4 Oz Hammer (Band)

4 Ounce Hammer (Mainly stylized 4 Oz. Hammer) are a pop-punk banned formed in California in December 1996, by singer and lead guitarist John Mathers, secondary guitarist James Oakley, bassist Tyler Sanders, and drummer Peter Morris. The band was formed after the breakup of the mildly popular Sinister Sisters (Who had a lineup of Tyler Sanders on vocals and bass, Peter Morris on drums, James Oakley on guitar, and Matt Navarro on secondary guitar). They sent demo tapes to numerous record labels in the middle of 1997, around 14 labels received the tape. However, only 4 record labels responded positively to it. One record label sent a letter to the band telling them their demos were trash and that they had no talent. Out of the 4 record labels, they chose Chase Records, who promised them a total budget of $4,150 for mixing, mastering, recording, and equipment for a debut album.

After this, in 1998, they recorded and released their debut album, "Freakazoid", which was widely distributed to music stores around California and Washington state. It sold extremely well, eventually selling 50,000 copies US wide. After this, major record label Atak Records offered them a record deal, which they said yes to, recording their second album, Tumoriffic, in mid-to-late 1999. It took a much darker turn from the "flashy-pop-punk" of Freakazoid, this time being "semi-flashy emo pop-punk." When the album was released in March 2000, it sold extremely well, going gold within weeks, and eventually going platinum in 2001, and diamond in 2005.

Afterwards, they released their third album, Catching Fires, in 2002, which was much more akin to Freakazoid. This album only initially reached gold status, selling 430,000 less copies than Tumoriffic. Around 2003, John started to suffer from a heroin addiction. This inspired him to write the fourth album, "Malignificent", to be recorded and released in 2004. During the recording, James Oakley left the band to pursue a solo career, causing them to recruit secondary guitarist Jason Sanders (Tyler Sanders' brother) into the band. Malignificent went double platinum in 4 months (going diamond in 10 months), and was the last 4 Oz Hammer album to be released before their breakup in 2005. In 2007, John Mathers released a solo album under the bandname "John Mathers and the Star Searchers" featuring all the original members of 4 Oz Hammer, including James Oakley. It technically wasn't a reunion album, as James Oakley played bass as Tyler Sanders played secondary guitar, and it wasn't released under the 4 Oz Hammer name. A second Star Searchers album was released in 2009, with none of the original members of 4 Oz Hammer except for John Mathers. John did all of the instrumentation on the album and recorded it in his garage. The album sold considerably well, selling 483,000 copies worldwide. Both of these albums departed from the sound of 4 Oz Hammer majorly. It was more akin to Freakazoid, though much more poppy. In 2013, 4 Oz Hammer reunited, doing a full US tour and putting out a full album, called "Towering Inferno". It went gold within a week, and went platinum in 6 months. In 2014, a full album of cut songs from Tumoriffic was released, called "Tumoriffic: The Lost Songs". The band was in a state of dormancy from 2015 to 2017, but in June 2017, the band announced a new studio album that is to be recorded, mixed, and mastered on all analog equipment. It is to be called "Faith" and released February 3rd, 2018.