmaker Quentin Tarantino used the group's cover version of the Neil Diamond's song, "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon,"on his 1994 movie Pulp Fiction. When the movie became a hit, the song made it to the Top 50 on the Billboard Top 100; pop success at last for Urge Overkill. Predictions were high for their next release.

Exit The Dragon, released during the height of the band's internal struggles, with "The Break"as the first single, was deemed "Criminally Underrated"by a reviewer at amazon.com.

The current live version of "The Break", according to feedback the band has received during their recent touring, is now one of the highlights of the new show, the song live is a great example of the signature Eddie "King"Roeser-style Urge Overkill guitar and vocal action. This section of the show was posted by a fan on You Tube.

Other highlights of the show from Exit The Dragon include "Last Night/Tomorrow", which features one of the more exciting examples live and on record of the King/Kato vocal and musical collaborative action, with both Nash and Eddie trading off parts. The new set consists of music from the entire Urge Overkill catalog, the Geffen years and Touch and Go years.

The band is currently writing and recording new material actively in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The current lineup consists of the principles, Nash Kato and Eddie "King"Roeser, both on guitar and vocals, and Chicago-based (via Ohio) Mike "Hadji"Hodgkiss from the Gaza Strippers on bass, with Raleigh-based Brian "Bon E"Quast on drums, also from Cherry Valence and the BQ's.

Aside from working on completing and then shopping the new material, Urge Overkill is also looking forward to releasing a Touch and Go compilation containing material from their years on the label and four unreleased videos. Release date to be announced.