1987–2008 Harem Scarem was formed in 1987 by guitarist
Pete Lesperance and singer
Harry Hess, formerly of Blind Vengeance who had recorded two
heavy metal albums in the 1980s. The name Harem Scarem was based on a
Bugs Bunny cartoon. The initial Harem Scarem lineup was completed by Darren Smith (drums) and Mike Gionet (bass). This lineup recorded a demo
CD in 1990, which garnered them attention since most demos at the time would be on
cassette tape only. On the strength of this demo they were signed to
Warner Music and recorded their first album. The demo CD was initially sold to fans. In 1991, Harem Scarem released their
self-titled debut album, which charted at No. 68 on the Canadian album chart. The album includes guest appearances by fellow Canadian stars such as Ray Coburn of
Honeymoon Suite,
Carl Dixon of
Coney Hatch, and Paul MacAusland of
Haywire. A hit single from the album, "
Slowly Slipping Away", charted at No. 25 on the Canadian singles chart, and there were also two minor chart hits; "
Honestly" and "Love Reaction". The following year, Harem Scarem was able to gain some notoriety when eight songs from their debut album
Harem Scarem were predominantly featured in the Canadian teen series
Degrassi Junior High, and
Degrassi High's farewell television movie, ''School's Out
. The album was followed by the EP Acoustic Sessions'' which features recordings of selected songs from their self-titled album and was only sold in Canada, having just 500 units available. The band released their second album in 1993,
Mood Swings, which had a harder sound to it when compared to their first album. Mood Swings featured the recorded vocal debut of drummer Smith on the song "Sentimental Blvd". An accepted fan favorite,
Mood Swings charted at No. 83 on the Canadian charts. The album's lead off single was "No Justice", and this managed to chart at No. 59 in Canada, while the other two singles from the album failed to chart.
Mood Swings caused the band to gain popularity in Japan, and the band's previous album was quickly issued in that country the following year. This was followed by a live and acoustic
EP, titled
Live & Acoustic. In 1995, the band released their third album
Voice of Reason. The album introduced a change in the band's musical style, and was darker in sound than the first two albums. The song "Blue" was released as a
promotional single and had a music video for it, however it failed to chart. Bassist Mike Gionet departed after
Voice of Reason for personal reasons and was replaced by former Blu Bones member Barry Donaghy. The next two albums,
Karma Cleansing (which was released as
Believe in Japan) and
Big Bang Theory, saw Harem Scarem 'modernizing' their sound. Barry Donaghy also made his lead vocal debut with Harem Scarem on "Sometimes I Wish" from
Big Bang Theory. Both albums and the singles from them again failed to chart. In 1998, the band released the single "So Blind".
Rubber In 1999, Harem Scarem changed their name to
Rubber, and released two albums under that name in Canada. However, they still used the name Harem Scarem in Japan and the rest of the world. Pete Lesperance made his recorded lead vocal debut on the song "Trip" from the self-titled
Rubber CD. They made a music video for "Sunshine", which had actors that looked like
Jay and Silent Bob, and parodied movies which were released around that time, such as
American Pie. The second album under the Rubber name,
Ultra Feel, featured their new drummer
Creighton Doane (brother of
Melanie Doane) replacing Darren Smith. Smith briefly switched to guitar and joined
Helix as a touring musician. The Rubber name was soon dropped and during 2002 the band switched back to their original name, Harem Scarem. 2002's
Weight of the World, which was released as a Rubber album in some markets, harkened back to the earlier sound of
Mood Swings and was their first Harem Scarem album to be released on the
Frontiers label. Weight of the World was the bands first album to have a 'proper' release within Europe.
Weight of the World was followed in 2003 by
Higher. The album's sound was more of a combination of classic melodic rock with a modern production. The album featured the
power ballad "Higher". 2003 also saw the release of lead singer Harry Hess' debut solo album
Just Another Day. In 2004, Pete Lesperance released his debut solo album
Down In It (re-recorded with
Mike Turner and released under the band name
Fair Ground in 2006). Continuing their prolific output of studio albums, 2005's
Overload was followed by
Human Nature in 2007. The Japanese version of
Overload features a cover of the
AC/DC classic, "
You Shook Me All Night Long". On July 19, 2007, lead singer
Harry Hess announced that Harem Scarem "will make one more studio record, and then after 20 years we have decided to move on to other things". That final album,
Hope, was released in July 2008. Regarding the breakup and a possible reunion, Creighton Doane said: ''''
2008–2013 On June 21, 2010,
Frontiers Records announced a new studio project called
First Signal featuring ex-Harem Scarem members Harry Hess and Darren Smith. The album was released on August 27, 2010. Much of the Harem Scarem back catalogue was reissued in September 2010, and featuring bonus tracks. Included in the reissue program were albums formerly only available in Japan, such as
B-Side Collection,
Rocks, and
Ballads. In December 2012, it was announced that a reunited Harem Scarem would headline the 10th Firefest festival in
Nottingham, UK, in October 2013. Harry Hess had been approached by Firefest's promotor to perform the Mood Swings album in its entirety for its twentieth year anniversary. The band regrouped and performed at Firefest.
2013–2019 Following the October 2013 Firefest appearance, Harem Scarem re-recorded the
Mood Swings album, adding three newly written 'in-keeping' tracks to
Mood Swings II, "World Gone To Piece's", "Anarchy", and "A Brighter day". The new album was released by
Frontiers. A European tour was also scheduled. In 2014, Darren Smith emerged as the lead vocalist for former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee's new band, Red Dragon Cartel. A second
First Signal album,
One Step Over The Line was released by Frontiers in 2016. In February 2017, it was announced that Harem Scarem would appear at Rockingham Festival 2017, this to be held at Nottingham Trent University, UK, between October 20 and 22, 2017, the band scheduled to appear on Saturday 21st. In March 2017, it was disclosed that to mark their 30th year Harem Scarem's 14th studio album,
United, would be released by Frontiers Records on May 12. The 11-track album featured Harry Hess (lead vocals, keyboards), Pete Lesperance (guitars, bass, keyboards), long-time drummer Creighton Doane, and backing vocals from original drummer Darren Smith (who played live drums for the band on tour dates). In the Q3 of 2018, Harem Scarem began writing their 15th studio album which was set to be released in 2020. In Q3 2019, the then to be named 15th studio album was in the process of being mastered by Harry Hess of HBOMB Mastering. Also during 2019 the third
First Signal album,
Line of Fire was released by Frontiers.
2020–present Change the World, Harem Scarem's 15th studio album was released on March 4, 2020. Several versions of the album have been released including a deluxe edition featuring a DVD and bonus material. From the album, Frontiers released three promotional videos, these for "Change The World", "Aftershock" and "Death Of Me". On January 16, 2021 on their official Facebook page the band teased that work had started on their 16th studio album. On February 7, 2022, on the band's Facebook page it was revealed that the fourth
First Signal album
Closer to the Edge would be released on April 8, 2022. An initial music video "Don't Let It End" had been posted by Frontiers Music on YouTube on February 3, and a second "Show Me The Way" was posted on March 16, 2022. In March 2023, the band announced they would be releasing a 30th anniversary edition of the
Mood Swings album as
Mood Swings Bundle - Limited Edition. The package included a 180-gram purple LP, a CD with five bonus acoustic tracks, and numerous other items of physical and digital memorabilia and similar. Retail price was $89.95. In an interview with YouTube channel Sleeve Saturday on February 9, 2025, Hess confirmed that the band would be looking at some way of 'celebrating' the 35th anniversary of the bands' self-titled first album, this released August 6, 1991. On April 24, 2025, the band commenced a European tour in association with
Frontiers Music that had been announced in December 2024. The tour commenced in
Madrid,
Spain and concluded in the
Netherlands on May 4, with the sole UK date being at the
Underworld (
Camden London) on April 28. The tour included a single night (April 27) at the Frontiers Rock Festival in
Milan,
Italy. Around this time the band announced on social media that new music was coming soon from the band, and on February 4, Frontiers released a lyric video single
Reliving History, from the pending new album
Chasing Euphoria, the release date for which (April 25, 2025) was confirmed on March 28 by Frontiers Music. In a later interview, Harry Hess confirmed that
Reliving History was not considered a single, and that the first single from the album was "Chasing Euphoria", this released on February 24. This was followed on March 25 by a second single, "Better The Devil You Know"
, and on the April 25 the third single, "In A Bad Way"
. Also in April 2025, the band released
Harem Scarem Best of Anthology Vol. 1 on vinyl to coincide with
Record Store Day Canada. This exclusive vinyl release features a collection of singles from the band’s first decade together, with all tracks mastered for vinyl by Harry Hess. ==Band members==