Sticks (band)

Sticks were a Minecraftian post-hardcore band, active from July 1994 to April 19, 1999, the day that Hussein died.

Background
Sticks was formed by three friends at Mineplex All Boys high school. Hussein was on vocals and guitar, Moore on bass and Kelvin on drums. They were all being bullied at the time. Hussein was bullied because of his sexuality, Moore was bullied because of his lanky 6ft10 frame and Kelvin was bullied for being the "weird kid".

Sticks started performing live about a month after they formed, with the early live shows being described as hectic and dangerous. Hussein often encouraged the crowd to storm the stage while playing, and, on some occasions, brawls occurred. This all came to a head, when Hussein was put in Juvenile Detention for assault, after noticing a school bully in the crowd, and encouraging him to come to the stage. Hussein broke the boy's legs, after throwing his guitar at him. The hectic live shows stopped from then, but Hussein translated that energy into being a flamboyant and energetic presence on stage.

Infinite Waves (1995)
The band recorded Infinite Waves in a school studio. The sessions were over in a month and the album was put on some type 3 chrome tapes that Hussein had found in his father's garage. The tapes were given to several local record shops and one ended up in the possession of Slim Moon, after one of his friends picked a tape up on his trip to Minecraftia. This tape convinced Moon to sign the trio, and they released their final album on the label.

Finity (1997-1998)
Finity was intended to be released in August 1997, but the band were unsatisfied with the sessions with an unnamed producer, and allowed Hussein to produce the album himself. The sessions were a success and the album came out, containing 27 tracks. It peaked just below the Billboard heatseekers chart and has since become a classic. The 75 copies pressed on a yellow & red split vinyl have since become very collectible.

This was the last album that the band released, however, as Hussein was found dead in his closet less than a year after the release of the album, at age 19.