Automatic 7 were technically formed in 1993 out of the ashes of some less noteworthy bands that singer/guitarist Johnny Hulett and bass player Nic Nifoussi had played in together. Johnny and Nic began playing together when they were 19 and 15, respectively, having been hooked up through an ad in the L.A. Recycler want ad paper. Their common love of Southern California punk rock (X, Adolecents, Decendents, Social Distortion) has been the core of their sound since day one. In 1994 Johnny and Nic secured a solid line up for Automatic 7 and began writing, recording and playing furiously around Los Angeles as well as touring the West Coast. Byo Records took notice and signed the band in early 1995. The band released its self-titled album that year fittingly mixed by Thom Wilson (Adolecents, TSOL, Offspring). Shortly after the records release the band lost their drummer to a day job and signed on Ray Mehlbaum.
The chemistry between Johnny, Nic and Ray was undeniable and left no room for then 2nd guitarist Phil. Three days before the bands 1st U.S. tour in 1995 Phil was relieved of duty and the band played for the first time onstage as a three piece unrehearsed and unleashed. What followed was two years of constant touring with legends such as Bad Religion, Social Distortion, Face To Face as well as increasing popularity for Automatic 7. The trio line-up remains the same to this day. In 1997 the band signed to A&M Records only to find out shortly thereafter that the label was being gobbled up in a corporate merger between Polygram Records and Seagrams Corporation. In 1998 the bands longtime manager and Vagrant Records owner Rich Egan luckily got the band released from their contract before the band was lost in the sea of red tape involved in the merger.
Despite this good news, the band was mortally wounded from the time-wasting stint at a major and imploded under personal pressures. When the band came to its senses in 1999, Rich Egan was there to right the ship with a record deal from his now burgeoning Vagrant label. The band put the pieces together from the last 5 years and recorded Beggar's Life, an unrelenting 10 song romp through bitterness and heartache that documents the personal struggles of the band. In 2000 Beggar's Life was released on Vagrant to wide acclaim but the former road dogs were nowhere to be found and 6 years of silence followed the bands best release to date - "We've been in Europe." says Johnny. Our story brings us to this day and Automatic 7 is stacked with songs for a September release on Mental Records. It will be their 3rd full length release in 10 years. The new album is tentatively titled At Funeral Speed for obvious reasons and the band is in top form. You can safely expect from Automatic 7 what they have always delivered.. honest, hard-hitting, nasty punk rock from the heart of Los Angeles.
