# Chuck Treece

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chuck_Treece
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chuck_Treece.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Treece
> Source revision: 1355971099
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

American musician and pro skateboarder

Chuck Treece Treece performing in Carnegie, Pennsylvania in 2021 Background information Born (1964-05-30) May 30, 1964 (age 62) Newark, Delaware, U.S. Origin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Genres Punk rock skate punk hardcore punk Instruments Drums guitar bass Years active 1982–present

Musical artist

**Chuck Treece** (born May 30, 1964) is an American musician and professional skateboarder from [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania](/source/Philadelphia%2C_Pennsylvania). In 1984, he became famous for being the first African-American skateboarder to be featured on the cover of [*Thrasher* magazine](/source/Thrasher_(magazine)). His musical credits include starting the [skate punk](/source/Skate_punk) band McRad in 1982, remixing songs for [Amy Grant](/source/Amy_Grant) and [Sting](/source/Sting_(musician)), playing the bass line on "[The River of Dreams](/source/The_River_of_Dreams)" by [Billy Joel](/source/Billy_Joel), and The Lemonheads, with filling in on drums at a [Pearl Jam](/source/Pearl_Jam) concert, and touring with [Urge Overkill](/source/Urge_Overkill), Underdog and [Bad Brains](/source/Bad_Brains). In 2010, he was awarded a [Pew Fellowships in the Arts](/source/Pew_Fellowships_in_the_Arts).[1] Chuck currently plays bass in a thrash metal band called ACTiVATE. Treece [drummed](/source/Drum_kit) on the [album](/source/Album), *Mass* by [Canadian](/source/Canadians) [ska](/source/Ska) [band](/source/Musical_ensemble), [Bedouin Soundclash](/source/Bedouin_Soundclash).

After recording on [The Movement](/source/The_Movement_(reggae_band))’s album *[Set Sail](/source/Set_Sail_(The_Movement_album))* Gary Jackson (drums) and Jason Schmidt (bass) joined The Movement as full-time members of the band.

## Life

Treece grew up in [Newark, Delaware](/source/Newark%2C_Delaware), where he attended [John Dickinson High School](/source/John_Dickinson_High_School), but moved to Philadelphia in 1982 because, according to Treece, "I was sick of high-school and I knew I wasn't going to college. I knew I wanted to do music and skate."[2] Between 1982 and 1990, he was a professional skater with endorsements by several [companies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Skateboarding_companies), including [Santa Cruz Skateboards](/source/Santa_Cruz_Skateboards), [Powell-Peralta](/source/Powell-Peralta), and [Airwalk](/source/Airwalk) sneakers.[3] Treece released two albums with his band McRad, *Absence of Sanity* in the 1980s (rereleased 2001) and *FDR* in 2007. Treece considered his band a [skate rock](/source/Skate_rock) band, stating that in addition to himself, band members Tristan, Ethan and Zeke were also active skaters.[4] Treece also played guitar with [New York hardcore](/source/New_York_hardcore) band Underdog and recorded on their 1989 LP "Vanishing Point". In 1991, he also released a solo album on [Caroline Records](/source/Caroline_Records) titled *Dream'n*.

Starting in 2001, Treece was also a founding member of Philadelphia punk band [Stiffed](/source/Stiffed_(band)). The band helped launch the chart-topping solo career of Stiffed's vocalist Santi White under the stage name of [Santigold](/source/Santigold), who credits Treece as "the person that got me to sing."[5]

Most recently, Treece joined producer Chris DiBeneditto at Philadelphonic Studios to record the drum tracks for [The Movement](/source/The_Movement_(rock_band))'s 2008 rock/reggae album *[Set Sail](/source/Set_Sail_(The_Movement_album))*. After recording the album, fellow McRad band members Gary Jackson and Jason Schmidt took on the role as drummer and bassist for The Movement. Treece continues to skate at [FDR Skatepark](/source/FDR_Skatepark) in Philadelphia and works closely with legendary producer [Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo](/source/Joe_Nicolo).[6] In 2010 Treece joined Philly/NYC punk band [Plastic Eaters](/source/Plastic_Eaters) as their resident drummer. In 2014 Treece continued his Long time musical connection with legendary singer [HR] of the [Bad Brains](/source/Bad_Brains) writing and recording new tracks in the studio and performing live shows on Drums with HR and Philly Dub/ Reggae outfit I Yahn I Arkestra notably featuring Treece's childhood Musical mentor, the original Dub Warrior Timi Tanzania. In January 2016 Treece played second guitar in the DC hardcore group [Scream](/source/Scream_(band)) at the [Black Cat](/source/Black_Cat_(Washington%2C_D.C._nightclub)) in Washington DC for a benefit show for area musician Doc Night.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

In 2022, Treece joined [Michael Hampton](/source/Michael_Hampton) to form the funk/punk fusion group [Punkadelic](/source/Punkadelic). With Hampton on guitar and Treece on bass and drums, Punkadelic performed both original music and Funkadelic covers in Philadelphia, Mexico, and live on the radio at [WOCM](/source/WOCM) Ocean 98 in [Ocean City, Maryland](/source/Ocean_City%2C_Maryland). Punkadelic released 2 singles and an original EP titled Collective Consciousness in 2023.[7]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Questions of Practice - The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120313130451/http://www.pcah.us/the-center/blog/labels/tag/chuck-treece/). October 16, 2016. Archived from [the original](http://www.pcah.us/the-center/blog/labels/tag/chuck-treece/) on March 13, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Detweiler_2-0)** ["Philadelphia City Paper article"](https://web.archive.org/web/20071229122911/http://www.citypaper.net/earshot/earshot.0397/zoom.chuck.shtml). Archived from [the original](http://www.citypaper.net/earshot/earshot.0397/zoom.chuck.shtml) on December 29, 2007. Retrieved August 27, 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Cornelius_3-0)** Cornelius, Michael. ["Skaterock - Features - Chuck Treece"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040403/http://www.skaterock.com/features/treece.html). Archived from [the original](http://www.skaterock.com/features/treece.html) on September 28, 2007. Retrieved August 27, 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Smallwood, Doug (1984). ["Interview with McRad"](https://archive.org/details/LightAtLightTheEndOfATunnelNumber1VirginiaBeachVA/page/n8/mode/1up). *Light at the End of a Tunnel*. p. 9. Retrieved May 2, 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Thompson, Stephen](/source/Stephen_Thompson_(journalist)) (November 11, 2022). ["Santigold: Tiny Desk Concert"](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/21/1133587094/santigold-tiny-desk-concert) (Video). *National Public Radio*. Retrieved November 29, 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Oldschool_6-0)** ["Old School Skateboarding"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070924172229/http://www.oldschoolskateboarding.com/features/chuckTreece/index.html). Archived from [the original](http://www.oldschoolskateboarding.com/features/chuckTreece/index.html) on September 24, 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Punkadelic official website](https://www.punkadelicmusic.com/)

## External links

- [McRad](https://myspace.com/mcradband) on [Myspace](/source/Myspace)

- [McRad Discography](http://homepages.nyu.edu/~cch223/usa/mcrad_main.html)

- [Chuck Treece](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2149353/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

- [Philadelphia City Paper](https://web.archive.org/web/20070827173826/http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2007/08/23/we-can-rebuild-him) August 2007 article

v t e Bad Brains Dr. Know Darryl Jenifer H.R. Earl Hudson Sid McCray Mackie Jayson Taj Singleton Chuck Mosley Israel Joseph I Chuck Treece Studio albums Bad Brains Rock for Light I Against I Quickness Rise God of Love I & I Survived Build a Nation Into the Future EPs Spirit Electricity The Omega Sessions Live albums Live The Youth Are Getting Restless A Bad Brains Reunion Live from Maritime Hall Live at CBGB 1982 Compilations Banned in D.C. Demos Black Dots DVDs Live at CBGB's 1982 Singles "Pay to Cum" Related articles Discography The White Mandingos

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF WorldCat National United States France BnF data Artists MusicBrainz

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chuck Treece](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Treece) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Treece?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.