Haji's Kitchen

Haji's Kitchen, sometimes shortened to just Haji, is a metal band from Lewisville, Texas. Formed in 1992, the band members themselves uncertain, they take influences from early heavy metal and modern progressive rock.

Biography

Early history and breakthrough

The first "known" incarnation of Haji's Kitchen was formed in 1992/1993 by founding members Eddie Head, Brett Stine, Derek Blakley, and Clint Barlow (now with Vanilla Ice). Though there were earlier incarnations of the band, their history has been tracked back to the point when they first played live, as stated by Blakley on the band's MySpace

According to Blakley, the band's name was decided when Clint Barlow walked into the rehearsal room where Eddie was eating his lunch, and upon smelling the Indian food, which in the words of Blakley "has a rather pronounced odor", stated, "Damn...it smells like Haji's Kitchen in here" and the band name was born.

Shortly after Brett Stine left in 1995, his brother Scott joined the band, and they started receiving complaints that their CD was too hard to find to purchase. This was because Shrapnel Records, the first label they were signed to, had produced a limited run of only 5000 CDs and refused to print any more copies.

Haji's Kitchen (album)

Haji's Kitchen is the first album of the American band of the same name, released in 1995 under Shrapnel Records.

Track listing

Reception

While the album was well received by critics and sold well, 5000 copies total, there was some minor controversy surrounding the decision by Shrapnel Records, the band's label, to not issue more copies after the limited run of 5000 were sold.

This resulted in the band requesting to be dropped from the label, and voiding their three-record deal. This was a welcome change for the band, who hadn't received any royalty checks from the label.