CH3 (Channel 3)
Channel 3 was formed in 1980 by childhood friend Mike Magrann and Kimm Gardener. They met in the newborn suburban community of Cerritos CA, innocent 8 year old lads kids who remain lifelong friends against a backdrop of ever changing cultural storms. They learned to play guitar together in junior high and witnessed the birth of punk rock in the heady Southern California scene of the early 80's. They graduated from being obsessed fans to backyard party hacks and finally upon the stage themselves.
Contemporaries of fellow So Cal punks Social Distortion, Bad Religion, T.S.O.L., Circle Jerks, etc., CH3 has been steadily touring the world since releasing their first eponymous EP on the influential Posh Boy label in 1981. Posh Boy also released the hardcore classics Fear of Life and After the Lights Go Out.
After signing to Enigma Records in the mid 80’s CH3 released Airborne and Last Time I Drank, records that saw them expanding their musical form while alienating the punks who first supported them.
The album Channel 3 on Dr. Strange Records got the lads back on track in 2001, and the subsequent releases on TKO and Hostage Records bring them up to date.
The Current lineup features longtime bassist Anthony Thompson and drummer Nick Manning.
In 2023 the band released 40 on Hostage Records, a 27 song double LP collection of songs highlighting their 4 decade long career.
Singer Mike Magrann has also published a critically acclaimed book on DiWulf Publishing, Miles Per Gallon. A fictional biographical novel based on the band’s long 1983 tour and a recounting of coming of age in the So Cal hardcore days of the early 80’s.