A Good Habitual is Hard to Break

Fargo is home to a wide array of talented bands across various subgenres of metal, as any local metalhead can attest. One thing the local metal community was lacking, however, was a strong female vocalist. In the past, metal icons like Lita Ford have shown that the genre isn’t just a boys club and that ladies can rock just as hard as the men. Here in Fargo, the band Habitual has been blazing that trail with the incredible singing voice of Britta Anderson.

Habitual is comprised of a mix of “four creative, goofy weirdos who love making music and having fun together,” in the words of Anderson. “Jason Crummy is our guitarist who effortlessly constructs inventive guitar riffs, Uppy is our drummer who always impresses us with his intricate beats and his quick wit, and Shane Bertrand is our skilled bass player who has a great ear for songwriting and always encourages us to ‘dig in till it hurts’.” The aforementioned Anderson, who boasts an impressive set of pipes, provides the vocals and can be found working on various art projects and a line of unique custom sculptures when she’s not working on her music. “We all participate in the songwriting process, complementing each other while bringing something different to the table.” This mixture of influences is also reflected in the varying degrees of schooling, formal training, and learning by ear that the members of the band have and the different members’ wildly varying musical influences.

The origin of the band’s name came long before the band itself, recalled Anderson. “Many years ago, Crummy thought ‘Habitual’ would make a cool band name. He kept that name in his back pocket all those years until he started a project with Shane. They quickly realized they were on to something, and they decided to start a band. Soon after, I was invited to sing, then a few months later Uppy joined. Crummy suggested Habitual for a name, and we thought it was a good fit.”

Just because Habitual is relatively new shouldn’t be taken to mean that the members of the band don’t have prior musical chops, with all of them having performed in local bands in and around the Fargo-Moorhead area since their teens or college years. Bertrand was in the group Below and later on performed with a few bands in New York. Crummy had prior history in the band Goosepoop. Uppy played in Blood Dries Black. Anderson herself played bass in Telepathetic prior to moving to Minneapolis for years.

“We all played shows together back then, which I think is pretty cool! I will forever be in awe of the abundance of gifted musicians in the FM area original music scene. There are quite a few of us from back in the day who are still active in the scene, and I am grateful that our collective love of music and performance has helped us maintain such awesome longtime friendships. Some may say it’s probably not very ‘metal’ for me to say that, but I think it is ‘metal’ to always be yourself and speak your truth!” said Anderson.

Habitual isn’t the only project currently on the collective members’ plates, either, with Bertrand performing in the acoustic duo Brothers Bertrand and Uppy, Crummy, and Anderson performing in the band 9 Eyes together. While Habitual currently does not have any studio albums, they have been making the rounds throughout Fargo and Moorhead and writing and recording demos with hopes to record more in the future.

When asked how she would describe the type of metal that Habitual plays, Anderson related that it was as much a hodgepodge as the musicians themselves. “We are a unique and eclectic mix of metal-we are doomy at times with some stoner rock elements, a little thrash mixed in with sludge metal with an all-around heavy groove with clean female vocals to top it off. We are a culmination of all the heavy bands the four of us have liked over the years. We don’t sound like just one of our influences, we’ve subconsciously combined them all into one to make the sound of Habitual.” And what a sound it is, as any of their fans can attest.

IF YOU GO

Halloween Hangover at the Aquarium

Friday, November 1, 8:30 p.m.

The Aquarium above Dempsey’s, 226 N Broadway, Fargo

Featuring locals Brutalur, Gorgatron, Habitual; Krawg from Minneapolis

$5

21+

Doors at 8:30, music at 9