Health

Health is an American industrial and noise rock group from Los Angeles, California, active since 2005. The band forms in the Los Angeles underground experimental music community and is known for combining harsh noise elements with electronic textures and song structures. Its current line-up includes vocalist and guitarist Jake Duzsik, bassist and producer John Famiglietti, drummer Benjamin Jared Miller, and Jupiter Keyes, who later leaves the group in 2015. The band has also been associated with the names B.J. Miller and Benjamin Jared Miller for its drummer.

Formation and early work

Health begins after Jake Duzsik meets John Famiglietti while Duzsik works at the flagship Guitar Center in Los Angeles. Duzsik and Famiglietti decide to form a band, then bring in Jupiter Keyes and B.J. Miller. Keyes is someone Duzsik already knows from university. The name is chosen after the group agrees on using an everyday word; after working through a long list, “health” is the only option not already taken.

The band’s early material grows out of experimentation in Los Angeles’ underground scene, with the aim of fitting that approach into a more conventional band format. Its debut album is recorded at The Smell, the Los Angeles noise and experimental venue.

Breakthrough and early releases

Health first attracts wider attention through Crystal Castles’ remix of “Crimewave” in 2007. That success leads to the release of the band’s self-titled debut album later the same year. In 2008, it releases its first remix album, HEALTH//DISCO, and also supports Nine Inch Nails on the Lights In The Sky tour.

The second album, GET COLOR, follows in 2009. A year later, the band issues DISCO2, which combines remixed tracks from GET COLOR with new original material.

Soundtracks and awards

In 2012, Health composes the soundtrack for Rockstar Games’ Max Payne 3. The score is nominated for Best Score in a Game at the Spike Video Game Awards, and the track “TEARS” is nominated for Best Song in a Game. The band also contributes “High Pressure Dave” to Grand Theft Auto V in 2013, and later works on the soundtrack for GTA Online’s Arena War update. It also contributes music to Cyberpunk 2077, including the track “Major Crimes”, which later appears in the anime adaptation Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Health also contributes to the soundtrack for Ultrakill.

Later albums and collaborations

DEATH MAGIC is released in 2015 on Loma Vista Records and marks a move towards a more melodic sound with greater use of electronics. The album is preceded by the singles “NEW COKE”, “STONEFIST” and “MEN TODAY”. During the European tour for the album, Jupiter Keyes leaves the band.

In 2017, Health releases DISCO3 on Loma Vista, alongside a reverse telethon event broadcast on Facebook Live from the Funny Or Die studios. Later that year, the band covers New Order’s “Blue Monday” for the film Atomic Blonde.

VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR follows in 2019 on Loma Vista, with “SLAVES OF FEAR” and “FEEL NOTHING” appearing beforehand as singles. Over the next year, the band also continues soundtrack work and collaboration with other artists.

In 2020, Health releases DISCO4 :: PART I on Loma Vista. Despite the title, it is an album of original collaborations rather than a remix release, apart from the lead single “CYBERPUNK 2.0.2.0.”, which the band composes alone. An accompanying remix release, DISCO4+, appears on Bandcamp in 2021. The following year, DISCO4 :: PART II arrives and features contributions from Nine Inch Nails, Poppy, Lamb of God, The Neighbourhood and Street Sects. The track “ISN’T EVERYONE” is a collaboration with Nine Inch Nails.

RAT WARS is released in 2023 as the band’s sixth album. It is described through its themes as more personal than previous work and is promoted with a game called Rat Wars Survivors. In 2024, Health collaborates with Bad Omens and Swarm on “THE DRAIN” and releases a version of “ASHAMED” with Lauren Mayberry.

Style

Health’s music is described as industrial rock, electronic rock, experimental rock, electro-industrial, noise rock, neo-psychedelia and post-industrial. Its sound develops from the Los Angeles experimental scene and later incorporates more electronic material and more conventional song structures. Early descriptions emphasise raw synthesisers, monotone vocals and drums, while the band also uses a “Zoothorn”, a modified microphone and guitar pedal setup that produces atonal sounds. Lyrically, the group keeps its writing deliberately vague.