Shannon Larkin - Biography

Biography

Shannon Larkin's first major label band was Wrathchild America. Originally the band was named simply "Wrathchild", but unfortunately, there was already a British band with the same name, so they were forced to change it. To avoid further legal headaches, they added "America" to the name, and thus, "Wrathchild America" was born.

Meanwhile, during his time with Wrathchild America, Larkin and fellow Wrathchild guitarist Jay Abbene, along with bassist John "Tumor" Fahnestock, had a side project called Kiddie Porn, a hardcore punk/thrash band. Kiddie Porn released two albums, "A Gift of Hate" and "Conflict of Mind".

After recording 2 albums for Atlantic Records, Wrathchild America was dropped by the label, citing lackluster sales. Shannon, along with his bandmates (Brad Divens, Terry Carter, and Jay Abbene) disbanded Wrathchild America only to resurface as Souls at Zero.

Souls at Zero was signed to the now defunct label Energy Records. Their self-titled debut album was well received by critics and fans alike. Unfortunately, it didn't translate into CD sales.

In the meantime, Shannon formed a side project band called MF Pitbulls in which the other members later formed the band Snot. MF Pitbulls' member Jamie Miller later became Souls at Zero's drummer right after Shannon was tapped by Ugly Kid Joe. According to Wrathchild America/Souls at Zero's former manager Chip Seligman, Shannon was the one who recommended Jamie Miller as his replacement. He later replaced Jamie Miller on the Snot album Strait Up, per Jamies' recommendation.

Shannon recorded 2 albums with Ugly Kid Joe, and the band was no more. Still a struggling musician, Shannon found himself without a band. As luck would have it, Shannon once again was tapped into another band. This time it was Casey Chaos's Amen. Shannon was referred to Amen by producer Ross Robinson of Slipknot fame. Shannon recorded two albums for Amen, (Amen and We Have Come For Your Parents), before he left the band as a touring musician, but still performs on the albums (including Death Before Musick and the 2009 as-yet-untitled release). Shannon also recorded the album Hard to Swallow by Vanilla Ice, and Worship and Tribute by Glassjaw.

Shortly after, Shannon got a call from his old friend Sully Erna who wanted him to play drums for his band, Godsmack. Shannon replaced Tommy Stewart and subsequently recorded his first album with Godsmack; Faceless.

On July 1, 1997, Shannon played drums for one live show with Black Sabbath; the final one on the Ozzfest '97 tour. This date was actually a makeup gig for a postponed date earlier in the tour. The regular drummer for that tour (Mike Bordin) could not make the gig due to scheduling conflicts, so Shannon stepped in for this lone gig; he was never intended on being a permanent member of Black Sabbath.

For Stone Sour, he played the drums on the tracks "30/30-150" and The Day I Let Go on the album Come What(ever) May. The reason is that at the time Roy Mayorga, who recorded the album, didn't have time to finish up the recording due to going out on tour with Sepultura. Roy Mayorga and Nick Raskulinecz suggested Shannon to record. He also did a project in 1997 with Judas Priest's Glenn Tipton and other artists including John Entwistle, Cozy Powell, Billy Sheehan, and Robert Trujillo called Baptizm of Fire.

As of 2010, according to their Myspace, Shannon is involved in the reunion of Ugly Kid Joe, who is planning to tour in 2010-2011 and possibly write new material.