Drew Fortier

Andrew Lawrence Fortier (born July 14, 1987) is an American musician, guitarist, filmmaker, actor, and author.

He is best known for his work with The Lucid; which he cofounded alongside Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge), David Ellefson (ex Megadeth), and Mike Heller (Fear Factory).

He was guitarist for the now late Chuck Mosley (Faith No More).

He has directed and edited the documentary Attack of Life: The Bang Tango Movie as well as the David Ellefson produced horror film Dwellers which Fortier also wrote and stars in.

He is the author of Dark, Depressing, and Hilarious which is an autobiography on his career thus far.

Fortier was born and raised on the southside of Chicago.

He met hard rock band Bang Tango in June 2011 where they offered to let him shoot a studio documentary while they were in Chicago recording their album Pistol Whipped in the Bible Belt; Fortier agreed to the project which eventually grew from a studio documentary to a feature-length film about the band's career up to that point titled Attack of Life: The Bang Tango Movie.

After completing the film, Fortier went on to join Bang Tango as second guitarist alongside Rowan Robertson.

The film had one free public screening in Fortier's hometown of Chicago, Illinois with Bang Tango in attendance in April 2015.

Fortier became a member of Bang Tango days later as the band's second guitarist.

Fortier released the film for free on YouTube in early 2016.

After Bang Tango, Fortier joined Chuck Mosley's band as guitarist up until his passing in November 2017 which led to him writing a memoir about his experiences with Bang Tango and Mosley titled Dark, Depressing, and Hilarious.

As an actor, Fortier appears in the films Her Name Was Christa, Brimstone Incorporated, and Dwellers which he also wrote, directed, and edited.

In 2021 he cofounded The Lucid alongside Sponge vocalist Vinnie Dombroski, ex Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, and Fear Factory drummer Mike Heller.

The band released their debut self titled album in fall 2021.

Fortier took 4 years filming and editing what would become a documentary on 80's hard rock band Bang Tango.

Originally intended as a studio documentary, the scope of the film grew once original members of the band became involved and more information was revealed regarding the band's history.

The film was never given an official release due to clearance issues regarding usage of Bang Tango's back catalogue of music in the film which is owned by Universal Music.

Aside from the inclusion of various members of Bang Tango throughout the band's career up to that point, interviews featured throughout the film include: Howard Benson, Riki Rachtman, Chris DeMakes, Mandy Lion, Andrew Wilkow, Chip Z'Nuff, as well as an opening narration by Twisted Sister's Dee Snider.

Summer 2017, Fortier was recruited as guitarist for (Ex-Faith No More frontman) Chuck Mosley's solo band.

During his time with the band, Fortier and Mosley explored the idea of a potential documentary to where Mosley would be the subject.

Prior to his passing in November 2017 Mosley confirmed with Fortier that a documentary about his life should be made.

The film is being produced by Mosley's long time manager and percussionist, Douglas Esper.

In June 2018, Fortier released an 11-minute deleted/extended scene from the film, which contained footage from being on the road with the band as well as more insight into how the band operates while on tour.

Fortier made note that the footage was initially removed from the film due to its portrayal of the band members featured in the scenes.

Reviews of the film were positive.

The general consensus is that despite its low budget, the film still manages to get its point across in an unbiased, artistic, and engaging manner while being able to appeal to not only fans of the band or genre, but to anyone not familiar with Bang Tango.

In February 2018 it was announced that ''Thanks.

And Sorry: The Chuck Mosley Movie'' was officially in production with a TBA release date.

In May 2019, it was announced that Fortier will be writing, directing, and starring in the found footage horror film Dwellers which is being produced by Megadeth bassist David Ellefson and Thom Hazaert via their newly formed production company Ellefson Films.

Along with Fortier, the film will also star James L. Edwards, Douglas Esper, Rick Jermain, and Jeff Hatrix.

Ellefson and Hazaert will also be appearing in the film as featured cameos.

In August 2019, Ellefson Films released a 50-second teaser for the film which included a voice over from Canadian radio personality Mitch Lafon.

Ellefson Films hosted a Q&A panel at Rue Morgue's Frightmare in the Falls horror convention where Fortier and Ellefson revealed that the film will be a gritty found footage horror film that plays out as a documentary gone horribly wrong.

Dwellers is described as being highly influenced by The Blair Witch Project and C.H.U.D.

The full trailer for Dwellers was released via Ellefson Films in November 2019.

Dwellers went on to be featured in various film festivals and won a selection of awards.

The film was released on Blu-ray/DVD/streaming October 12, 2021.

As a way to hone his filmmaking skills to aid the process of creating and completing Attack of Life: The Bang Tango Movie, Fortier experimented with shooting and editing music videos for Bang Tango, which resulted in clips for their songs: Live Life, I Like It, Bring on the World, and Suck It Up from the Pistol Whipped in the Bible Belt album.

This led to Fortier, through word of mouth, being hired to produce and edit promotional videos for such acts as: Vince Neil, Slaughter, Queensrÿche, Great White, Kix, Autograph, Lynch Mob, Vixen, Marty Casey, Les Warner, David Ellefson, Mark Slaughter, Jesse Camp, Doll Skin, A Killer's Confession, and more.