Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Half A Man

Here's this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, as we again shine a (Convoy C8?) flashlight on a local metal, hard rock, or punk band from the past, as randomly selected from our band links! This month's random selection takes us to Michigan for the final time in 2023, for a prominent but all-too-short-lived group from a decade+ ago, so here's what you should know on them!

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Half A Man

Hometown: Brimley, Michigan

Genre: Groove Metal/Hard Rock

Lineup: (Members not in their last full lineup are in italics)

Erik Rintamaki (Lower S.E.S.), vocals/guitar
Gary Croad (Project 906, Tarnished), bass
Mikey Bishop (Summon, Bludgeoned), drums

Dillion Semasky (Infathom), vocals
Denny Breslin Jr. (Bent Rollercoaster), guitar
Doug Reed (Swampghas, Drayton Fever), drums

Audio/Video: Despite writing and performing original songs like "Die In Disgrace", "Drunk", and "Slow Rock 75" during their heyday, and planning to work on a debut album in 2012, Half A Man never released a formal album as such, though demo CDs were once distributed at live events circa 2011. A plentiful amount of videos (live concert recordings and in-studio jams alike) can be found on their Facebook page and their YouTube channel, as well as Erik's personal YouTube channel. Here's Half A Man's best known four-piece lineup playing "Life Goes On"!

Info/Analysis: Launched in 2009 and debuting on regional stages in 2010, Half A Man were one of the most prominent original metal bands in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula of the decade, despite a relatively brief run as in-concert mainstays. Named after band members' coincidentally timed hand injuries upon forming, the band's best known lineup featured Erik, Denny, Gary, and Mikey, and they were seen at multiple regional nightclubs throughout 2010 into early 2011, as well as via a 2012 Rock 101 interview. The band took an extended break from the stage after Denny left the group in mid-2011, with the subsequent addition of Infathom's Dillion Semasky on vocals not going very far. As a trio (which I jokingly dubbed "3/8ths A Man"), Half A Man would only return to the stage for the annual LemmaFest memorial concerts in Sault Ste. Marie in June 2012 & 2013, after which they quietly dissolved.

Erik continues to use Half A Man's Facebook page sporadically to stream videos promoting Yooperlites (yes, he is that Erik Rintamaki), while private jam session reunions of the band have been teased. Though Erik has far outshone his local band work via Yooperlites and rock hunting, Half A Man were an impressive band whose Black Label Society-reminiscent sound and gritty, in-your-face attack definitely left an impression on Yooper metalheads, and the guys always had good chemistry during their all-too-brief existence, aided by Mikey's skilled technical drumming. Hopefully Half A Man return in some form when the time is right, but follow Yooperlites to learn about these glowing rocks and where to find them!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! We're heading north to Sault Ontario to end 2023 in this series, and we're ending the year with another big band, namely defunct early-mid 2010s hard rock/grunge quartet Haggith! Convenient timing having just covered their old sister band The Din last month, but remember that I literally use Random.org to pick acts profiled in this series, and things just line up well once in a while. Look for this profile on or around December 10th, and for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!