MEET
Jay S. - Vocals/Guitars/Synth
Musical Influences: It started with my first album "The Carpenters Sing," purchased for me by a neighbor. From there it went straight to Deep Purple, Sweet, Aerosmith, Judas Priest, Triumph, AC/DC, Sammy Hagar and the Scorpions. Guitarists that influenced me were Ric Emmett, Michael Schenker, Randy Rhodes and Yngwie Malmsteen. (Too bad I can't play anything like those guys.)
OUT OF THE WEST strode a man with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and a little stool to sit on. He was a busy man, mister, and he had no time for waffles or fancy pajamas, or tomfoolery of any similar sort. Some say he came because he sensed a throbbing need in the community. Others say he came to make us the ordered and rhythmic people we all know we should be, in our heart of hearts. All he ever said about the matter was, “No onions on that burger.” The man came and lived amongst us, like a fungus but with better PR, and for that brief shining moment he rode our consciences hard and put them away wet. It was a period of stunning growth for everyone involved. Even Rabbi Finkelstein said so, and he was not an easy man to impress. The man was gruff. He was just. He was the living embodiment of all that springs to mind when we hear the phrase Casual Wednesday. He could do really impressive things with a frozen pizza, and he had a magic machine that remembered your song and sang it back to you.
Chuck V. - Drums
That man's name was CHUCK V.
Paige D. - Vocals/Bass Guitar
Musical Influences: When I was young, my dad worked at a radio station, so every week he would bring me the demo records the station no longer wanted and a copy of the current Billboard chart. My mom listened to the best top 40 station in North America, CKLW, and was a huge Beatles fan. In high school I was listening mostly to mainstream music, like Kansas, Boston, Queen, Cheap Trick, and Journey. By college in the early 80’s, I had moved toward bands like Devo, the Vapors, the Tubes, and the Kings. I spent the late 80’s with hair bands like Ratt, Warrant, Poison, Scorpions, and Guns and Roses, more by default than by choice. There just wasn’t any music out there that was very interesting to me. Then, in the early 90’s, I saw Pearl Jam on Saturday Night Live, and I thought they had invented alt rock just for me. Bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, and Live made me care about music again. But my greatest musical influence has been Jeff D. When we met, I knew I had met my musical soulmate. He challenges me, and makes me think about, compare, contrast and defend my musical interests. We rarely agree on what great music is, but we make great music together.
Other Bands I've Been In: Curly Jefferson, Bar Exam, Lawyers Guns & Money, Learned Hand and the Tortfeasors, and Winnie Zapruder.
Artists I Currently Listen To: In addition to the stuff we play, right now I really like My Chemical Romance, System of a Down, Rise Against, and Sick Puppies. Pretty much anything politically left of center.
Equipment: Assorted basses: Dean Razor, Cort Curbow, Danelectro Longhorn, Hamer Slammer, Dean Acoustic Electric 5 string, SX 5 string, and Jeff’s 1978 Fender Jazz. I practice with a Kustom 100 watt 1 X 15 combo amp, but I perform with my Ampeg SVT3 pro head and Ampeg 4X10 HLF cab. Size matters. Yeah, I said it.
Hobbies: Family, alternative rock, books, travel (anywhere! I can be packed and out the door in 10 minutes! ), Civil War and World War II history (big nerd), Days of Our Lives (bigger nerd), rock concerts.
Jeff D. - Vocals/Guitars Guitars by Yamaha, Agile, Fernandes, Ibanez and Danelectro; Crate Vintage Club 5150 combo amp (aka “E. Victor” - my second favorite blonde); and The Incredible Bag of TricksTM pedal board, built to my ambitious design specifications by Master Jay. I’m pretty sure I’m the only rock artist out there with a pedal board that's bigger than his amp. Hobbies: Music, family, books, travel and being a huge history/Civil War nerd. In different combinations, and sometimes all at the same time. And also, very important... PORK CHOPS, from the godhead: HOG WILD in magical Midlothian, Illinois. My life is pretty much just a string of waiting periods between playing music and PCT (Pork Chop Time) at Hog Wild.
Musical Influences: It's been a long strange journey. In rough chronological order: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Kansas, Peter Gabriel, The Sex Pistols, The Police, Crowded House, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Del Amitri, Foo Fighters. I don't really listen to the older stuff much anymore, but it's all still rolling around in there.
Other Bands I've Been In: Curly Jefferson, Bar Exam, Lawyers Guns & Money, The Tortfeasors, Winnie Zapruder, Wet Coins (all of those with my beautiful wife, Paige), Rooster, Pendulum, Earth's Crust
Artists I Currently Listen To: You name it - just about everything, but mostly alternative and modern rock. An A-Z sampling from my iPod: Audioslave, Beirut, Cake, Death Cab for Cutie, Everclear, Foo Fighters, The Gaslight Anthem, The Hives, Incubus, Jimmy Eat World, Kaiser Chiefs, Linkin Park, Muse, Neutral Milk Hotel, OK Go, Pearl Jam, Queens of the Stone Age, Rise Against, Spoon, Tonic, Urbanites, Violent Femmes, Winterpills and Yes. Okay, no X or Z. Sue me.
Equipment: I wield these things onstage (along with minimal talent and maximum ego):
