Champion (band)

Champion
Origin	Seattle, Washington
Genres	Hardcore punk
Years active	1999–2006
Labels	Platinum Recordings Dead and Gone Records Bridge 9 Records
Past members	Jim Hesketh Aram Arslanian Chris Williams Todd Preboski Andy Norton

Champion was a straight edge hardcore punk band that was formed by vocalist Jim Hesketh, and guitarist Chris Williams, in the spring of 1999 in Seattle, Washington.

Jim and Chris formed Champion and after a few months of shows, the band released its first demo on cassette and went on a West Coast tour of the United States. In the early days the band was plagued with constant line-up changes, but in 2000 the majority of the core lineup came together to release the Come Out Swinging EP on Platinum Recordings (Germany).

After playing with American Nightmare Timbomb suggested Chris Wrenn of Bridge Nine Records check out the band. After a couple of calls Champion joined the label Bridge 9 Records and recorded another EP, entitled Count Our Numbers, followed by the re-release of Come Out Swinging. They toured hard on these records and traveled with American Nightmare, Death Threat, The First Step, Comeback Kid, Terror, Slapshot, and Sick Of It All. They toured all over the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, and South Korea.

Champion's full-length LP, Promises Kept, was released on Bridge 9 Records. Right after this Andy joined and completed the core lineup of the band. After a second European tour and an Australian leg, Champion toured the United States in early 2005. "In the spring they were to become one of the first Western independent act to visit the famous country of South Korea where Kill Your Idols and Ensign also played around 2001." 2005 also saw the band re-release their previous two EPs on one CD, entitled Time Slips Away.

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